91ÊÓƵ

Advancing the academic excellence of member institutions through national leadership, collaboration, and co-investment

In an unprecedented collaborative gesture, the research libraries of the Big Ten 91ÊÓƵ have committed to intentionally managing their core collections of books and digital assets as one collection to meet the growing needs of faculty, researchers and students on each campus.  The BIG Collection is the overarching initiative to advance this commitment.

The objective of the BIG Collection is to create a knowledge commons for the Big Ten universities, with content universally available to all Big Ten faculty, students, and researchers without regard to what institution produced or purchased it, supported by interoperable services and systems that rest on a foundation of shared infrastructure. 

To this end, the university libraries will implement the necessary systems, policies, and services needed to create an integrated user experience of the networked collections, from discovery to delivery. Individual libraries will continue to offer distinctive collections and services focused on local needs, but enabling a networked approach will ensure the collective good, leveraging these remarkable libraries’ collections.