Skip to Main Content
 Home  (206) 934-4050  Ask the Library  Book a Study Room  Schedule a Research Appointment  View your Library Account
To find more information about the services offered, visit our Library Services page
Follow the link to our current hours.

Student guide to Open Educational Resources (OER): How to cite OER

This guide focuses on open educational resources (OER) for Seattle Central students and how to find, use, and cite openly licensed information materials.

How "citations" and "attributions" connect

Remember, citing openly licensed materials, whether they're images or videos or textbooks, is often referred to as "attribution" in the OER world. To "attribute" something, you are giving credit. It's the same idea as "citing" -- just a different term for it. 

Citing = Attributing
Citation = Attribution

You can cite or attribute openly licensed materials in different ways. Remember to always doublecheck with your instructors about which citation format they prefer.

 

Cite OER using the TAL method

TAL method

The basic format for attributing OER using the TAL method is:

Title -- Author -- License

In other words:

  • T = Title
  • A = Author
  • L = License (i.e. open license)

You can use this method for citing any type of OER, including textbooks, images, videos, and more.

Use Open Attribution Builder form to create a TAL citation for OER

This "open attribution builder" online form was created by Open Washington, and you can use it to create any kind of openly licensed material according to the TAL method described above.

Note that there are additional fields in the form, as seen below, but you only need to put in the info that's applicable to your source. There are also little question marks that provide additional info about each field.

Basic form for the Open Attribution Builder

Cite OER using a regular citation style

Using a regular citation and adding the CC license info

If your instructor prefers that you cite your sources using a regular citation style, like APA or MLA, then you just simply add the CC or public domain license info at the end of your regular citation.

Let's do an example for an image that I want to cite in MLA style (8th ed.).

First step, create a regular citation:

First, you will need to cite the image, video, etc. like you normally would in MLA citation style.

Photo iconBasic formula for citing IMAGES in MLA style:
Owner/author/creator. “Title of Image.” Title of Website, Publisher (if applicable), Publication date, URL. Access date.
Example of citing an IMAGE in MLA style:
Claypool, Robert. “Flamingo.” Flickr, 5 Oct. 2012, flic.kr/p/dh7axD. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021.

Second step, add the license info at the end:

The next step is to ADD the license information at the end of the regular citation. So this is where you need to pay attention to the license that comes with each image or video you choose to use -- that's where knowing those symbols, like the CC BY SA, come in handy! You can either use the acronyms (like CC BY SA), or the text versions of the license (like CC Attribution - Share Alike, which is the text version of CC BY SA).

Notes:

  • For images or videos, etc., that are in the public domain, just add "Public Domain" as the license.
  • For resources that are allowed for educational use -- like Khan Academy videos, just add a phrase like "Educational use allowed" in place of the license info.
Example of adding license information for an IMAGE for the complete citation:
Claypool, Robert. “Flamingo.” Flickr, 5 Oct. 2012, flic.kr/p/dh7axD. Accessed 9 Nov. 2021. CC BY 2.0.

Click here for more citation examples 

Image sources:

  • "Photo icon" by IO-Images, Pixabay, is licensed under CC0 (public domain).