Paola Corti from SPARC Europe and Gema Santos-Hermosa from the University of Barcelona spoke about “The UNESCO OER Recommendation and Europe’s Academic Libraries” as part of Open Ed 2021. They reviewed survey responses from 233 participants, 1111 institutions, 28 countries… Most responses, Santos-Hermosa mentioned, were from Spain and comprehensive institutions. The pandemic also impacted policies and awareness of OER. The majority of librarians were aware of the UNESCO OER Recommendations, though further dissemination is required, explained Santos-Hermosa. They recommended continuing to organize networks and sharing resources. Corti asked the questions and Santos-Hermosa responded, making this a conversational session. Santos-Hermosa shared survey data indicating how libraries were promoting open education and OER services. The survey also highlighted how the focus has changed compared to previous similar surveys. Now OER are more prominent. Twenty-seven institutions from the 2020 survey had OER policies, and most were part of a larger policy system. The respondents were also more involved in creating inclusive and accessible OER. Equality and equity were priorities for resources, likely because of training from the libraries and institutional initiatives. I thought it was fascinating to learn that now institutions have more OE/OER librarians. The survey also revealed involvement in networks to promote OER on local, regional, or global levels. Librarians are doing so much! It was a quick and useful update on how librarians and institutions work on OER in Europe.
