About The Guidelines

The development of these guidelines began in December 2024, when an initial draft was created by the Texas A&M University’s OpenEd unit based on established best practices and community needs. The draft was then shared with key stakeholders, including authors and the Texas A&M OER campus committee. In addition, the Shared Network guidelines received feedback from OER librarians representing Texas A&M University System institutions.

We collected input for a month, carefully reviewed all suggestions, and incorporated changes where appropriate. The revised guidelines were submitted to the Office of General Counsel for review and, following minor revisions, received final approval in June 2025.

These guidelines aim to reflect shared values and consistent practices across the two types of services, the Shared Network and Texas A&M University–College Station, that the Texas A&M University System’s Open Digital Publishing (ODP) platform provides, and will be updated as needed to respond to evolving needs.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at OpenEdHelp@tamu.edu.