PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS IN HANDLING AND MANAGING OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES (OERs): BASIS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING PLAN

Objective . This study determined the perceptions of academic librarians on open educational resources (OERs) in terms of familiarity, utilization by patron and purpose, management practices of OERs in terms of handling and storage, organization and marketing, and problems encountered in handling and managing OERs. Methods . It utilized quantitative-qualitative research design or mixed method using a validated researcher-made questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, which mainly consist of frequency distribution, percentile, mean and standard deviation, were used while thematic analysis was utilized for the qualitative data. Results and Discussion . The study revealed that academic librarians are moderately aware on OERs. Regarding digitized library collections, academic librarians are fully aware. In terms of utilization by patron, it was reported that majority of the types of OERs are rarely utilized. The top three types which are seldom utilized by patrons are course materials, digitized library collections and open textbooks. Conclusions . The familiarity of librarians on OERs depends on the degree of their exposure to such resources. Utilization of OERs by patron improves when guided on how to use them. Purpose is defined based on the optimal usage of the OERs. Lack of familiarity and exposure to OERs may lead to poor handling and storage, organization and marketing of these resources resulting to low appreciation from clients. A capacity building plan is needed to improve the handling and management of OERs in academic libraries.