PubMed: an untapped source for open educational resource images.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	PubMed: an untapped source for open educational resource images.
Authors:	Svoboda, Ellie¹ ellie.svoboda@cuanschutz.edu, Connolly, Teresa² (NURSE) teresa.connolly@cuanschutz.edu
Source:	Journal of the Medical Library Association. Apr2026, Vol. 114 Issue 2, p159-163. 5p.
Subjects:	Medical education, Teaching aids, Digital diagnostic imaging, Medical libraries, Textbooks, Photography, MEDLINE, Online information services, College students, Nursing students
Abstract:	Background: Open Educational Resources (OER) are free learning materials that benefit students in higher education, including in the health sciences. As more health sciences OER materials are created, there is a need for openly licensed health sciences images. Traditional OER repositories lack specialized health sciences imagery while PubMed is a biomedical database that has potential to fill this gap. Case Presentation: A nursing faculty partnered with a health sciences librarian to search PubMed for openly licensed images for a pathophysiology OER textbook. The librarian used existing filters in PubMed to identify articles that have Creative Commons licenses as well as images. The nursing faculty assessed these images and added relevant ones to the pathophysiology textbook. Conclusions: PubMed is a free resource that health sciences librarians use on a regular basis. Utilizing the database to find openly licensed materials allows librarians to use a familiar tool for a new and exciting purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Journal of the Medical Library Association is the property of University of Pittsburgh, University Library System and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Engineering Source

Description
Abstract:	Background: Open Educational Resources (OER) are free learning materials that benefit students in higher education, including in the health sciences. As more health sciences OER materials are created, there is a need for openly licensed health sciences images. Traditional OER repositories lack specialized health sciences imagery while PubMed is a biomedical database that has potential to fill this gap. Case Presentation: A nursing faculty partnered with a health sciences librarian to search PubMed for openly licensed images for a pathophysiology OER textbook. The librarian used existing filters in PubMed to identify articles that have Creative Commons licenses as well as images. The nursing faculty assessed these images and added relevant ones to the pathophysiology textbook. Conclusions: PubMed is a free resource that health sciences librarians use on a regular basis. Utilizing the database to find openly licensed materials allows librarians to use a familiar tool for a new and exciting purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	15365050
DOI:	10.5195/jmla.2026.2210