Unfortunately, students must always purchase case studies from vendors like Harvard Business Publishing, INSEAD, and WDI Publishingbefore reading them. These publishers almost never offer their products for free.
To save students money, instructors may consider replacing the cases with journal articles.
Copyright law always allows you to share links to articles at no cost. To save students money, please consider removing PDFs of articles from Canvas (or another platform) and replacing them with links to the articles.
Many reliable news sources like Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal "paywall" their articles, or require students to purchase a subscription before they can read the article online.
Fortunately, the University of Michigan Library subscribes to most business and economics periodicals, and these subscriptions include "permanent" or "stable" links to articles. We recommend using these "permalinks" whenever you can! These links will take students to the article's full text in a database (Such as ABI/INFORM or EBSCOhost), rather than to the periodical's website.
Library Director Corey Seeman has compiled a Guide to Favorite Business Periodicals, which includes links to all the library's subscriptions.
You may be permitted to post a PDF (rather than a link) on a Canvas site if the work's Creative Commons license permits it. Just look for the Creative Commons license somewhere on the work, or contact the author directly. The University Library provides an intriguing guide to Creative Commons licenses and what they allow.
Use the Library Search (below) to find e-books, then send those e-books' links to your students.
These links will take students to the e-book on its publisher's platform (such as O'Reilly, ProQuest, or EBSCO), where they can read the book in their browser or, in some cases, download and save sections for later. As long as they use the link you found in the Library Search, they will not hit a paywall.
Due to agreements with publishers and platforms, no two e-books have the same features and functions. To avoid surprises, please be sure to review the following before you share an e-book's link with students:
While few vendors offer simulations without requiring payments from students, the University does offer a few options:
The University has contracts with quite a few software vendors, so your students will not need to pay for that particular software "out-of-pocket." Here are a few lists of those subscriptions:
If an intriguing simulation is not available through the University, please contact the vendor directly. Many are willing to offer free trials - or a substantial discount - to faculty members who introduce their products to such a large audience.
The guide below has many examples of open-access textbooks, which are always available at no cost. If you have any questions about the quality or suitability of these books, please consult your Area Chair or a Kresge Librarian.
You may always share links to e-textbooks in the library's collections! To find them, please use the "Catalog Search" below, or visit the MLibrary Search Page for advanced searching options.
If you don't see a book you like in the library's collection, contact us at kresge_library@umich.edu. We may be able to purchase a digital version of the textbook to add to our collection.
To save students money, you may place a copy of a printed book on reserve at the Askwith Media Library. To do so, please complete this form: Place Items on Physical Request.
Note that reserves are not held at the Kresge Library. Students must travel to the Askwith Media Library - just off the Diag - to view the book in person.
Here are some sources of free stock photos to add to presentations or documents. Please read the Terms of Use: You may be asked to leave a watermark on the photo, to link to the photo, or to authenticate through UM's subscription to use them without paying royalties.
The University Library's Guide to General Image Resources has several more collections of photos and art you can browse!
You may always use a chart, table, or graph at no cost, especially if the author or designer has just compiled facts and has not added much original content. According to copyright law, these items are not copyrightable because they do not meet the originality standard.
For more, please take a look at the University Library's Guide to Copyrightability.
If you would like students to watch a video in class - or on Canvas- at no cost, please be sure that the the video is owned by the University Library or is otherwise available at no cost. The University Library has a good guide to using copyrighted videos in class, and some additional resources are found below.
The University Library has a fantastic collection of videos and subscriptions to streaming services. The Library can acquire a film for you upon request, or digitize almost any video they already own in a physical format.
Please browse the Library's digital film resources here:
Unfortunately, students must always pay royalties before viewing videos from Harvard Business Publishing. Please contact us at kresge_learn@umich.edu for assistance ordering and distributing these videos.
TED Talks can always be viewed at no cost. Please find them on the TED Watch page.
Our database Redbooks offers an archive of commercials, print and online advertisements, and other marketing materials.
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This link opens in a new windowHere are samples of the kinds of books we have in the library. No need to ask your students to buy these - just share the links!
