Reference Links
- Current Interest
- Middle
East History, Society and Culture -
A gateway to information resources on the
Middle East, by topic or by country, from SUNY at Albany
- Terrorism Resources
A comprehensive list of links to information on terrorism from the University of Michigan
- Prevention of Terrorism - from
the Oklahoma City National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
- General Reference
- Librarians' Index to the Internet - Use
the site librarians use.
- Reference Desk.com - Great
source for fast facts. Check the site map first. Searchable.
- Virtual Reference Desk
- Links to websites on general topics, government documents and agencies.
- Information Please - Features
almanacs, dictionary, encyclopedia,"facts behind the news", country
profiles and more.
- IPL Reference Center - Check
out the new IPL pathfinders (reference guides) on your topic. Also check
the ready reference collection, or ask your own reference question.
- LibrarySpot - Virtual
library reference center.
- FindArticles
- A gateway to free articles on the web, searchable, or browseable by subject.
- Encyclopedia Smithsonian
- Links to Smithsonian resources
- Columbia Encyclopedia -
Articles from the free online Columbia Encyclopedia.
- National
Geographic Homework Help - Information on a limited list of topics
from National Geographic. Lots of pop-up ads.
- Word Reference
- OneLook - This site
searches a huge list of dictionaries instead of just one. Very comprehensive
- WWWebster Dictionary
- Online dictionary from Merriam-Webster
- American Heritage
Book of English Usage - from Bartleby.com, this site answers your
burning word use and grammar questions.
- 100 most misspelled words -
Learn to spell them correctly!
- Travlang's
translating dictionaries - Translate from/to almost any language.
- The Quotations Page - Quotes of the
day, week, or random; searchable.
- ThinkExist - 120,000 Quotations by 11,000 authors; Searchable
- Jargonbuster
- Find answers to all your burning questions about grammar, literary items,
collective names for animals, and much more.
- Roget's
Thesaurus - Searchable Thesaurus
- Visual Thesaurus
- displays the interrelationships between words and meanings as spatial maps.
Needs I.E. 4/Netscape 6 or better
- Ask Oxford - Includes: Jargon
Buster; Word of the Day; A Quote From; Better Writing Tips; and Word Games
- Biography Reference
- Biography.com - Over 20,000
brief biographies, searchable by name or alphabetically listed.
- Lives, the Biography Resource
- Claims to be the largest guide to biography sites on the web.
- African American
Women Writers of the 19th Century - From the New York Public Library,
a digital collection of the writings of African American Women, including
biographies.
- Writing Reference
- Research &Writing for High
School and College Students - From the Internet Public Library, this
site includes a step by step guide, info search, and links.
- The Nuts and Bolts of College
Writing - Another excellent guide to academic writing. Very applicable
to high school.
- Easy Bib - A good
substitute for noodle bib. Easy and free. Works best with I.E.
- MLA Citation
Style for Research Papers - very simple to follow.
- Citing Web sources MLA style
- Explanations and examples of web citations.
-
MLA Documentation Format - From the University of Texas at Austin.
-
MLA Documentation Examples - From the University of Texas at Austin.
- Evaluating Internet Information
- ICYouSee
- A guide to critical thinking about Internet information - From Ithaca College
- Evaluating
Websites - Criteria and tools for website evaluation from Cornell
University
- QUICK - Website evaluation
checklist geared to younger students
- Evaluating Internet
Research Sources - Uses the CARS checklist for information quality
- Evaluating
Web Resources - From Widener University, includes checklists for different
types of websites. Very comprehensive.
- Critical
Evaluation of Internet Resources - From the University of Alberta
Libraries
- TILT
- Texas information literacy tutorial
- Consumer Web Watch
- A site dedicated to investigating, informing, and improving the credibility
of web information
- TILT
- Evaluation only
- Local Libraries
- Worcester Public Library
- Providence Public Library - For
those who live in Little Rhody
- Regional Catalog
- Search the catalog of all automated libraries in central and western Mass.
- Countries/Travel
- Portals to
the World - From the Library of Congress, this site provides links
to authoritative information about countries and areas of the world.
- World
Factbook - From the CIA. A good source of general information about
countries, most updated in 2002.
- Country Studies
- Another source of more in-depth information on 100 countries from the Library
of Congress. Not always as up-to-date as World Factbook.
- Background Notes -
from the U.S. state department, this site provides current demographic information
and maps of countries.
- Countries
of the World -
from Infoplease - provides information on: geography, maps, flag, history,
current ruler, area, population, capital · largest
cities, languages, ethnicity/race, religion, literacy
rate, economy, government
- A+ Country Reports -
Lots of graphics and links to news, weather,
travel information.
- BBC
News Country Profiles - history, politics and economic background
of countries plus audio and video clips
- GeographyIQ - Another source
of quick information on countries, including currency converter and rankings
- Lonely Planet Destination
Guides - Fast facts, maps and lots of travel information.
- World Flag Database - Searchable
by country name, includes flag images and facts.
- Geographic Flags -
Nice flag images, plus flag identifier, maps, country information links
- Printable
Maps - From National Geographic. Maps made for printing and copying.
- World
Atlas - Find the relative and absolute location of any country
- Maps
- This site from the University of Texas has links to maps of many different
kinds
- U.S. Gazeteer
- Find information about a city or town in the U.S., by name or zip code
- Other Reference
- FirstGov - Gateway to the 20,000
government web sites with over 27 million pages of information. Organized
by topic or by branch of government and searchable.
- Guide to Law
- from the U.S. Law Library of Congress this annotated guide includes links
to reliable sites for legal information.
- Federal Consumer Information
- Check this site to get free (or almost free) government information on just
about anything.
- Mass.Gov - New
Massachusetts state government portal. Find links to state services, information,
and government.
- Time - Correct
time can be found here at the U.S. Naval Obsdrvatory's USNO Master Clock Time.
- World Time Server -
Find the current local time in any country and many cities around the globe.
- My Government - enter
your zip code to find your state and federal representatives and their recent
key votes. Also includes phone, fax, and e-mail contacts.
- Media, elected officials,
issues - find elected officials from federal to local, media contacts,
and alerts on current issues.
- FedStats - Government statistical
information. Includes great links like "Ask the Answer Worm" and
Frog Web for kids.
- Statistical Resources
- from the University of Michigan, this site categorizes links to many statistical
web resources
- Ameristat - Good source of
American population data from the Population Reference Bureau
- The Census - a government site
where you can check the population clock, get fast information about your
state or county, or search for just about any census-related fact.
- QuickFacts
- if you just want quick answers to frequently asked census questions, check
here, by state and county.
- Zip Codes - US Postal Service
Zip + 4 Lookup. Gives you the 9-digit zip for a street address or business
name.
- Currency Exchange Rates
- From Travlang. You can get the current exchange rates for almost any country's
currency
- Universal Currency Exchange -
Another currency exchange site.
- Terrafly.com - Fly over the
entire U.S.A. and see satelite images of any address. From Florida International
University.
- Driving Laws
- From the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - fact sheets about driving
laws and regulations.
- Online Safety/Privacy Reference
- i-SAFE America - Non-profit organization dedicated to Internet
Safety for kids and teens
- Stay Safe Online
- Sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance
- Cybertipline -
Report child exploitation online
- Internet fraud complaint
center - file a complaint, get statistics on Internet fraud
- Firewalls: - look for the free version on each site.
- Zone Alarm
- Kerio Technologies
- Ad/Popup blockers:
- Spybot
- Ad-Aware
- AdBlock
- Tech News
- Pop-up Blocker
- Free Anti-virus software
- AVG