Libraries
The Libraries of the Big Ten Academic Alliance are aligned in the vision of uniting our separate collections into one collection, shared and fully networked: the BIG Collection. By this phrase we mean a holistic and comprehensive understanding of what a library "collection" is: not simply the things we hold, but our services; our people; our expertise; our technology; and our infrastructure.
In advancing this future of interdependence and excellence, we are guided by our North Star in everything that we do:
In order to advance a just, trustworthy, scalable & sustainable open knowledge ecosystem, make open, more equitable scholarship our lead purpose.
On these pages, you'll find more about the services, programs, and community that are advancing this vision in a principles-centered, mission-driven, values-aligned way.
ADA Title II & Libraries
Catch the webinar replay + slides from our August 27 event. Now posted on our Accessibility page.
Big Ten Open Books
A new model for open-access publishing—free, trusted titles from Big Ten university presses..
Shared Print White Paper
Explore the vision for a collaborative, distributed archive across Big Ten libraries.
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Big Ten Academic Alliance libraries are now live with OCLC Resource Sharing for Groups
Jun 17, 2024, 11:28 by Kara McKinnOCLC is partnering with the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) to advance development of OCLC Resource Sharing for Groups, a new solution that reimagines resource sharing with a focus on library groups and consortia. OCLC and the BTAA are working together to support the evolution of BTAA's UBorrow service, which offers access to more than 90 million books from the collections of 15 university libraries and the Center for Research Libraries, as part of OCLC's Resource Sharing for Groups.Full story -
Big Ten Academic Alliance libraries and Coherent Digital expand coverage of the Global South
May 1, 2024, 14:44 by Kara McKinnToday, the libraries of Big Ten Academic Alliance confirmed the purchase of three additional modules of Africa Commons, a large-scale, multiyear project to digitize, disseminate, and discover African cultural materials, building on their 2022 founding-member purchase of the first module, African History and Culture. In addition, the Big Ten Academic Alliance has been named a founding member of South Asia Commons.Full story -
Better together: BTAA Libraries, CDL and Lyrasis commit to strengthen Diamond Open Access in the United States
Apr 18, 2024, 10:59 by Kara McKinnRepresentatives from the Big Ten Academic Alliance Libraries (BTAA Libraries), California Digital Library (CDL) and Lyrasis attended the Global Summit on Diamond Open Access in Toluca, Mexico in October 2023. The Summit convened the international community to engage in dialog about how to advance Diamond Open Access(OA) to secure scholarly research as a public good and ensure equitable access to both the publishing and reading of that research.Full story -
The Big Ten Academic Alliance and the Biochemical Society Sign Read & Publish Agreement in Support of Open Access Publishing
Nov 8, 2023, 09:00 by Kara McKinnThe Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and the Biochemical Society are delighted to announce a Read & Publish agreement that supports the open sharing of research and knowledge from across the molecular biosciences.Full story -
Increasing Access: BTAA Libraries Project on Open Homework Systems
Sep 20, 2023, 10:33 by Kara McKinnPenn State University Libraries is leading a pilot project on behalf of the Big Ten Academic Alliance to develop a model for supporting open-source online homework delivery systems as supplemental resources for teaching with open educational resources (OER).Full story