Shannon Smith, an open educational resources librarian at Albertsons Library, recently completed a Creative Commons Certificate for Academic Librarians. Creative Commons “refers to a set of legal resources, a nonprofit organization and a global network and movement — all inspired by people’s interest in sharing their creativity and knowledge. It is made functional by a set of open copyright licenses”.
As part of the work towards the certificate, Smith completed coursework and created several handouts over the course of the summer. She wrote a Creative Commons library guide for her final project, explaining “I see my role as empowering the campus community to utilize these open licenses, which is part of why I wanted to build the guide.”
A relevant section within the guide lists resources to consider when researching Indigenous and traditional knowledge.
“Copyright law is a colonial concept, one that allows Creative Commons to function,” Smith said. “In recognition that there are numerous ways of knowing, and knowledge structures that do not reside within colonial frameworks, this page seeks to gather (however imperfectly) resources for information professionals and researchers to consider.”
Benefits to earning the certificate include being connected to a global network of librarians working on similar open access goals. Smith has been supporting open educational resources initiatives since 2017. These resources are a part of open education, which allows instructors to align their learning materials more fully with their pedagogical needs, such as localized content. Smith believes in the impact of building communities, which is integral for open education and contributes to student success and lifelong learning.
Smith earned her master’s in library and information science from the University of Washington’s Information School. She joined Albertsons Library in July, 2021.