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.
Student Newspaper Chronicles Digitization of Books at IU
IU's folklore collection, the largest in the world, is the first CIC "collection of distinction" to be digitized as part of the CIC's partnership with the Google Book Search project. Digitizing the folklore collection will begin in mid-May and with a goal to be finished by the end of the summer, according to the article.
The article quotes Patricia Steele, Ruth Lilly dean of University Libraries, as saying, “I think some people believe we are devaluing the book by digitizing them,” Steele said. “But by digitizing them we are providing a new discovery mechanism that the book never had before. For many people, if something isn’t online, it doesn’t exist.”