Will you include study questions and other classroom resources in the units?

We are not including study questions because we would lke the units to be as open-ended and adaptable as possible. The questions you might pose in a Medieval Literature class might be very different from those that would suit, say, a survey of European History class or a Judaic Studies class.

Can I use published editions of primary texts for my unit?

Open Iberia/América is published under a Creative Commons license (Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike International 4.0). This means that anyone can use, adapt, or reproduce the text for non-commerical purposes provided they clearly attribute the source and the license. This license allows for maximum diffusion and adaptation by users worldwide.

Because of the terms of the license, the primary text needs to be one that is either public domain (out of copyright), creative commons-licensed, or one for which you hold the copyright. For example, an 1884 edition would be out of copyright, and you could transcribe and/or adapt it directly for your unit. Or, if you were to produce an original transcription of a MS, you would hold copyright on that. For this project we are not going to depend on Fair Use because the excerpts are far longer than most interpretations of the doctrine allow (some 300 words in the stricter interpretations); neither are we going to be requesting permission for copyrights of published editions that are currently in copyright because (a) we have no budget to pay for rights when the copyright holder requests payment for permissions and (b) most publishers and authors do not understand creative commons licensing. which would complicate the process of acquiring permissions, and (c) I would prefer that all our texts be free and clear of these issues so that we can stand as an example of truly Open OER (Open Educational Resources).