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.
The Robot will get that for you . . . the University of Chicago's High-Tech Library
The Chronicle of Higher Education explores the University of Chicago's incredible underground stacks where books are shelved and retrieved by a complex robotic system.
". . . David N. Borycz, project manager at the library, demonstrates what happens when a patron wants an item. He uses the online library catalog to request a dissertation, "God's Gardeners," by David Kenneth Larsen. A few clicks and it's in the retrieval queue. Then a nearby door slides open. One of the five mechanical cranes has delivered up the bin to a small loading dock. And there, tucked among a series of other bound maroon volumes, is Mr. Larsen's dissertation.
It all takes about three minutes."