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.

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


CIC Professionals Speak at Recent Conferences

May 25, 2010, 16:23 PM

Mark Sandler, Director of the CIC Center for Library Initiatives, and Amber Marks, Assistant Director for Course Sharing and Professional Development, were featured guest speakers at two recent conferences. Sandler was invited to speak at the recent 2010 Medical Library...

Mark Sandler, Director of the CIC Center for Library Initiatives, and Amber Marks, Assistant Director for Course Sharing and Professional Development, were featured guest speakers at two recent conferences.

Sandler was invited to speak at the recent 2010 Medical Library Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C. He was one of two panelists for the May 24 session, "E-books and the Health Sciences Library: Fourth Annual Lecture on the Evidence-based Practice of Librarianship". Sandler's talk provided an overview of trends and developments in the e-book space; the CIC CLI has made recent high-profile purchases of e-books.

Marks was a presenter at the Fifth W. E. Petersen Symposium, "Challenges and Opportunities in Animal Science Graduate Education," on May 20 at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Marks' talk focused on CourseShare, the CIC's online distance learning collaboration. CourseShare facilitates the sharing of courses between member universities by utilizing various technologies, most notably videoconferencing. One of the symposium's goals was "to develop strategies for cooperation between universities in offering needed courses in an efficient and sustainable manner."

CIC staff often are invited to speak as guest lecturers, panelists, and speakers for a wide variety of events and occasions.