91视频

Libraries

Libraries

The Libraries of the Big Ten 91视频 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.

web accessibility
Library Accessibility Group webinar: Revised ADA Title II in the Library
The slides and recording from the webinar on August 27, 2024 are now available.
Explore the Future of Library Collaboration: Shared Print Collection White Paper Now Available
Discover the foundational ideas and strategic vision behind the Big Ten 91视频's Shared Print Collection. This new white paper outlines the progress and collective benefits of transitioning to a distributed, networked archive. Learn how the Shared Print Collection is redefining access, equity, and collaboration for the Big Ten community and beyond.
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

CIC's UBorrow wins The Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative's 2012 Innovation Award

Jun 20, 2012, 13:08 PM

CIC partners develop innovative technical solution to improve consortial borrowing for users The Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative has announced that the winner of the Rethinking Resource Sharing (RRS) 2012 Innovation Award is UBorrow, a project of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation....

UBorrow Logo


CIC partners develop innovative technical solution to improve consortial borrowing for users

The Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative has announced that the winner of the Rethinking Resource Sharing (RRS) 2012 Innovation Award is UBorrow, a project of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation.

This award comes with a $1000 stipend, and honors individuals or institutions for changes they have made to improve users鈥� access to information through resource sharing in their library, consortium, state or country. The CIC will be recognized for its innovative contribution to resource sharing during the Rethinking Resource Sharing Policies Committee Program at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference. 

UBorrow offers rapid access to over 90 million books from the collections of 13 university libraries in the Midwest and the Center for Research Libraries. Books requested through UBorrow will typically arrive on campus within a week and can be checked out for 12 weeks, with an option for a 4-week renewal. The relative proximity of CIC partners, as well as the commitments made by each institution, allows books to be delivered through UBorrow far more rapidly than they usually are through traditional interlibrary loan programs.

The CIC UBorrow solution marries the strengths of two different resource sharing systems to create a fast, reliable, cost-effective, scalable and unmediated consortial borrowing service that is relatively quick and easy to implement. The service uses Relais D2D to search CIC library catalogs through Z39.50 and to determine which libraries have available copies, while using OCLC ILLiad (developed by Atlas Systems) to manage the fulfillment of requests. 

The addition of Relais D2D to the CIC technology mix allows member libraries to leverage their existing ILS and ILL systems to more effectively meet their user needs, significantly reducing the need for users to recall checked-out material or for libraries to purchase multiple copies. Most importantly, this unmediated consortial borrowing system effectively makes most of the 90 million volumes held in the CIC libraries and the Center for Research Libraries readily available to library users through a single interface with a fast and predictable turnaround time and a generous loan period.

UBorrow is the result of a unique, three-way collaboration among consortia members and resource sharing software developers and an innovative approach to consortial borrowing that had not been accomplished before. 

Funding for the 2012 Innovation Award is provided by Relais International.

The Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative is an ad hoc group that advocates for a complete rethinking of the way libraries conduct resource sharing in the context of the global internet revolution and all of the developments that have arisen from that. The group is advocating for a revolution in the way libraries conduct resource sharing. For more information, please visit www.rethinkingresourcesharing.org.

For more information on CIC's UBorrow program, please visit the resource page.