In partnership with 10 Big Ten-affiliated university presses, the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Center for Library Programs announces the expansion of the Big Ten Open Books project with the rolling publication of its next three 100-book collections.

The new titles explore a wide range of experiences and issues: 

• African- Asian- and Hispanic American Experiences collection brings together books on ethnicity, politics and culture, examining how these experiences have shaped American society and expression across generations.
• Health Disparities and Disability Culture collection explores disability, chronic illness, mental health, reproductive rights and medical advances through personal, cultural and policy perspectives.
• Human Environmental Impact collection examines conservation, sustainability and ecological ethics, spanning environmental policy and activism, agriculture, urban life and the ripple of art and literature in shaping environmental awareness.

All titles were originally published in print by the University of Illinois Press, Indiana University Press, University of Michigan Press, Michigan State University Press, University of Minnesota Press, Northwestern University Press, The Ohio State University Press, Penn State University Press, Purdue University Press and the University of Wisconsin Press. The BTAA Center for Library Programs is now making them available online and open access—free to read and reuse at no cost—on a rolling basis, as they are sponsored. 

Each title has undergone a rigorous selection and quality certification process that allows readers and users of this collection to trust the content's veracity. Making these works openly available allows them to have tremendous impact through global engagement and knowledge sharing. According to the Big Ten Open Books analytics dashboard, individual books and chapters have been downloaded almost 2 million times across 226 countries. So far, around 250 authors have benefited from the extra reach open access provides, with their books finding a second life with a broader audience.

Envisioning a robust, programmatic future for open monograph publishing, the Big Ten Open Books project has established a distinctive model for unified, open access publishing of scholarly monographs. It creates open content that is immediately and universally available on open infrastructure (the Fulcrum platform, hosted by the University of Michigan Library) using open distribution models (including Project MUSE, JSTOR, OAPEN, and The Palace Project from Lyrasis).

Funding for this collection has been provided by sponsorships from the member libraries of the BTAA, the University of California libraries, and many other libraries across the United States. Additional sponsorship opportunities remain available for libraries and organizations interested in joining this effort to make more scholarly books openly available to readers everywhere.

The BTAA continues its advocacy for a sustainable and open publishing ecosystem. Collectively, the institutions have invested significantly in our capacity to further the research mission by advancing public knowledge through open publishing. 

About the Big Ten Academic Alliance: 

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) is the nation’s preeminent model for effective collaboration among research universities. For decades, these institutions have advanced their academic missions, generated unique opportunities for students and faculty, and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources and collaborating on innovative programs. Governed and funded by the provosts of the member universities, BTAA mandates are coordinated by a staff headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.

The 19 world-class libraries of the BTAA include Indiana University, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of California Los Angeles, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Oregon, University of Southern California, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Chicago.