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Ready Reference Resources On the Web
These Ready Reference Resources On the Web
are meant to supplement and support the books in our Reference Section
of the library. Look here for quick answers to questions that relate to
established data, facts, people, places or similar information. This
online reference section has links to information resources grouped as:
almanacs, biography
and genealogy, dictionaries,
encyclopedias , glossaries,
government information, handbooks
and guidebooks, maps and geography, quotations,
statistics, thesauruses,
and other general ready reference sources.
Search
for reliable information on any topic.
Almanacs
InfoPlease Almanac
Find answers to your questions in this wide ranging reference
work, which includes an almanac, encyclopedia, and dictionary-- plus
lots more. See also their Fact
Monster for kids.
Old
Farmer's Almanac
One of the first almanacs published in the U.S. is now online.
On
This Day
The New York Times provides a look at the front page and news
stories about important events from different years. Includes
recognition of important birthdays, plus other information related to
that day in history.
States
and Capitals (50states.com)
Look here to find out about the states of the U.S. and their
capitals.
Today
In History
A feature of the American Memory collections of the Library of
Congress. A special historical, primary source feature for each day of
the year.
TOP OF THE PAGE
Biography and Genealogy
Biographical
Dictionary
Very brief descriptions of over 18,000 people who have helped
shape our earth.
Biographies
(Homework Center)
Links to biographical information, organized by subject area of
the person.
Conversations
With History
Distinguished men and women from all over the world talk about
their lives and their work.
Classical
Composer Biographies
Selected classical composers' lives are documented here.
Distinguished
Women of Past and Present
"This site has biographies of women who contributed to our
culture in many different ways. There are writers, educators,
scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders,
artists, entertainers, and others. Some were alive hundreds of years
ago and some are living today."
Outline
of American History Biographies
The biographies included in the hypertext book about American
History.
Science
/ Mathematics Biographies and History
Combines links to biographies and history related to science and
mathematics.
WIC
Biography Index
Links to biographical information about various "women of accomplishment". Created by the Women's International Center.
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OF THE PAGE
Genealogy
Websites
Behind
the Name
Focus is the origins of common first names, plus other
interesting facts associated with the name, such as famous people
with that name. Includes sections on: Sources of First Names,
Languages Referred to in this Site, Common Elements in First Names,
and The Top Fifty Names. Includes many countries and cultures of the
world.
Family
Search
Access to the large databases of the Church of Jesus Christ of
the Latter Day Saints is provided here.
GenWeb
Project
"A group of volunteers working together to provide Internet
websites for genealogical research in every county and every state
of the United States. This Project is non-commercial and fully
committed to free access for everyone."
Heraldica
This site contains a variety of information on heraldry and
related topics, in the form of texts, images and links.
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OF THE PAGE
Dictionaries
& Thesauruses
See these sub-sections:
General
Dictionaries | Specialized
Dictionaries | Foreign
Languages
General Dictionaries
OneLook
Dictionary Search
Searches over 20 different dictionaries at the same
time.
Cambridge
Dictionaries online ©
Three different Cambridge dictionaries may be searched from this
site: International Dictionary of English, Dictionary
of American English, and the Learner's Dictionary.
Dictionaries
and Languages
A handy collection of online dictionaries and other similar
resources to aid you in your research and writing! Includes
dictionaries for foreign languages as well!
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OF THE PAGE
Specialized
Dictionaries
a.k.a.
(Author Pseudonyms)
Here is where you go to find out the real name of an author who is
using an alias (pseudonym). As of 9/26/01 there were 10,982 entries
(3,924 'real' + 7,058 'pseudo') listed.
The
American Heritage Book of English Usage
A source of information on "grammar, style, diction, word
formation, gender, social groups and scientific forms."
Artlex
Dictionary of Visual Terms
Find out about terms and words used in the art world, including
"definitions of more than 3,100 terms here, along with numerous
illustrations, pronunciation notes, great quotations, and links to
other resources on the Web."
