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


Strength in Numbers: Building a Consortial Cooperative Cataloging Partnership

Oct 23, 2017, 11:13 AM

Librarians across the Big Ten Academic Alliance are collaborating to provide greater access to cross-institutional collections through a strategic effort to supplement cataloging capacity.

The reading room at the Ohio State University Library

Librarians across the Big Ten Academic Alliance are collaborating to provide greater access to cross-institutional collections through a strategic effort to supplement cataloging capacity.

A recent article in ALA's Library Resources & Technical Services journal explores the BTAA's cooperative cataloging partnership, which has enabled over 1240 titles in 40 languages to be added to collections. Strength in Numbers: Building a Consortial Cooperative Cataloging Partnership, outlines the project's major findings and describes the subsequent implementation of a robust multi-institutional partnership program for sharing cataloging expertise across the consortium.

From the abstract:
In April 2014, eight institutions from the Big Ten Academic Alliance began a one-year pilot study to track costs, workflows, challenges, and opportunities associated with sharing cataloging expertise for languages and resource formats needed across the participating libraries. Data was collected on the levels of staff performing the work (student, staff assistant, librarian), shipping costs, scanning costs, and cataloging costs. In many cases, the overall cataloging costs incurred by participating institutions were less than costs currently associated with options for vended outsourcing. The cost findings were particularly encouraging for textual materials (monographs and serials), which continue to form the bulk of collections.

Full Article