I'm looking for information and statistics about Harvard Library.

While we would like to be of use to our future colleagues and other researchers, Harvard College Library’s Ask a Librarian service receives too many requests of this nature to respond to each of them personally. We've included some links below that may be helpful to you, and you're welcome to investigate and use any part of our site that does not require Harvard University credentials to log in.

There are many knowledgeable librarians in the US and worldwide; while some are more famous than others, they all have the same potential knowledge of current practices, challenges and opportunities in the world of libraries. You might consider reaching out to to one of the libraries listed in the American Library Directory Online (14-day free trial) to see if someone there is able to give more assistance. If you’re interested in public libraries, you’ll want to contact a public library rather than an academic one like Harvard's. See the “Associations” tab in the Library and Information Science LibGuide below for the Public Library Association website.

Harvard-specific links:

• Library.Harvard.edu -  links to all 70+ Harvard libraries and special collections as well as our services, catalogs, databases and more.

• Technology available to patrons- Two examples of the  computers, printers, scanners and multimedia systems inside the Harvard College Libraries are Lamont Multimedia Lab and the technology in Cabot Science Library. 

• Harvard University Information Technology Website - information about the technology used by Harvard Library (includes professional schools) and Harvard College Library.

• The most current Harvard Library Organizational Chart can be found on our website under About Harvard Library.

Other Resources:

The best accounting of academic library statistics, including Harvard's, is the Association for Research Libraries ARL Statistics (read the paragraph under Digital Publications).

Freely available statistics can be found in the National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

•United States Library of Congress FAQ

•Library of Congress info just for librarians

• Enter “library terminology” into Google for several good, free online resources like this glossary of Library and Information Science from ABC-Clio publishers.

If your assignment is unclear, we suggest you contact your instructor. Unfortunately, we are unable to help clarify your assignment.

We thank you for thinking of us, and we wish you all the best in your research and future pursuits.