Connected
Thesaurus (Lexical FreeNet)
"Allows you to search for relationships between words,
concepts, and people. It is a combination thesaurus, rhyming
dictionary, pun generator, and concept navigator." Fun to play
with: Includes related word browsing links.
A
Dictionary of Units of Measurement
Helpful for converting units of measurement.
The
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
"This classic work of reference - described as a browser's
joy - has been in popular demand since 1870. The Dictionary is
extensively cross referenced, lending itself ideally, to the hypertext
environment. This First Hypertext Edition is taken from Dr. Brewer's
substantially revised and extended edition of 1894."
Online
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
"This social science dictionary has 1000 entries covering the
disciplines of sociology, criminology, political science and women's
study with a commitment to Canadian examples and events and names....
a product of Athabasca University and ICAAP."
ODLIS:
Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science
This resource helps answer those nagging questions all librarians
have from time-to-time, when they read or hear special words and
terminology used by our profession, such as: authority control,
bibliometrics, bowdlerize, colophon, deckle edge, etc.
Roget's
Thesaurus Search Form
An online, searchable version of Roget's Thesaurus, a recently
updated version, which will find synonyms very quickly, and allow you
to link to different major sections with ease.
The
Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus (WEDT)
A full dictionary and a complete thesaurus, integrated into one
work; you only need to look up a word once, with hyperlinks to
synonyms, and similar or related words available where appropriate.
Merriam-Webster
Dictionary
An excellent hypertext, online dictionary, offered by the
Merriam-Webster Company, a well known publisher of reference books.
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OF THE PAGE
Foreign Language
Dictionaries
Alpha
Dictionaries
Hosts an English language dictionary and links to numerous
dictionaries for languages of the world. Find these on the left of the
page. Scroll down the page to
access the many other links.
Chinese-English
Dictionary
"Provides a searchable interface.... by Chinese (using
either the Big5, or GB encoding), pinyin, or English."
Dictionary
of Spanish
Translate words to-and-from English and Spanish.
Spanish-English
On-line Dictionary
Translate (with definitions provided) from English to Spanish.
Travlang's
Translating Dictionaries
Find here dictionaries for many
languages.
WordReference.com
Online German, Spanish, French and Italian Dictionaries
A dictionary publisher provides dictionaries from several of the
world's languages. Translates both directions.
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PAGE
General
Encyclopedias
Columbia
Encyclopedia
Contains "nearly 51,000 entries (marshalling six and one-half
million words on a vast range of topics), and with more than 80,000
hypertext cross-references."
Encarta
Encyclopedia (Free Version)
This is a scaled down version of the commercial version, but still
worth checking if you don't have access to a full version.
Infoplease
Encyclopedia and Dictionary
A combined small encyclopedia and dictionary.
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OF THE PAGE
Specialized
Encyclopedias
Art | History,
Law & Social Science | Religion
& Mythology | Science
| Technology
Art
Artcyclopedia
Offers "a comprehensive index of every artist represented
at hundreds of museum sites, image archives....have now indexed 700
leading arts sites, and offer more than 24,000 links directly to an
estimated 80,000 works by 7,000 different artists." Search
or browse by movement, medium, name of artist, nationality, etc.
Encyclopedia
of Graphic Symbols
"Symbols.com contains more than 2,500 Western signs,
arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics.
In 1,600 articles their histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly
discussed. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by
Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti."
History, Law &
Social Science
Encyclopaedia
of British History
A wonderful historical encyclopedia created in Great Britain,
and made freely available on the Web by Spartacus Publishing
Company.
Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
"Articles ... are currently from three sources
(1)adaptations from public domain sources, (2) adaptations of
material written by the editor for classroom purposes, and
(3)original contributions by professional philosophers around the
Internet." Includes timeline, table of contents, and keyword
searching.
Legal
Encyclopedia
Nolo Press offers this collection of articles on a wide variety
of legal topics. "Plain-English articles on the legal topics
that affect you most."
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OF THE PAGE
Religion &
Mythology
Catholic
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia related to matters involving the Catholic
religion. This is a broad area, with much historical and
biographical information about many, many related things.
