Background: As open educational resources (OER) are made and updated, careful crediting of laborers is needed; training and vetted systems still need to be improved. Methods: An OER textbook created with undergraduate (UG) support to write, edit, and design graphics. Contributors are listed on each chapter’s title page by role based on the version history of Google Docs and delegation in Airtable. Expectations are outlined in a contract. On publication, UGs are thanked for their effort and sent guidance on listing the achievement on a resume or professional profile. Results: Across 9 chapters, 12 authors, 8 editors, and 6 designers have been credited. A spreadsheet of collaborators by role was used to double check and a template email was developed. The system evolves with lessons learned. Discussion: Recognizing workers demonstrates care, and crediting efforts avoids plagiarism! Deliberate use of a system supports credit; ours can be used and adapted by others.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Discuss the importance of crediting content creators and the ethical considerations involved in properly acknowledging the work of others.
- Recognize historical failures and shortcomings in crediting contributors, particularly in academic and creative fields, and understand the negative impact this has had on marginalized groups.
- Describe our novel online system designed for accurately track and attribute contributions, fostering transparency and accountability.
- Implement and adapt a well-developed system that allows for seamless crediting of creators and contributors when developing new Open Educational Resources (OERs) or on other collaborative projects.
- Create a template response for use in thanking contributors and providing guidance regarding how to cite their contribution on their resume and professional profiles.
