It's Michigan Week, with Michigan State University visiting Ann Arbor on Saturday for a tailgate party and music from marching bands. I'm told there might be a football game as well. This is as good an excuse as any to do some comparative analysis of parts of both university's websites.

I'll go at it from a comparative literature point of view, as best I can, looking at similar systems on each campus and how they are similar or different: maps and libraries.

Maps

The first thing someone looks to ask for when they are going somewhere is a map. A map of the territory gives you some sense of direction, as well as a way of assessing how the organization views itself related to the surroundings.

A link to campus maps is on the upper right hand corner of the Michigan State's home page; it has a very compact and uniform treatment of all of the essential things you'd need to know to get to East Lansing. A search also gets you what looks like a hand-picked list of map resources on campus.

If you do search for maps at the University of Michigan, you get a wide range of results, ranging from research cartography to collections of historical maps. A simple set of campus maps shows up on the top of the list, and is also on the front page. There's a much longer list of map resources, which is in part because every single department and institute seems to develop its own set of directions.

Michigan State University maps

• MSU Campus Maps is the main portal to all map information across campus.
• A map of Great Lakes surface water temperatures is kept through Michigan State's Coastwatch program.
• The Michigan State University Map Library collections also provide an Ask a Map Librarian service, with a promise of answers within two business days, and priority given to Michigan State students, staff and faculty.

University of Michigan maps

• The U-M Campus Information Center maps and directions are prominent on the main page. Additional maps are kept and distributed by the parking and transportation services and the news service.
• The University of Michigan Map Library "is the principal collection for cartographic materials at the University of Michigan, with an emphasis on both historic and modern mapping, including digital resources. It supports teaching and research activities of faculty, staff and students in many disciplines." A historical collection of maps is at the Clements Library, with "virtually every printed map relating to the United States before 1820".
• The oddest map that shows up prominently in a search through the U-M collections is Mark E. J. Newman's 2008 election maps, which provide an insightful set of distortions showing a geographical and population density breakdown of the 2008 Presidental vote.

Libraries and archives

Both U-M and Michigan State have world class library systems. What is notable about the Michigan State system for Ann Arbor residents is that any circulating item from any Michigan State library can be reserved through the statewide MeLCat system, which offers automated inter-library loans from hundreds of community and research libraries statewide. The U-M does not participate in MeLCat, which curiously makes the Michigan State collection a better resource for residents of the area.

Michigan State University libraries

• The Michigan State library system has a comprehensive online catalog. If you're visiting, the special collections at State include archives and references only for on-campus use.
• To borrow from the MSU collection from a participating MeLCat library, use the MeLCat search to find the book you want.
• A notable culinary collection is the Feeding America digitized collection of historic cookbooks.

University of Michigan libraries

• The U-M library system online system includes an Ask a Librarian service if you have challenges in locating the right collection or resource.
• A notable culinary collection is the Longone Culinary Archive, which contains thousands of items from the 16th to 20th centuries.

Edward Vielmetti studies comparative Internet technology, with a focus on the Ann Arbor area, for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at edwardvielmetti@annarbor.com.