12 outside libraries
Where the material comes from
Novus Learn writes its own explanations and points you at other people’s libraries for the source material. This is all of them, with the licence each one publishes, the credit it asks for, and the date a person last read those terms.
Link first, copy second
Linking to a library costs nothing but a working link. Copying from one takes on its licence, its attribution, its accessibility and its corrections, permanently. So everything here starts as a link, and an entry only moves to “reproduced” once someone has read its terms and put their name against keeping them current.
Right now 12 of 12 are linked only, and nothing is reproduced here. Most of these are catalogues rather than single works, so the licence shown is the collection’s. Individual items inside them carry their own terms and have to be checked one at a time.
None of this is legal advice, and a date here records when someone read the terms, not a promise that they still say the same thing. Check before you reuse anything.
Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
The encyclopedia Novus Learn already builds topics from. Articles cite their own sources, which is what makes a generated lesson checkable.
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0 for article text; media licensed individually Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Wikimedia Foundation), CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Accessibility
- Semantic article markup and good heading structure. Image alt text is inconsistent because it is contributor-supplied.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
Wikibooks
Wikimedia Foundation
Open textbooks organised into chapters, which suits sequential study better than an encyclopedia.
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0 for text; media licensed individually Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Wikibooks contributors (Wikimedia Foundation), CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Accessibility
- Same platform and markup as Wikipedia.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
Wikiversity
Wikimedia Foundation
Course-shaped learning material and activities, useful as a structure reference rather than as a source of prose.
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0 for text; media licensed individually Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Wikiversity contributors (Wikimedia Foundation), CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Accessibility
- Same platform and markup as Wikipedia. Material quality varies widely by subject.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
OpenStax
Rice University
Peer-reviewed, openly licensed college textbooks. The most citable of these for structured subject teaching.
- Licence
- Creative Commons, licence stated per title Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- OpenStax, Rice University. Licence and attribution as stated on the individual title.
- Accessibility
- Publishes an accessibility statement and offers accessible web and PDF formats.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
MIT OpenCourseWare
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Real course materials: syllabi, problem sets, lecture notes and some video.
- Licence
- Mostly CC BY-NC-SA; the non-commercial term matters here Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- MIT OpenCourseWare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Accessibility
- Accessibility varies by course; older courses carry scanned PDFs with no text layer.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
NASA learning resources
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Space and earth-science material, imagery and data, much of it usable with attribution.
- Licence
- Generally not copyrighted, with named exceptions for logos, insignia and some third-party media Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Courtesy NASA. Individual items may carry third-party rights.
- Accessibility
- Federal accessibility obligations apply; captions are common on video.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
NOAA Education
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Weather, ocean and climate teaching material with real observational data behind it.
- Licence
- Generally in the public domain as a US government work, with third-party exceptions Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Courtesy NOAA. Individual items may carry third-party rights.
- Accessibility
- Federal accessibility obligations apply.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
Library of Congress
Library of Congress
Primary sources: manuscripts, photographs, maps and recordings, with teacher guidance on using them.
- Licence
- Varies by item; the catalogue records rights per record Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Library of Congress. Rights and reproduction information as stated on the item record.
- Accessibility
- Transcriptions exist for some collections and not others.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
Smithsonian Learning Lab
Smithsonian Institution
Museum collections arranged into teachable sets across science, art and history.
- Licence
- Varies by item; part of the collection is released under Smithsonian Open Access Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Smithsonian Institution. Rights as stated on the individual object.
- Accessibility
- Object descriptions are generally present; alt text quality varies.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
An index of vetted open-access journals. The route to a primary paper when a claim needs one.
- Licence
- Varies per article; each journal and article states its own Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Indexed via DOAJ. Cite the article and its own licence, not DOAJ.
- Accessibility
- Depends entirely on the publishing journal.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
Full texts of works whose copyright has expired, in formats that read well offline.
- Licence
- Public domain IN THE UNITED STATES; the Project Gutenberg trademark has its own terms, and copyright status differs by country Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Project Gutenberg. Public-domain status is asserted for the United States and must be checked for other jurisdictions.
- Accessibility
- Plain text and EPUB are available, which read well in assistive technology.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed
Openverse
WordPress Foundation
A search across openly licensed images and audio, with the licence shown beside each result.
- Licence
- Varies per item; Openverse aggregates and does not relicense Check each item. These terms describe the collection, not every individual work in it.
- If we quote it
- Found via Openverse. Credit the original work and its own licence.
- Accessibility
- Openverse itself is accessible; the works it indexes carry whatever description their source gave them.
- How we use it
- Linked only. Nothing from this source is copied into Novus Learn.
- Terms last read
- · entry reviewed