Encyclopedia
Mythica
An on-line encyclopedia about mythology, folklore, legends, and
more...
Technology
(Mostly Computer-related)
What?is.com
Specialized dictionary on Information Technology, and explains the
meaning of words, but also includes concepts and phrases.
Webopedia
An online encyclopedia that covers technology and all things
related to computer technology and the Web. Very thorough and
complete, with links back and forth between many concepts and
topics.
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Glossaries
Acronym
Search - The ultimate acronym tool
When you hear people use strings of letters (acronyms) when
referring to something, such as "CIA", do you wonder what
they stand for? This page tells you some of the possible meanings.
Financial
Terms Glossary (Yahoo!)
Find out the meaning of terms related to investing, such as
stocks, bonds and commodities. At the top of the page, click on the
first letter of the term you want explained.
Glossary
of Grammatical Terms
Concise chart of common grammar terms, with Latin meanings as
well.
Hypertextual
Finance Glossary
"Over 6,000 Entries, More than 16,000 Hyperlinks, The largest
financial glossary on the Internet. Developed as a result of teaching
Global Financial Management at both Duke University and the University
of Chicago."
Glossary
of Literary Terms
Unique terms and phrases are used to describe literature, its
styles, movements, traditions, and conventions. It is helpful to know
the meaning and use of the specialized language commonly used in the
fields of literary analysis and criticism.
Sports
Glossaries
Use glossaries to four popular sports: soccer, ice hockey, football
and basketball. Simply click on a name of the sport for definitions of
terms and phrases.
Twists,
Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang
Explains the slang used in hard-boiled detective novels and films.
The
World Wide Web Acronym and Abbreviation Server
This is a list of (mostly) acronyms (abbreviations constructed
from the first letters of the words of a phrase), not a dictionary or
encyclopedia. For example, if you want to know that ALANON stands for,
you can find out by searching here.
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OF THE PAGE
Government Information
Abbreviations
and Acronyms of the U.S. Government
When you hear people use strings of letters (acronyms) when
referring the government, such as "ARPA", do you wonder what
they stand for? This page shows what they stand for and link to the
government agency.
American
FactFinder
General information about the American people gathered by the U.S.
Census Bureau.
Ben's
Guide to American Government for Kids (Grades 9-12)
Find out here about the various agencies and services of the U.S.
Government. The guide provides learning tools for K-12 students,
parents, and teachers. These resources will teach how our
government works, the use of the primary source materials of GPO
Access, and how one can use GPO Access to carry out their civic
responsibilities.
Congressional
Glossary (C-SPAN)
Are you wondering about the meaning of some of the terminology
associated with the U.S. Congress? This glossary allows you to click
on any term used in Congress to see its definition.
FirstGov
The only official U.S. Government portal to 30 million pages of
government information, services, and online transactions; it offers
"a powerful search engine that searches every word of every U.S.
government document in a quarter of a second or less." Browse
according the subject of information you desire.
Historical
United States Census Data Browser
The data presented here describe the people and the economy of the US
for each state and county from 1790 to 1960. Data is accessible and
organized into decades for most of the time periods.
Info
USA
Information about many agencies and departments of the U.S.
government, produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State.
Created for foreign audiences seeking information about American
society, political processes, official U.S. policies and culture, but
useful for all as an accurate source of data and information.
US Census
Bureau
The provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the
people and economy of the United States.
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OF THE PAGE
Handbooks
and Guidebooks
American
& English Poetry: 1250–1920
This superb poetry site (at Bartleby.com) contains five separate
collections of poetry: 1)The Oxford Book of English Verse; 2) Yale
Book of American Verse; 3) Modern British Poetry; Modern American
Poetry; 4) Metaphysical Lyrics & Poems of the 17th C.; and 5)
The Golden Treasury. The collections may be searched by keyword, and
browsed via: Indexes to Poems: Chronological, Author, Title, First
Line.
