Research Guides: OER for Geography: Geography Starting Points

OER starting points for Geography, by course/topic

Physical geography
Maps, GIS, and the environment

Canvas course shells:

GEOG 101 - Physical Geography (OER Canvas course)
Tip: Log into your Canvas faculty account *before* clicking on this link! Canvas course shell shared by Darren Leaver, Glendale Community College, Summer 2020. "Introduction to Physical Geography Undergraduate level Includes e-textbook, How the Earth Works. Organized into 3 main sectoins/modules, covering 9 chapters. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Physical Geography (OER course)
OER course by OpenSUNY, 2016, via Lumen Learning platform. Course mostly based on R. Adam Dastrup's openly licensed text, Dynamic Earth: Introduction to Physical Geography. Course organized into several modules. Online format. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Physical Geography and Natural Disasters (OER textbook)
R. Adam Dastrup, Salt Lake Community College. Organized into 13 chapters (note: chapters 11-13 still in progress). Online format. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license.
Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 2nd ed. (Open access textbook)
Created by Dr. Michael Pidwirny & Scott Jones, University of British Columbia Okanagan. Although last updated in 2010, this textbook is still being used by some community colleges for introductory physical geography courses. Organized into 10 chapters, with glossary and study guides. Online format. Site contains ads. Not technically open licensed, but freely available to view and link to.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Physical Geography assessments
Shared by Open Oregn, 2019. "In-house assessments designed for use with a revised edition of Lumen Learning's Physical Geography textbook," which is linked above. 6 assessments. Word and PDF formats via Google Drive folder. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.
Physical Geography Lab Manual (Dastrup)
R. Adam Dastrup, Salt Lake Community College. Lab manual that accompanies Dastrup's Physical Geography and Natural Disasters textbook. linked above (note: chapter 2 still in progress). Lab activities designed for virtual labs. Online format. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license.
Supplemental Materials: Physical Geography (OER text/course)
K. Allison Lenkeit-Meezan, Foothill College, 2020. "Physical geography is the study of the earth's dynamic systems: its air, water, weather climate, landforms, rocks, soils, plants, ecosystems and biomes and how humans interact with the earth's systems. Physical geography is the study of the world around you." Organized into 11 main chapters, including chapters on the atmosphere, water resources, etc. Includes a chapter of quizzes and exams. Online, PDF, and course cartridge files (click the blue "Downloads" button in the top right corner). CC BY NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license.
Physical Geography Lab Manual (Graves)
Al Graves, 2019. "12 lab exercises to be used for an introductory Physical Geography community college class. Accessibility corrections in progress." Google Drive document, would need to copy to be able to edit. CC BY SA (Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike) license.
Physical Geography Lab Manual (Pesses, Welsh, and Adams)
Antelope Valley College instructors, 2017. "This lab manual is intended to be used in introductory physical geography lab courses. It is tailored to the Antelope Valley College program, but can be adapted for use elsewhere. Certain labs reference The Essential World Atlas, and Physical Geography, both published by Oxford University Press. Other textbooks can be substituted as needed." 20 labs. PDF format. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (OER textbook)
R. Adam Dastrup, Salt Lake Community College. "[I]ntegrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise." Organized into 6 chapters. Online format. CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution) license.
Geographic Information System Basics (OER textbook)
Jonathan E. Campbell and Michael Shin, UCLA, 2014, updated 2019. "From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS." Online and PDF formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Nature of Geographic Information (OER textbook)
David DiBiase, Penn State, 2016, updated 2019. "The purpose of this text is to promote understanding of the Geographic Information Science and Technology enterprise (GIS&T, also known as "geospatial")." Organized into 9 chapters. Online, PDF, EPUB, and editable OpenDocument formats. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike) license.
Mapping, Society, and Technology (OER textbook)
Steven Manson, University of Minnesota, 2017. "This book is about how to read, use, and create maps. Our exploration of maps will be informed by a contextual understanding of how maps reflect the relationship between society and technology, and how mapping is an essential form of scientific and artistic inquiry. We will also explore how mapping is used to address a variety of societal issues, such as land use planning and political gerrymandering." Organized into 10 chapters. This site includes faculty peer reviews of this text. Online, PDF, EPUB, and editable OpenDocument formats. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial) license.

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Environmental Applications of GIS (GEOG 487)
Rachel Kornak, Penn State. "[Y]ou will explore ... data and spatial analysis techniques commonly employed in environmental applications." Although this OER course was designed for a graduate level, there might be some sections, case studies, and/or examples useful to illustrate environmental aspects of GIS for this course level? You can preview the course, or complete a form to download course files. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Introduction to GIS Using Open Source Software, 7th ed
Frank Donnelly, CUNY Bernard M Baruch College, 2016. "This tutorial was created ... [to] introduce participants to geographic information systems (GIS) using the open source software QGIS. The practicum introduces GIS as a concept for envisioning information and as a tool for conducting geographic analyses and creating maps. Participants learn how to navigate a GIS interface, how to prepare layers and conduct a basic geographic analysis, and how to create thematic maps. This tutorial was written using QGIS version 2.14 "Essen", a cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) desktop GIS software package." Online and PDF formats. CC BY NC ND (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative) license.

Suggestions?

Any additional resources or personal recommendations to add to this guide? Please email your suggestions to your department's librarian liaison.

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OER for Geography: Geography Starting Points

OER starting points for Geography, by course/topic

Canvas course shells:

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Textbooks, courses, and readers:

Supplemental tools and materials (incl. games, lessons, videos, exercises, etc.):

Suggestions?

Related guides for FACULTY

Cool Tools for Teaching with OER

Contact a Librarian

Librarian

Attributions