Reference Resources

Search *selected reference websites

Collections of Reference Works

• *Bartleby.com -- Rich collection of reference sources, language reference, & literary works, including: Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Roget's Thesaurus, Strunk's Elements of Style, Fowler's English, Emily Post, etc.
• Reference: Ready Reference -- From the Internet Public Library
• Virtual Reference Shelf -- From the Library of Congress

Almanacs

• *Information Please Almanac
• The Old Farmer's Almanac

Biographical Sources (see also Biography Resource Center database)

• *Biographical Dictionary -- Brief information on over 28,000 people in all fields, from ancient times to the present.
• *Biography.com -- From the Biography Channel
• Dead People Server -- Who is alive, who is not
• *InfoPlease People -- Searchable biographical sections of InfoPlease site

Calculators

• Calculators On-Line Center -- Hundreds of calculators for virtually every purpose
• Currency Converter -- Interactive converter for 164 currencies
• Current Value of Old Money -- Links to websites that calculate relative value for specific time periods or product areas
• iFigure -- Nice collection of online calculators and worksheets
• Roman Numerals Converter -- Essential, for those who need it

Chronologies & Timelines

• *Anyday -- Extensive listings of birthdays, deaths, & historical events
• On This Day -- Top news stories & events, from the BBC
• On This Day in History -- Headlines, top shows, songs, birthdays, & more
• *This Day in History -- Historical events, from the HistoryChannel
• HyperHistory Online -- Click on Events (on the left); then select a sequence of years (on the right); no date-specific searching available

Dictionaries (see also Oxford English Dictionary database)

• *Cambridge Dictionaries Online -- Several dictionaries
• *Merriam-Webster Online -- Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed.
• *OneLook Dictionaries -- Simultaneous searching of words and phrases in over 600 dictionaries
• *whatis.com -- A dictionary of computer and Internet terms
• *Wordsmyth English Dictionary and Thesaurus -- From the Univ. of Chicago
• *YourDictionary.com -- Over 1500 dictionaries covering 230 languages

Directories: Businesses & Individuals

• All Nations Telephone Search Engine -- Dialing information and directory links to hundreds of online telephone directories around the world
• Anywho.com -- Search for individuals, businesses, 800 numbers
• InfoSpace -- Over 112 million people, businesses, government offices
• Reverse Telephone Number Directory -- Enter a telephone number & find out the individual or business it belongs to

Directories: Businesses Only

• *Hoover's Online -- Search by company name, ticker symbol, location, etc.
• *ThomasNet ( Register of American Manufacturers) -- You must register (free) to use *SuperPages.com -- Many different search options

Directories: Other

• Better-Whois.com -- Search all web domain name registrars simultaneously
• Free ZIP Code Lookup -- Enter a zip code & find county name, time zone, area code, latitude, congressional district
• *Scholarly Societies Project -- Guide to over 1500 scholarly societies, accessible alphabetically or by subject
• Zip Code Directory -- Look up zip codes

Encyclopedias (see also Britannica Online Encyclopedia database)

• *Columbia Encyclopedia -- 6th ed., from Bartleby.com
• *Encyclopedia.com Wikipedia

Oddities

• *Acronym Finder -- Over 200,000 computer, technology, telecommunications, and military acronyms and abbreviations.
• Earth Calendar -- Holidays and celebrations worldwide
• Popular Baby Names -- Lists of baby names, by year since 1880, from the Social Security Administration
• Symbols.com -- Database of more than 2,500 Western signs
• *TSNN -- Directory of trade shows and expositions
• *Urban Legends Reference Pages -- Rich source of information, from Snopes.com
• World Calendar.com -- National and movable holidays, indexed by country

Opinion Polls

• FiveThirtyEight - Excellent aggregator of election polling results
• *Gallup *Harris Interactive *Pew Research Center
• *PollingReport.com Pollster.com - Good aggregator of election polling results
• *RoperCenter
• World Public Opinion

Quotations

• *Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th (1919) ed. -- From Bartleby.com
• Quotable Women -- "An archive of memorable quotes by women"

Thesauri

• LexicalFreeNet -- A "connected thesaurus," providing access to word & concept relationships
• *Roget's II Thesaurus, Third Edition. 1996 -- From Bartleby.com
• *Thesaurus.com 

Translation & Language Tools

• Babel Fish -- Translates text and web pages to & from 13 languages
• Google Language Tools -- Searches & translates text or web pages to & from 10 languages
• Shodouka -- Service that enables display of websites with Japanese language characters, even for PCs that are not set up to display the Japanese alphabet