Textbook costs are increasing. Students opt to get through a course without the textbook to save money. Faculty recognizing this challenge might consider free alternatives to the conventional textbook to save students money and increase the likelihood of students having access to the textbook by using open access and open education resources. In this document, I identify and discuss several factors that instructors should consider before choosing open education or open access textbooks readings for their courses. I used open education and open access materials in Introduction to Sociology, but many of the factors to consider apply to courses beyond Introduction to Sociology.