As a college student, academics libraries are a goldmine of free information and research tools.  I love libraries for helping me survive college, but I never thought data on a library’s resources could be all that interesting. I recently discovered an online tool that completely changed my mind.

This academic libraries search tool, by FindTheBest, has over 4,200 US academic libraries listed and a bunch of fascinating information on each.  For each library, you can see the amount of books and printed materials they have, the amount of e-books, the amount of digital sources and databases, and the amount of audiovisual materials. By clicking on the listing, you can see how many hours per week the library is open, the amount of staff, and the amount of visitors per week.

Now, I know these are US libraries, but the coolest part about this site is that users can compare academic libraries side by side (this is a comparison of the libraries at Harvard and Yale).  The comparisons consist of colorful data charts, and provide overviews of the libraries.

For all of you out there who enjoy libraries as much as I do, I am really glad I could share this with you. I hope you  find it to be as fun and interesting as I did!