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.
Library News

 

  • Big Ten Academic Alliance and Springer Nature Announce First-Ever Unlimited Open Access Publishing Agreement in the Americas

    May 29, 2025, 00:00 by Benjamin Hoogstraat
    On May 29, 2025, the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and Springer Nature announced a groundbreaking two-year Open Publishing Agreement; the first of its kind in the Americas to offer truly unlimited and uncapped open access publishing in Springer’s hybrid journals. Key highlights: - No fees, no caps, no limits: Faculty, students, and staff at participating BTAA institutions can publish open access articles without paying article processing charges (APCs). - Simplified publishing: Authors retain rights to their work, which is published under a Creative Commons license and made immediately accessible. - Expanded access: All participating campuses gain full read access to over 2,200 Springer hybrid journals, including titles from Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Adis, and nature.com. - Operational efficiency: The agreement eliminates administrative overhead by centralizing payments and streamlining workflows. - Participating institutions include 14 major research universities such as the University of Michigan, University of Illinois, and University of Wisconsin, with more eligible to join. This agreement reflects a shared commitment to open science, increased research visibility, and equitable access to scholarly publishing.
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  • Big Ten Academic Alliance Renews Support for MIT Press’s Direct to Open, Driving Open Access to 80 New Monographs in 2025

    Jan 16, 2025, 11:53 by Kara McKinn
    The Big Ten Academic Alliance proudly announces its renewed three-year commitment to the MIT Press’s Direct to Open (D2O) program. This innovative initiative, which has successfully reached its funding goal for 2025, will open access to 80 new scholarly monographs and edited collections, further advancing the global public knowledge commons.
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  • Big Ten Academic Alliance Groups Mobilize to Further Digital Accessibility

    Aug 5, 2024, 12:10 by Kara McKinn
    Preparing to respond to the new Title II accessibility regulations, several peer communities banded together to form Big Ten Academic Alliance Accessibility Collaboration. Partnering across the consortium are the IT Accessibility Group, ADA Coordinators, Learning Technology Leaders, the Library Accessibility Group, and others.
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  • Big Ten Academic Alliance Welcomes UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington

    Aug 2, 2024, 11:02 by Kara McKinn
    The Big Ten Academic Alliance is excited to welcome the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Southern California (USC), the University of Oregon, and the University of Washington into the nation's premier consortium of leading research universities. For over 65 years, the world-class institutions of the Big Ten have advanced their academic missions, generated unique opportunities for students and faculty, and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and collaborating on innovative programs.
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  • Big Ten Academic Alliance + Next Generation Library Publishing Announce the Launch of a Pilot Project

    Jul 24, 2024, 09:51 by Kara McKinn
    The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) is excited to announce a partnership with the Next Generation Library Publishing (NGLP) project. This collaboration aims to test and enhance infrastructure solutions for academy-owned scholarly publishing programs that are open source, community-led, and rooted in academic values. The pilot project will create a unified discovery layer for the diverse publishing platforms of participating libraries, presenting them as a single, shared collection of open access materials.
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