The aim of this paper is to analyse the current situation of Open Educational Resources (OER) in the Spanish university context, specifically in the 76 universities members of REBIUN (Network of Spanish University Libraries). This is an example of how particular Domains (institutional repositories) and other tools (publication platforms, policies, incentives, etc) are used for OER implementation at Higher Education.

Nowadays many factors bring OER, until now somewhat forgotten, to the forefront of current affairs: from the quality education of sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda and the recommendations of UNESCO (2019) on the use of OER to the strong increase in the consumption of online content; because of the current COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns. All of this shows OER as a key solution to advance innovation and knowledge development. In this context, universities, and more specifically, university libraries, have a great challenge and opportunity.

Obviously, the starting point for effective OER development must be an accurate analysis of the current reality, which is the reason for this paper. The research methodology used is double: firstly, an online survey distributed among the REBIUN universities in 2019 (obtaining the 70% of response). On the other hand, a content analysis conducted from the Rebiun directory of institutional repositories (IRs); in which it was determined that 45 of them (the 59,2%) have teaching collections.

The object of study was to identify the main characteristics of the educational resources included in the IRs (volume, timeline, type, licences, metadata and formats); as well as the publication platforms used in Higher education (virtual campus, IRs, OpenCourseWare -OCW- and other external channels), the policies and strategies to promote OER and the possible incentives for authors who create them. Finally, a classification of the repositories according to their various stages of development has been proposed. The main criteria to determine this were the purpose and the level of openness of the OER deposited in them.

The conclusions from this study reflects the heterogeneity of OER and their limited openness level, although the use of Creative Commons licences is widespread. However, it also reflects a growing interest in this type of resource in the university environment. So, interdisciplinary cooperation between the different actors involved – teachers, students, librarians, and university teaching support services – become essential for the promotions of OER. The role of libraries in this cooperation is key, as they can offer support and advice in creation, management, dissemination, sharing and reuse of OER.