Reference Collection
Before using any Internet resource, it is important that you evaluate it to make sure that it is relevant and appropriate for your research. Click here for more information about evaluating websites.
Please report any dead links to Mr. Andrusyk. Do you know of a great site to add to this site? Click here to suggest it.
Please report any dead links to Mr. Andrusyk. Do you know of a great site to add to this site? Click here to suggest it.
Contents
- General Reference Sites with multiple reference resources.
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Almanacs
- Biographical References Sites that contain information about people.
- Directories
- Geographical References Sites about places and maps.
- Handbooks and Manuals
- Quotations
- Search Tools
- General
- Image
- Specialized
- Statistical References
- Other References Sites about quotations, conversions, time, and more.
- Homework Helpers Sites that contain general reference information that have been designed just for high school students.
General Reference |
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- Answers.com Answers questions in the areas of science, math history, literature, technology, health, law, business, and more.
- Fact Monster From Information Please, this site has an almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, timelines, and a homework center.
- Internet Archive Catalogs millions of books, websites, movies, software, music, old radio programs, and more.
- LibrarySpot.com An excellent portal to some of the Web’s best reference resources, including encyclopedias, maps, quotations, dictionaries, almanacs, calendars, acronyms, and more.
- Refdesk.com A detailed almanac with an atomic clock, area codes, encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, calendar, zip codes, and a lot more.
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Dictionaries |
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- Abbreviations.com Defines hundreds of thousands of acronyms, abbreviations, and initials in the areas of government, business, science, computers, Internet, medical, and more.
- Acronym Finder Get definitions for acronyms, abbreviations, and initials.
- Black's Law Dictionary Defines over 15,000 legal terms.
- Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Bibliomania provides an online edition of this valuable resource where one can learn the origin of phrases and terms.
- Catholic Dictionary Defines over 5000 terms and abbreviations used by the Catholic Church.
- Cambridge Dictionaries Online The online edition of the dictionary published by Cambridge University Press.
- Dictionary.com
- Forvo Find out how to pronounce over 4 million words in over 300 languages.
- The Free Dictionary by Farlex Contains a dictionary, thesaurus, specialized dictionaries, foreign language dictionaries, and more.
- GovSpeak: A Guide to the U.S. Government Acronyms Lists acronyms and abbreviations used by the federal government.
- Illustrated Architecture Dictionary Defines architectural terms and designs.
- Lexicool Lists free online dictionaries in over 70 languages.
- Merriam-Webster Online Here you'll find online editions of the dictionary, thesaurus, and a Spanish-English dictionary.
- Merriam-Webster Time Traveler Select a year and discover what new words appeared in print.
- On Music Dictionary Defines musical terms, instruments, and symbols. Also briefly profiles composers.
- One Look A great resource to get definitions and finding words using wildcard symbols.
- Oxford Dictionaries Contains dictionary, thesaurus, foreign language dictionaries, a grammar guide, and a whole lot more.
- The Phrase Finder Find out the origins and the meanings behind over 1200 English sayings, phrases, and idioms.
- RhymeZone This is an online rhyming dictionary. Just type in a word and you will get rhymes, homophones, synonyms, definitions, and more.
- Roget's International Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Find synonyms and antonyms.
- Visual Online Dictionary Over 6000 images are used in this visual dictionary by Merriam-Webster, organized in 15 different themes.
- Word 2 Word Language Dictionaries and Translators Translates words to many different languages.
- Wordnik Tells a word's definition, etymology, synonyms, and more.
- Wordsmyth This site has a dictionary and thesaurus with students in mind.
- Your Dictionary.com
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Encyclopedias |
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Why can't I use online encyclopedias like Wikipedia as a source for my paper? The sites listed below are general encyclopedias just like World Book Encyclopedia and other print multi-volume encyclopedias. They contain just the basic facts. They are a great starting-off point in research to help you "get your feet wet" or to verify basic facts such as a date. You want to use more specific or detailed sources for your paper. Specialized encyclopedias are ones that cover a certain topic. They do have the specific details you are looking for and can be cited in a paper. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Andrusyk.
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Almanacs |
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- Infoplease An excellent online reference almanac.
- Farmer's Almanac The print edition has been published each year since 1818. Contains weather predictions, calendars, recipes, home remedies, and more.
- The Old Farmer's Almanac The online version of the famous almanac that has been in print since 1792!
- UN Data: A World of Information Contain statistics on crime, education, population, health, environment, energy, industry, tourism, trade, and more from countries around the world.
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Biographical References |
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- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present Provides biographical information of those who have served in Congress from 1774 to the present. Also includes presidents, vice presidents, and more.
- Biography From the Biography Channel, over 25,000 individuals are included. Each person has a brief biography and may include photos and related links.
- Find a Grave Locate the grave of family members or of famous people.
- National Inventors Hall of Fame Summarizes the lives of inventors and innovators who were inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame.
- Rulers Lists heads of state, prime ministers, presidents, and other rulers past and present around the world.
- Who's Alive and Who's Dead Not sure if a celebrity, politician, musician, or athlete is still alive, then this is the site you need!
- Who2? Get brief biographical information about politicians, actors, scientists, and other famous people living and dead. Over 2800 biographies can be found here.
- Women in Congress Profiles the women who have served in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
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Directories |
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- All Area Codes This is a directory of area codes for the United States and Canada.
- AnyWho Directory of phone numbers for businesses, people, and reverse numbers.
- Baby Name Wizard Defines origin and meaning of names.
- Get Human Advises how you can get avoid the automation and get to speak to a real person on the phone for a variety of companies.
- Guide Star A directory of nonprofit organizations.
- Index of American Universities Lists the universities and colleges in the United States.
