The University Library is pleased to be part of the launch of Big Ten Open Books, a collaboration between the member libraries of the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) and six member university presses. This project demonstrates and nurtures a robust partnership based on mutually held values between presses and libraries to address the future of scholarly monograph publishing, access, and preservation.

The first 100-title collection of open access materials, published on open access infrastructure and distributed through open discovery systems, centers on Gender and Sexuality studies.

“This is an exciting example of what’s possible when our Big Ten libraries and presses work together to design entirely new models for disseminating scholarship,” said Claire Stewart, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at Illinois. “I’m optimistic that this strong start will lead to even more ambitious collaborations in the future. Vibrant university presses are an essential part of our shared knowledge creation mission, and I’m delighted that we’ve reached this key milestone.”

News release courtesy of the Big Ten Academic Alliance