American
Verse Project- Texts
The American Verse Project is a collaborative project between
the University of Michigan Humanities Text Initiative (HTI) and the
University of Michigan Press, is assembling an electronic archive of
volumes of American verse prior to 1920.
AnyWho
Phone, fax, e-mail addresses are searched for here. Special
sections are available on toll-free numbers.
The
Aria Database
"Information about opera and operatic arias. Besides
providing basic information about each aria, the Database includes
translations for many arias and aria texts for those that are not
affected by copyright restrictions."
Baseball
Basics: Major League Baseball
The rules of the game as played by Major League Baseball teams.
The
CIA World Factbook
Wide variety of information about countries of the world,
including maps, prepared by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Cagle's
Professional Cartoonists Index
A very large, well-organized and indexed collection of editorial
cartoons.
Calendar
Conversions
There are many different calendars in use. This converter converts
one into another.
Chiefs
of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
If you want to know who the top government officials are in any
country of the world, please look at this page.
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OF THE PAGE
Cliche'
Finder
Looking for a "well worn phrase"? "Over 3,300 clichés
indexed."
Consumer
Search Product Reviews
Find evaluations and reviews of commonly used or purchased
consumer goods. Includes review categories such as Electronics,
Computers, Sports & Leisure, Office, etc.
Ethnologue:
Languages of the World
Find information about the 6,800 main languages plus 41,000
alternate names and dialects languages by the many peoples of the
world, organized by maps and charts, with descriptions and other
helpful data.
A
Glossary of Literary Terms
and A
Handbook of Rhetorical Devices
"This book contains definitions and examples of more than
sixty traditional rhetorical devices, all of which can still be useful
today to improve the effectiveness, clarity, and enjoyment of your
writing."
How
Stuff Works
Explains in detail what makes a wide variety of things function,
from air conditioners to jake brakes to tattoos.
How
things get done (eHow.com)
Explains how to do things, and where to buy what you need to do it
with.
Internet
800 Directory
Directory of free toll free, 800 and 888 listings of businesses by
company, number and type of industry, regardless of long distance
carrier. Yellow page advertising, Web pages and banners available.
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OF THE PAGE
The Internet Movie
Database
Find out about the different movies, actors, directors and other
interesting background on films. Huge! See their Oscar Awards
section!
The
Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (17th ed.)
and
The Merck Manual
- Home Edition
Two highly used and acclaimed sources of medical information are
available. Use each according to your information needs.
Periodic
Table of the Elements
Find information about the elements that make up our physical world.
Very basic and simple.
The
PLANTS Database
Includes names, checklists, automated tools, identification
information, species abstracts, distributional data, crop information,
plant symbols, plant growth data, plant materials information, plant
links, references, and other plant information.
WebElements
Periodic Table
The Periodic Table of the Elements includes basic information about
the chemical elements of the scientific world.
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OF THE PAGE
Princeton College Review
Online version of the famous guide to colleges. Lots of basic
information available here related to colleges.
Representative
Poetry Online
Excellent collection of the great poets of the English language,
courtesy of Ian Lancashire. Poetry has been selected with editorial
comments by members of the Department of English at the University
of Toronto from 1912 to 1996. Included is an extensive collection of
criticism, both in verse and prose forms. The works are indexed by
poet, title, date, keyword and first line.
Robert's
Rules of Order Revised
The copyright on the original 1915 version has expired. However,
the modifications and enhancements to this work are Copyright © 1996
Constitution Society.
RxList -
The Internet Drug Index
Search for information about common prescribed drugs here.
Social
Security Handbook
This is "a readable, easy to understand resource for the very
complex Social Security programs and services.... [which are] so
complex it is impossible to include information about every topic...
the most common and helpful information."
Stock
Market Fact Book (NYSE)
"The Fact Book delivers the year in review. Read about
trends, market performance, the global marketplace and the happenings
of our listed companies."
Tax
Statistics
Information about the financial composition of individuals,
business taxpayers, tax exempt organizations and more. Provided by the
Internal revenue Service.
