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

Big Ten Academic Alliance and University of Michigan Press Announce Fund to Mission Agreement

Aug 5, 2021, 14:52 PM

The Big Ten Academic Alliance and the University of Michigan Press have signed a three-year agreement that provides multi-year support for Fund to Mission from all fifteen member libraries. Fund to Mission is the Press’s open access monograph model that aligns with its mission and commitment to equity, justice, inclusion, and accessibility.The model demonstrates a return to the origins of the university press movement and moves toward a more open, sustainable infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences. It is one of several programs that university presses are developing to expand the reach of their specialist publications.

The Big Ten Academic Alliance and the University of Michigan Press have signed a three-year agreement that provides multi-year support for Fund to Mission from all fifteen member libraries.

Fund to Mission is the Press’s open access monograph model that aligns with its mission and commitment to equity, justice, inclusion, and accessibility.The model demonstrates a return to the origins of the university press movement and moves toward a more open, sustainable infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences. It is one of several programs that university presses are developing to expand the reach of their specialist publications.

With this model, UMP aims to convert at least 75% of its frontlist monographs to open access by the end of 2023, without any author ever having to pay. The Press is working to build a sustainable model by achieving stable funding for this monograph program from three sources: annual funding from the library community, recurring funds from the University of Michigan, and other funder payments. The commitment from BTAA builds on support from a number of libraries and consortia as well as additional funding from the Provost at U-M. 

“The Fund to Mission model advances the goals of the Big Ten Academic Alliance by supporting not only open content but open infrastructure,” states Rob Van Rennes, Associate Director, Library Initiatives for the BTAA.  “We couldn’t be happier to join UM Press in creating an equitable, sustainable infrastructure for our members and the broader community.”

The Big Ten Academic Alliance members are: Indiana University, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Chicago.

“We are thrilled to have the support of the BTAA,” says James Hilton, Dean of Libraries and Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at the University of Michigan. “The support from this community of libraries allows the Press to continue offering the highest quality humanities and social science scholarship on a platform that is built to support it in a way that is equitable, inclusive, and accessible for all authors and users.”