Libraries

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.

web accessibility
Library Accessibility Group webinar: Revised ADA Title II in the Library
The slides and recording from the webinar on August 27, 2024 are now available.
Academy Owned Scholarly Publishing Landscape Report
Launched in the fall of 2022, the Big Ten Academic Alliance [BTAA] landscape assessment of academy owned scholarly publishing activities explores the shared challenges and opportunities facing publishing programs and operations within the Big Ten institutions.
big ten open books
Big Ten Open Books
Big Ten Open Books connects readers everywhere to fully accessible, trusted books from leading university presses. Established as a new model for open-access publishing focused on equity and inclusion, we invite you to explore our Gender and Sexuality studies collection.
BIG Collection: Resource Access Policy Harmonization Report
The Resource Access Policy Harmonization pilot team is pleased to share their final report. Aspirational in nature, the report includes the new BTAA Resource Sharing Agreement plus Scanning Standards; reaffirms the Principles and Protocols for Sharing Special Collections within the Big Ten; and articulates important next steps for future pilot projects and working group investigations.

Library News


Article examines CIC, University of Chicago digitization efforts

Nov 6, 2009, 11:14 AM

The Nov. 6 edition of the Chicago Maroon examines the University of Chicago's participation in the CIC's mass digitization partnership with the Google Book Search Project. "Scanning and digitizing one book costs $60. Scanning and digitizing the University’s 7.7 million printed...

The Nov. 6 edition of the Chicago Maroon examines the University of Chicago's participation in the CIC's mass digitization partnership with the Google Book Search Project.

"Scanning and digitizing one book costs $60. Scanning and digitizing the University’s 7.7 million printed works would cost $462 million. A price as steep as that makes it easy to understand why the University of Chicago is not leading a digitizing initiative on its own," writes reporter Al Gaspari.

 
The article quotes Judith Nadler, director of the University of Chicago Library, as well as CIC Director Barbara McFadden Allen.