Freedom251 › Open Educational Resource Platforms

Open Michigan

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What Open Michigan is

Open Michigan is a free University of Michigan initiative that helps share research, teaching, and creative work with audiences beyond campus. It provides expertise and services for open educational resources, open data, and open publications, and visitors can search for material from within and beyond the university for teaching and research. Its educational collection includes course materials, videos, lectures, student work, and other teaching resources from U-M faculty, students, staff, and partner institutions. Nearly all resources in the OER collection are openly licensed for reuse under Creative Commons. The initiative can help publish syllabi, courses, and learning modules, promote educational resources, and make data publicly available. It describes open access scholarship as available online to read for free. Open Michigan is a partnership of the University Library and Health Information Technology and Services, and supports the university community, Michigan residents, and the broader public. Many older resources are not ideal for screen readers, and many videos lack sufficient captions; remediation is underway. Hosted content published after January 1, 2017 receives accessibility review, with a stated aim of WCAG 2.0 AA compliance. Open Michigan deposits hosted digital works in the university's Deep Blue repository rather than providing permanent extended-term service.

Who it suits

It suits University of Michigan community members, Michigan residents, and the public looking for open teaching, research, and publication resources. Scholars and students can also use its publishing support to share educational materials and data.

What it does well

Free access to search for open content
Nearly all OER are Creative Commons licensed
Support for publishing courses and learning modules
Offers help making data publicly available

What to know first

Many older OER are not ideal for screen readers
Many videos lack sufficient captioning
Hosted works are deposited in Deep Blue, not permanently hosted

Getting started

Visit https://open.umich.edu/
Search for open content for teaching or research
Explore the educational collection or open data and publications
Contact Open Michigan for publishing support or accessibility requests

Verdict

Open Michigan supports finding and sharing educational resources, data, and scholarship, with help for publishing and promotion. Readers should note its stated accessibility gaps and that hosted digital works are deposited in Deep Blue rather than kept permanently on the service.

Questions

Is Open Michigan free?

Yes. Its pricing model is free, and it has a free plan.

What platforms does it support?

The listed platforms are Linux, macOS, and web.

Can materials be reused or adapted?

Nearly all OER in the collection are openly licensed for reuse under Creative Commons. The initiative also supports remixing and adaptation.

Who runs Open Michigan?

It is a partnership of the University Library and Health Information Technology and Services.

Does Open Michigan help publish educational materials?

Yes. It can help publish syllabi, courses, and learning modules in its OER repository.

What should I know about accessibility and preservation?

Older resources may not work well with screen readers, and many videos need more captioning. Hosted content published after January 1, 2017 receives accessibility review; hosted works are deposited in Deep Blue, as Open Michigan does not provide permanent extended-term service for them.

Facts from Open Michigan's own pages

Accessibility: Open Michigan says many older OER formats are not ideal for screen readers and many videos lack sufficient captioning, and that remediation is underway. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Accessibility review: For hosted content published after January 1, 2017, Open Michigan conducts accessibility reviews and strives for WCAG 2.0 AA compliance. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Audience: Open Michigan encourages scholars and students to share their work and describes its service as supporting the university community, Michigan residents, and the broader public. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Collection policy: The OER collection includes teaching and learning materials from U-M faculty, students, staff, and partner institutions. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Find resources: Visitors can search for open content for teaching and research, including resources from within and beyond the University of Michigan community. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Founded: 2007 · open.umich.edu, 28 Sept 2026
History: The site says the Open Michigan OER initiative began in 2007. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Hosted content limits: Open Michigan says it does not provide permanent accessible service for U-M digital works over an extended period and deposits content in the Deep Blue institutional repository. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Legacy software: OERca, an open-source copyright-review tool developed by Open Michigan, is no longer under development; its code is available to adapt and it runs on Linux-based servers and macOS. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
OER: Open educational resources are teaching and learning materials that are free to use and often licensed for reuse and remixing. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
OER collection: The collection includes course materials, videos, lectures, student work, and other educational resources from the University of Michigan. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Open data: The site describes open data as publicly available and free to use, reuse, and distribute. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Open publications: The site describes open access scholarship as available online to read for free. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Partners: Open Michigan is a partnership of the University Library and Health Information Technology and Services. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Preservation limit: Open Michigan says it does not provide permanent, extended-term service for U-M digital works and deposits content in the university's Deep Blue institutional repository. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Privacy: The privacy page says personally identifiable information is collected only when voluntarily provided, and contact information is not shared outside Open Michigan or its service providers unless legally required. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Purpose: Open Michigan helps the University of Michigan community share research, teaching, and creative work with people beyond campus. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Resource discovery: Visitors can search for open content from within and beyond the University of Michigan for use in teaching and research. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Reuse: Nearly all OER in the collection are openly licensed for reuse under Creative Commons. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Scope: It provides expertise and services for open educational resources, open data, and open publications. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Services: The initiative provides expertise and services for open educational resources, open data, and open publications. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Sharing OER: Open Michigan can help publish syllabi, courses, and learning modules in its OER repository. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Sharing support: The University offers help publishing and promoting OER and making data publicly available. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026
Support: The site directs visitors to a contact form or [email protected] for accessibility requests and says it will provide an alternate format promptly. · open.umich.edu, 4 Oct 2026

Where Open Michigan stands on Freedom251

Open Educational Resource Platforms#18 of 27