Resources for Teaching

A CQU female student standing in front of a library bookshelf.

eReading Lists

The Library maintains the eReading list system which provides a single access point for unit readings. It is integrated with Moodle and BeDifferent platforms. 

A unit eReading list can be used to complement, or even replace, a textbook, providing students with free access to resources, including: 

  • Electronic resources from the library collection, including ebooks, journal articles, and videos
  • Freely available material on the web, including websites, online documents/reports, and videos
  • Digitised readings created from print resources

For more information, see the Using eReading Lists page.

eBooks as a teaching resource

eBooks are books that have been published in an electronic format. They are a fantastic resource to use for your teaching as they can be searched for and accessed via Library Search or one of our library databases from anywhere, at any given time. 

While CQUniversity Library does provide access to a range of ebooks on a number of subjects and topics, how they can be accessed and used depends on what database the ebook is held in and what the licensing conditions for that ebook are. 

For example:

  • Some databases that hold an ebook may require that Adobe Digital Editions be installed in order to download a book.
  • Some ebooks may have a license that only lets a certain number of users access a book at the same time, e.g. a 10 concurrent user licence. This simply means only 10 people could access and use the ebook at that time. Until one of the users exits out of the database where the ebook is held, no one else will be able to use that book.

Understanding and using eBooks fact sheet provides further information on ebook license conditions for access and use. Please note that factsheets are only available to CQUniversity staff. 

Textbooks

Before the start of each term, the Library works to ensure that all prescribed and supplementary texts listed in AIMS are available in the collection. Therefore, it is important that all texts (especially prescribed texts) are included in AIMS, within the normal submission timelines, to facilitate this purchasing process. The library purchases textbooks following these principles: 

  • Where possible, the Library will purchase books in electronic format.
  • The number of print copies or user licences (in the case of ebooks) will depend on availability and enrolments in the unit.

Using Open Textbooks and Open Educational Resources

The Library team is also happy to talk to you further about the use of Open Educational Resources (OERS). OERs, including open textbooks, are free educational items that are in the public domain or have an open licence, and are usually written by academics or subject experts. 

Both open textbooks, and other OERS, can be included in eReading lists, or used as a textbook.

For more information, see the Alternative Textbook Options and Open Textbooks fact sheets. Please note that factsheets are only available to CQUniversity staff.

Library Resources for Indonesian Units

Due to licensing restrictions, print resources and some CQUniversity Library databases are not available to staff and students located at the Jakarta Centre.

There are two ways you can search for Library resources available to staff and students in Indonesia.

Where To Find Specific Resources

Business case studies can be found in a select number of business databases. The Finding Business Case Studies fact sheet provides the details on how to find case studies for some of these databases.

Note: Fact sheets are only available to CQUniversity staff.

Images can be sourced from a wide range of open access websites. Usually, these are copyright free for educational purposes. The Open Access and Creative Commons page has further information on this. 

If you need help with copyright for images, see the Copyright for Teaching page for further information. 

The Find specialised information page has information on finding statistics and standards for your teaching.

CQUniversity Library provides access to a collection of videos across different discipline areas. They can be found on databases that provide video content. 

Go to a list of image and video databases to see all the current databases that provide video content.

Notably, the ability to share or embed links into your Moodle units and eReading Lists varies from database to database.  Additional support on using Kanopy Video Collection and ClickView content is available in Staffnet (Requires a CQUniversity staff log in). 

Help Options For Finding Resources

Please visit the Using Library Search  page for more details on using the platform.

Selecting the most appropriate databases is an important step in your research process.

The Library provides access to a number of research databases that aim to index a broad range of publications across each research / discipline area, and from many different publishers. You will need to search a number of databases to make sure that you've covered the topic fully.

  1. Go to our Databases page for a full list of databases available through CQUniversity.
  2. Use the left-hand menu to limit to a list of relevant databases:
    • Select your discipline area from the Study Areas drop down menu to get a list of databases relevant to your area of research.
    • Select Type of Resource to find lists of databases containing specific types of information like standards or statistics or images. 
  3. Read the database descriptions to see what kind of information each database has and what the coverage is.
  4. Choose the databases that have the type of information you need to answer your research question.
  5. Click the database name in the search results to open the record for that database.
  6. Click the database name under View Online to go to that database and start searching.

If your research spans multiple disciplines, you will need to look at the lists of databases for each of these disciplines, or try searching a multidisciplinary database. If you are researching nursing, for example, you will need the list of nursing databases, but you might also need the psychology databases depending on your research question.

Your lecturer or supervisor should also be able to recommend key databases for you to search. 

Subject Guides provide an overview of specific resources and databases available for a discipline. There is one subject guide per discipline or broad subject area. These can be found on the Browse Guides and Videos page.

The Open Access and Creative Commons page includes information on how to find open access resources (e.g. books and journal).

Need Help?

Ask Us

We’re here to help. Get in touch with the Library for advice and guidance on your library needs.

Browse Guides and Videos

Learn about research and finding information. Use our self-help guides and videos to get started, find specialised resources, and more.

Understanding Copyright

Use our guides and online training to ensure you are meeting copyright requirements in your course content.