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.
CIC Staff Serve as Panelists at Major Conferences
Mark Sandler, director of the CIC's Center for Library Initiatives (CLI), was on a distinguished panel of experts discussing the proposed Google Book Search settlement on June 26 at the American Library Association annual conference in Washington, D.C.
The panel discussed what the outcome of the proposed settlement will mean for the future of libraries and digitization efforts. The other panelists were James Grimmelmann, Professor, New York University Law School; Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office; and Johanna Shelton, Senior Policy Counsel, Google. It was mediated by Jonathan Band, intellectual property attorney and counsel for the ALA.
On June 18, CLI assistant director Kim Armstrong was a member of the "Academic Library Buying Patterns: Shifting Budgets and More eResources" panel at the Association of American University Presses annual meeting in Salt Lake City. The panel explored how academic libraries are reacting to budget cuts in terms of collection development.