- Look Up a Zip Code The United States Postal Service provides this tool to find zip codes for business and residential addresses.
- Radio-Locator A directory of radio stations in the United States.
- Switchboard The online yellow and white pages.
- Tunefind A directory of songs that have been used in television shows, films, and video games.
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Geographical References |
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- CIA World Fact Book Central Intelligence Agency provides this almanac about nations of the world.
- Maps A collection of sites with maps including political, geographical, and historic.
- MapQuest Get maps and driving directions.
- Nation Master Compiles data on the nations of the world and allows you to compare data with other nations.
- National Map The United States Geological Survey presents the National Map that includes printable small-scale maps (Congressional districts, climate, federal lands and reservations, presidential elections, satellite views, time zones, and more).
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Handbooks and Manuals |
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- eHow Learn how to fix, build, and create a variety of things with these instructions.
- Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home This 1922 manual of manners and proper behavior was written by Miss Emily Post.
- How Stuff Works Learn how a variety of things work from computers to smoke detectors.
- Manuals Online Did you lose your owner's manual? Here you can find manuals to over 700,000 products including computer equipment, cell phones, household appliances, and more.
- Robert's Rules of Order: Revised for Deliberative Assembly General Henry M. Roberts from the U.S. Army created these rules for conducting official government, board, or society meetings. This is the 1915 edition.
- United States Government Manual The official manual of the United States government with information on the three branches, agencies, boards, commissions, committees, and more.
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Quotations |
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- Familiar Quotations This is the 10th edition of the 1919 Familiar Quotation compiled by John Bartlett. There are more than 11,000 quotations.
- Just Quotes Compiles quotes to inspire, educate, and entertain.
- Literary Quotations A collection of quotations attributed to writers.
- The Quotations Home Page Over 28,000 quotes can be found here.
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Search Tools |
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General
Images
While using these resources, please be aware that some images may have copyright restrictions to them.
Specialized
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- Answers
- Ask.com
- Bing
- Dogpile
- Duck Duck Go
- Ecosia As you use this search tool, the money generated from search ads go towards planting trees around the world.
- Excite
- Goofram Combines the search results of Google and Wolfram Alpha into one search
- Izquick Metasearch
- Lycos
- Open Directory Project
- Search.com
- Yahoo!
- Yippy
Images
While using these resources, please be aware that some images may have copyright restrictions to them.
- Clip Art Etc From Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse, this collection of clip art on a variety of topics for students and teachers.
- Flickr: The Commons A collection of copyright-free images from a variety of international institutions including the Library of Congress, the U.S. National Archives, NASA, Smithsonian, and the British Library.
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog Search the Library of Congress's online print and photography collection.
- New York Public Library Digital Collections Search the New York Public Library digital collections of prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, video, and more.
- Pics 4 Learning A collection of images students and teachers may use without copyright issues.
Specialized
- Data USA Here you can search for any kind of public data.
- USA.gov This search tool searches federal, state, and local government sites.
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Statistical References |
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- American Time Use Survey Researches how on average Americans use their time (how many hours sleeping, eating, etc.)
- Data.Gov Contains government data sets and resource tools on topics such as agriculture, climate, ecosystems, education, energy, finance, health, manufacturing, ocean, public safety, science & research, and more.
- Explore Census Data Contains data about the American people and economy.
- National Transportation Statistics Reports various transportation statistics including safety, roads, airports, and more.
- Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web Lists websites with statistics including international, economic, health, labor, education, and more.
- Time and Date Not only can you get the current time and date at your location and other time zones, but holidays, moon phases, international dialing codes, and more.
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics Provides international statistics on education, science, culture, and communication.
- World Wealth & Income Database Maps out the wealth in the world and economic conditions of each nation.
- Worldometers Calculates at real time a variety of statistics such as world population, births, deaths, number of cars produced, number of newspapers circulated, CO2 emissions, water consumption, energy usage, and more.
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Other References |
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- Convert Me Assists you in converting measurements from one unit to another.
- Half Staff American Flag Notifications Informs of any Presidential Proclamations ordering the lowering of the American flag to half-staff.
- The Name Geek Analyzes first names. Find out a name's popularity, how many people alive have that first name, and more.
- The Official U.S. Time To answer the age old question, "What time is it?"
- Omni Calculators Offers 1020 free calculators for chemistry, conversion, ecology, finance, food, health, math, physics, sports, statistics, and more.
- Online Conversion Convert temperature, length, area, etc. Also includes fun things like dog years, download time, days to retirement, Body Mass Index...
- Symbols Catalogs symbols, signs, flags, glyphs, and more from around the world.
- Year by Year: Headlines, Award Winners, Population Figures, and More Information Please provides information about every year from 1900 to the present including World Events, U.S. Events, Economics, Sports, Entertainment, Science, and Deaths.
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Homework Helpers |
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- Awesome Library Contains over 35,000 online resources have been reviewed by educators. Many topics are covered here.
- Dewey Browse Developed by a school librarian, this site organizes sites that are suitable for grades k-21 by Dewey Decimal System.
- Difference Between This is a great site to find out the difference between two similar terms, objects, concepts… For example, what’s the difference between partly sunny and partly cloudy?
- Homework Spot A collection of websites gathered by teachers, librarians, and journalists to help students with their homework.
- Infography Professors, librarians, and other scholars recommend the best sources of information about their subjects of expertise.
- iTools Provides a variety of search tools all on one site including: Search Tools, Language Tools, Research Tools, Financial Tools, Map Tools, and Internet Tools.
- Shmoop Provides a wealth of information just for students on literature, poetry, U.S. History, government, economics, music, algebra, biology, and test preparation (ACT, SAT, AP, etc.).
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