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.
Library Journal reports on Library Directors' Statement On Scientific American
In an article entitled "More Dismay About Scientific American: CIC Libraries Reject New Site License," Library Journal Norman Oder wrote that the Library Directors "have expressed their opposition to Nature Publishing Group’s new site-license pricing for Scientific American and have begun to cut their subscriptions."
The article quotes CIC Center for Library Initiatives director Mark Sandler explaining that the price hike has resulted in cancellations at most of the CIC libraries. "Most of the CIC libraries have agreed not to license the
electronic version of the magazine and rely instead on print access. As for
print access, most schools have multiple copies but have instituted
cancellations to reduce the number of copies held," he said.