When you are developing an OER textbook, in most cases you will likely be building on the work of others who have already created material and licensed it under Creative Commons. Why re-invent the wheel if someone else has already written a great chapter about a topic you want to cover in your OER?

In these circumstances, your OER project could take one of two different forms: a collection or a remix (aka adaptation or derivative). In this guide, you will learn how to recognize these two types of OER projects and why it matters as a creator. It's important to know the difference because it has implications for what materials you can use in your project and how you can subsequently license your project.