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Course Materials

Selecting Course Materials

As you plan for your courses, please take the following steps to secure access and availability of course materials for your students:

Choose digital course materials when possible

Choosing course materials that are available digitally is key to increasing the likelihood that all students have access to them on the first day. Whenever possible, prioritize HTML-based materials over PDFs to maximize accessibility.

Place course material information in CAESAR before registration opens

To give students ample time to review their required course materials and make decisions regarding purchasing, course materials must be entered into the required course materials field in CAESAR before registration opens each term. If you have no required course materials, be sure to answer “None” to that question. This will ensure that students have accurate course information when they register for classes and give them enough time to secure course materials.

Utilize the Libraries for course materials

The Libraries provide access to electronic course reserves, alternative course packs, and, when available, e-book access for your entire class. Contact the Libraries at library@northwestern.edu to inquire about course materials or learn about placing materials on reserve.

Open Educational Resources (OER) at Northwestern

Open Educational Resources (OER) are free teaching materials (such as textbooks, presentations, and test banks) that are intended to be widely distributed and modified to suit instructors' particular needs. Visit the Library OER website to learn more.

To begin exploring OER, review the following resources: 

  • Open Textbook Library: Managed by the Open Education Consortium (of which Northwestern is a member), the Open Textbook Library is a collection of hundreds of faculty-reviewed textbooks that have been used in at least two higher education institutions.
  • OASIS: An OER search tool with full textbooks, modules, homework sets, A/V materials, and more.
  • How to Adopt an Open Textbook: Guide created by Northwestern librarians.

Place textbook orders with the bookstore

Place your orders using the Barnes and Noble Adoption and Insights Portal. When available, make sure you select "e-book" as the format to avoid the potential for delayed shipping to students.

Additional support resources

The Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) group is happy to meet with you to discuss your options and answer questions about finding digital and/or affordable course materials. You can reach an AIR member at air@northwestern.edu or learn more about our services and support at air.northwestern.edu.