Big Ten Open Books
Big Ten Open Books Technical FAQ
General Information
Q: What is the Big Ten Open Books Collection?
A: The Big Ten Open Books initiative makes selected titles from Big Ten university presses free to read through deep collaboration between libraries and publishers, under the auspices of the BTAA Library Initiatives Big Collection. A particular focus of the initiative is on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is accomplished both through the subject matters of the titles selected and the accessible ways in which they are made available, open access on open-source publishing platforms. The June 2023 launch collection features 100 titles from six university presses focused on gender and sexuality studies. It is hoped that these books will be used worldwide in research and teaching and will engage the public in reflection on the many different ways in which individuals and groups explore and express their identities.
Q: What titles are included in Big Ten Open Books?
A: For the first Big Ten Open Books collection on Gender and Sexuality Studies, the titles that have been included are from the backlist of six participating university presses including the Michigan State University Press, Northwestern University Press, Purdue University Press, University of Indiana Press, University of Michigan Press, and University of Wisconsin Press. The Big Ten Open Books collection focuses on sustainably creating open access editions of previously published content from trustworthy sources. A complete list of all titles in the collection, including the name of the university press who originally published each work, is available.
Q: Do open access books appear in Big Ten Open Books?
A: Yes, they do. All titles in the Big Ten Open Books are open access - free to read and reuse.
Q: How far back do the backlist years go in Big Ten Open Books?
A: The works selected for inclusion in Big Ten Open Books are done so on the basis of the topic area focus of each collection. Any work from the participating university press that is deemed relevant and on topic may be included regardless of what year it was initially published.
MARC Records
Q: Are MARC records available directly from Big Ten Open Books?
A: Yes, MARC records for the collection are now available at this link: https://bigtenopenbooks.org/librarians.
Q: Are KBART files available directly from Big Ten Open Books?
A: Yes. KBART files provide metadata only for those titles which are currently available on the platform. MARC and KBART files for titles in Big Ten Open Books collection are also being delivered to discovery services, listed below.
Downloading and Reading Content
Q: What content download options are available?
A: Users are able to download entire ebooks in a single PDF or EPUB file. We currently do not offer the option of downloading individual chapters.
Q: Are the ebooks in Big Ten Open Books accessible?
A: Yes, all title are presented in EPUB3 format with varying levels of accessibility enrichment. More details about the accessibility of the collection and the platform are available at this link: https://www.fulcrum.org/accessibility/
Q: What safeguards are in place to ensure patron privacy?
A: The privacy policy applied to Big Ten Open Books is the same one used for all U-M Library content. This meets or exceeds GDPR and State level privacy policies as applicable. Please find the details available at this link: https://www.fulcrum.org/privacy/
Discoverability / Delivery Services
Q: How often are the delivery service providers updated with Fulcrum ebook collections for the Big Ten Open Books?
A: Fulcrum has entered into a number of agreements to make the collections we host more discoverable and to enable auto-loading of MARC records; the workflows for getting our content ingested and indexed are still being worked out with the vendors. Big Ten Open Books should be available via the following Electronic Resource Management Systems/Knowledge Bases and Discovery Services:
| Vendor | Product Type | Product Name |
|---|---|---|
| EBSCO | Discovery | EBSCO Discovery Service |
| Knowledge Base | Holdings & Linking Manager (HLM) | |
| OCLC | Knowledge Base | Collection Manager |
| Knowledge Base | WorldCat | |
| Knowledge Base | WorldShare | |
| ProQuest / Ex Libris | Discovery | Primo (Central Discovery Index) |
| Discovery | Summon (Central Discovery Index) | |
| Knowledge Base | 360 (Client Center, Intota) | |
| Knowledge Base | Alma Community Zone | |
| Knowledge Base | SFX |
Q: Are there plans to provide chapter-level indexing for inclusion in the Ex Libris Primo Central index?
A: We don't have chapter metadata at this time, but it is something we are working on for future years.
Technical Support
Q: How can I get individualized technical support?
A: Please report technical issues or questions to fulcrum-info@umich.edu. We will respond within two business days at the latest, and usually much faster.
Q: How can I customize the institutional name in the top right corner of Fulcrum with the name of our library?
A: Email us at fulcrum-info@umich.edu and tell us how you would like your institution name to display.