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.

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

Library Accessibility Alliance Announces New Website & Expanded Resources

Aug 23, 2021, 11:32 AM

Members of the Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA) are pleased to announce their new website, featuring enhancements to the popular accessibility evaluations of databases, along with an expanded collection of resources.

Members of the (LAA) are pleased to announce their , featuring enhancements to the popular accessibility evaluations of databases, along with an expanded collection of resources.

The new website provides a critical platform for the collective鈥檚 2021 priorities: sharing the results from accessibility testing of library e-resources, offering assessments of previous LAA work, providing robust collections of training and related resources, as well as a new White Paper that is an examination of the efforts of e-resource accessibility testing through 2020.

鈥淭he Big Ten 91视频 is proud to be partnering with our consortial colleagues in launching the new Library Accessibility Alliance Website,鈥� stated Rob Van Rennes, Associate Director, Library Initiatives at the Big Ten 91视频. 鈥淐ollaboration lies at the heart of our work and the new LAA website embodies the principles that we value.鈥�

Amy Drayer, User Interface Developer at the University of Minnesota Libraries, described the revised access to e-resource accessibility reports: "The testing group was doing amazing work creating accessibility awareness and providing opportunities to vendors to improve their product. What we needed was to make the reports themselves more intuitive to help inform the library community of these efforts. By extracting data, we could make the work more meaningful from more perspectives.鈥�

Stephanie Rosen, Library Accessibility Strategist at the University of Michigan, said: 鈥淭he Library Accessibility Alliance is a powerful combination of existing organizations, now representing about 100 member libraries. The new website is a more accessible platform that makes our evaluations of vendor e-resources more understandable and usable for our community. It will also be the launch pad for the LAA鈥檚 growing work in training, advocacy, and other areas related to library accessibility.鈥�

The Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA) promotes equitable service and access to libraries and library resources. TheBig Ten 91视频 (BTAA) formed the Library E-Resource Accessibility Group in 2015 to address concerns about the accessibility of library e-resources. In 2019, the (ASERL) partnered with the BTAA creating the Library Accessibility Alliance. In 2021, the and the also joined the effort. As the composition of the group has grown, the scope of work has also expanded to multiple areas in support of library accessibility.