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.
University of Maryland and Rutgers University Officially Become Members of the CIC
The University of Maryland and Rutgers University have become members of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, effective July 1, 2013.
Maryland and Rutgers join the CIC at a very exciting time for the consortium. For more than 55 years, CIC member universities have collaborated to advance their academic missions, generate unique opportunities for students and faculty, and serve the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and creating innovative programming.
The addition of the University of Maryland and Rutgers University will increase CIC membership to 15 institutions, which includes the Big Ten Conference institutions and the University of Chicago. All CIC universities share a very strong research emphasis. Together CIC universities engage in $8.4 billion in funded research each year—the addition of these two universities will push that to $9.3 billion, and will add another 8 million library volumes and over 5,600 more full-time faculty to the collective resources of the consortium. In addition, these new colleagues bring leading-edge collaborative research programs such as the Cell and DNA Repository and UN Study Program at Rutgers and the National Foreign Language Center and National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at Maryland.
From sharing lab resources and facilities, to digitizing millions of book volumes, to strategically co-investing in technology infrastructure, CIC universities work smarter, harder, together every day.
Said CIC Executive Director Barbara McFadden Allen, "We are pleased to welcome so many distinguished faculty and staff from Rutgers and Maryland. Our campus visits have reinforced our belief that these outstanding universities are a perfect fit—culturally and academically—for the CIC.”
Contacts:
- Barbara McFadden Allen, Executive Director
Committee on Institutional Cooperation
bmallen@staff.cic.net
217-766-1425 - Crystal Brown, Chief Communications Officer
University of Maryland
crystalb@umd.edu
301-405-4618 - Kim Manning, Vice President for University Relations
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
kmanning@oldqueens.rutgers.edu
848-932-1769
About the CIC: The CIC is the nation's premier higher education consortium of top-tier research institutions, including the Big Ten Conference members and the University of Chicago. Through collaboration CIC members save money, share assets, and increase teaching, learning and research opportunities. Founded in 1958, CIC members engage in voluntary, sustained partnerships such as library collections and access collaborations; technology collaborations to build capacity at reduced costs; purchasing and licensing collaborations through economies of scale; leadership and development programs for faculty and staff; programs that allow students to take courses at other institutions; and study-abroad collaborations. For more information, please visit www.cic.net or watch a short video on the consortium.