TV Program Guides:
TV Guide
Online
MeeVee all station Television programming
Telephone Directories
An index of online phone books, with links to Yellow Pages, White Pages,
Business Directories, Email Addresses and Fax Listings from over 150
countries all around the world.
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OF THE PAGE
Toll
Free: The Internet 800 Directory
Search this database for toll-free phone numbers according to the
subject or service that you are interested in. Allows you to narrow
down to a single state.
The
Tree of Life
"A collection of over 1,380 World Wide Web pages containing
information about the diversity of life, authored by biologists from
around the world. Each page contains information about one group of
organisms."
World Flag
Database
In addition to flags, "There are over 260 pages on countries
and international organizations. Each page contains basic information
on the country, including its formal name, capital city, area,
population, currency, languages, and religions."
The
ZIP Code Look-Up and City/State/ZIP Code Association
If you need to look up a ZIP Code, the USPS has the answers.
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OF THE PAGE
Maps, Gazetteers
and Geography
Click to see our
special section on Gazetteers below.
Altapedia
Online
"Contains full color physical and political maps as well as
key facts and statistics on countries of the world."
Atlas
Maps - The National Atlas of the United States of America
The National Atlas of the United States is intended to provide a
comprehensive, map-like view into the enormous wealth of data
collected by the Federal Government.
Dangerous
Places (Pelton's)
Offers extensive travel and tourist information about the most
dangerous countries of the world that people might want to visit.
Includes background on the reasons for the danger (conflict) and the
major "players" that make it so.
The
Fascinating World of Maps and Mapping
This is a very handy place to find maps of places of the world. It
has many, many other mapping resources as well! Browse the index to
find the information you need. Their Gazetteer
section is quite extensive, covering the entire world.
Historical
Map Web Sites
Collection of links to maps of places in earlier times. Provided
by The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.
How
far is it?
"Finds the latitude and longitude of two places, and then
calculates the distance between them (as the crow flies). It also
provides a map showing the two places."
Interactive
Map Atlas
Collection of maps of the world's countries. Also includes a
geography glossary, time zones, travel statistics, and other such
data.
Maps
and References
"The maps which are listed are categorized by geographical
region although there are a couple of thematic categories such as
Interactive Maps which both highlights the potential of the WWW and
are also fun to use."
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OF THE PAGE
Map
Collection at Perry-Castaneda
Many maps from countries around the world are available here, at
this excellent online map collection. Maps are organized by continent,
and then by country. World
maps are also available, and this
one is very detailed and expandable.
Map
Machine (National Geographic)
Some maps from the world famous National Geographic organization.
U.S.
Geological Survey
Geographical information for the United States is offered here. See
and browse their new section: USGS Information by State for
information on Earthquakes, Floods, Maps, Public Health, Volcanoes and
other similar/related topics.
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OF THE PAGE
Gazetteers
U.S.
Gazetteer
Find geographic facts about places in the U.S.
The
World Gazetteer
Offers current population figures for cities, towns and places
of all countries.
Other
Typical Gazetteers
Getty
Thesaurus of Geographic Names (Research at the Getty)
World
Gazetteer: population figures for cities, towns and places
Bill
Thayer's Gazetteer of Europe
Astronomical
Gazetteers
The
Galactic Gazetteer
Planetary
Nomenclature Introduction
Historical
Gazetteers
A
Roman Gazetteer
Gazetteer
to Locations in The Political Graveyard
Mythology
Gazetteers
A
Gazetteer of Arthurian Sites
The
Gazetteer of Mysterious Britain
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OF THE PAGE
Quotations
Creative
Quotations to Inspire Creative Thinking
Provides thousands of quotations, organized and searchable by
various arrangements (e.g., month, day, theme, famous person.)
From
Doug Turner, The Quotations Server
Simply enter your search text in the box, and the results will be
displayed in a list.
Quotations
About Libraries and Librarians
A subject guide to topical quotations about libraries and
librarians.
