Online Reference Tools

Multiple Reference Tools

Internet Public Library Ready Reference (www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref00.00.00)

• Includes almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and much more.

Library Spot (www.libraryspot.com)

• The Library Spot Reference Desk includes almanacs, calculators, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and more.

Reference.com (www.reference.com)

• Includes dictionaries, thesaurus, encyclopedias, and more.

Encyclopedias

Classic Encyclopedia (www.1911encyclopedia.org/Main_Page)

• Based on the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Highbeam Encyclopedia (www.encyclopedia.com)

• Search over 57,000 articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia.

Encyclopedia Smithsonian (www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/start.htm)

• Features answers to frequently asked questions about the Smithsonian and links to Smithsonian resources from A to Z.

Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org)

• A free encyclopedia that anyone can edit and available in multiple languages.

World Book (www.worldbook.com)

• Online encyclopedia and learning resource center.

Dictionaries

ASL Browser (http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm)

• The American Sign Language Browser.

Babel Fish Translation (www.babelfish.altavista.com)

• Translate your writing or other web pages into different languages.

Internet Acronym Server (http://silmaril.ie.cgi-bin/uncgi/acronyms)

• Search for acronyms and their meanings.

Legal Dictionary (http://dictionary.law.com)

• Search for definitions of legal terms or browse terms alphabetically.

Merriam-Webster Online (www.m-w.com)

• Search the online dictionary and thesaurus in English or Spanish

Nolo’s Everybody’s Legal Glossary (http://www.nolo.com/glossary.cfm)

• Contains definitions for hundreds of legal terms.

Slang Dictionary (www.alphadictionary.com/slang)

• Search or browse this historical dictionary of American slang.

Search Engines

Google (www.google.com)

• In addition to searching for web pages on a given subject, Google includes other special search features such as Book Search, Blog Search, Images, Video, News, Maps, and more.

Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com)

• Yahoo! allows users to search the web as well as images, video, and audio. Users may also perform directory, local, news, and shopping searches.

MSN (www.msn.com)

• MSN allows users to search the web, images, news, local information, and shopping.

Ask.com (www.ask.com)

• This search engine features search tools for the web, images, news, maps, local, weather, encyclopedia, Ask for Kids, dictionary, blogs, and more.

Lycos (www.lycos.com)

• Lycos allows users to search the web, people, yellow pages, shopping, images, video, and classifieds.

Meta-Search Engines

Dogpile (www.dogpile.com)

• Dogpile searches Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask.com, and more at the same time.

Ixquick (www.ixquick.com)

• Ixquick claims to be "the world's most powerful metasearch engine" and searches many popular search engines at the same time.

Vivisimo(www.vivisimo.com)

• Vivisimo queries multiple search engines, displays the results, and organizes the results into categories for the user.

Statistics

Adherents.com (www.adherents.com)

• Find statistics for various religious groups.

City and County Data Book (www.census.gov/statab/www/ccdb.html)

• Find official population and housing data from the Census plus business and other data for U.S. counties, cities and places.

Fedstats (www.fedstats.gov)

• Includes links to statistics and statistical agencies for the United States.

National Center for Health Statistics (www.cdc.gov/nchs/)

• Locate statistical information pertaining to public health.

Statistical Abstract (www.census.gov/compendia/statab/)

• Online version of the printed source plus links to older editions.

Stats Indiana (www.stats.indiana.edu)

• Includes social and economic indicators, profiles, and maps for the state of Indiana.

United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov)

• Locate information from the U.S. Census.

World Population Information (www.census.gov/ipc/www/world.html)

• find world population trends and current figures.