The
Quotations Page
Lots of quotations are available here, including the Quote of the
Day. Each day a quotation is selected and made available by the click
of your mouse. If you want more quotes, try the Random Quotations
Page, which chooses new quotes every time you load it.
Quoteland.com
Quotations on many topics, by many authors, and in many possible
fashions.
Douglass
Archives of American Public Address
Search for the texts of many famous speeches and addresses. Find
quotations too.
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OF THE PAGE
Statistics
World Population Data
"...contains the latest population estimates, projections,
and other key indicators for 200 countries, including births, deaths,
natural increase, infant mortality, total fertility, life expectancy,
urban population, HIV/AIDS prevalence, contraceptive use, GNI PPP per
capita, land area, and population per square mile.
Adherents.com
"A growing collection of over 40,000 adherent statistics and
religious geography citations -- references to published
membership/adherent statistics and congregation statistics for over
4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith
groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, etc."
Baseball:
Major League Baseball Historical Stats
Check the statistics of any and all professional baseball players.
Encyclopedia
of ED Stats
"Brings together data from several NCES sources including:
The Condition of Education (click here for 2001 edition), The Digest
of Education Statistics, and Projections of Education Statistics...
find information by searching documents through their table of
contents."
Fedstats
Offers a "full range of official statistical information
available
to the public from the Federal Government; track economic and
population trends, health care costs, aviation safety, foreign trade,
energy use, farm production, and more; collected and published by more
than 70 Federal agencies." Or, go directly to their: Statistical
Reference Shelf: Published collections of statistics
available online including the Statistical Abstract of the United
States.
InfoNation
This is "an easy-to-use, two-step database that allows you to
view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for the Member
States of the United Nations.... Statistics and indicators are
provided by the United Nations Statistics Division from the World
Statistics Pocketbook, Statistical Yearbook and Demographic Yearbook
1995, except languages."
Public
Agenda
A great deal of statistical information on various current issues
is available here. "Drawing on its research, Public Agenda
prepares a broad array of educational materials that help explain
policy issues to the public in a balanced and easy-to-understand way.
Citizens can use this information to weigh various choices and make
educated decisions."
Statistical
Abstract of the United States
Find the most frequently requested statistics about the United
States here. Collected and provided by the U.S. Census.
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OF THE PAGE
Statistical
Resources on the Web
A statistics "gateway" site that organizes the most
useful Web sites according to the type of statistics offered there.
Compiled by the University of Michigan Library.
Statistics
Every Writer Should Know
Check this place out so that you will be able to tell if someone
is "lying with statistics."
Other
General References & Collections
Fast Facts:
Almanacs/Factbooks/Statistical Reports & Related ....
A huge collection on non-annotated links to ready reference sources
online.
InfoPlease
Great resource for writing papers, and includes almanac, encyclopedia,
dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, homework center, and white pages.
Federal
Agencies & Commissions
Various government agencies, listed alphabetically.
Find
Articles.Com
This is a full-text magazine index and database. Constantly
updated, it contains articles dating back to 1998 from more than 300
magazines and journals. You will find articles on a range of topics,
including business, health, society, entertainment, sports and more.
Each of the hundreds of thousands of articles in this collection can
be read in its entirety and printed at no cost.
HyperHistory
Online
"HyperHistory presents 3,000 years of world history with a
combination of colorful graphics, lifelines, timelines, and
maps."
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OF THE PAGE
Pinchbeck
- Reference Section
From the famous student's Homework Helper website. Collection of
links to ready reference works.
Power
Reporting: Resources and Training for Journalists
"Here are thousands of free research resources for
journalists, annotated and updated daily: Find people and companies;
Check facts; Find data for your beat; Try new search tools; Subscribe
to news alerts; Plan newsroom training."
Reference.
Bartleby.com
A number of high quality reference books are available here
includes "contemporary and classic reference works."
Refdesk.com
- Quick Reference / Research
Collection of links to ready reference works. Check out their
main page too!
The
Totally Trivia Search Engine (AbsoluteTrivia.com)
The title says it all!
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