Online Reference Book Use All of the reference books listed on this page can be accessed from on-campus computers. To access the titles highlighted in red from off-campus, students should see the Database Access Page or contact a librarian for passwords and information. The other reference books are available free on the Internet. |
| XreferPlus
Type your keyword or subject term in the window below.
Search 100 reference books by entering one key word. |
| AccessScience Access all the articles and illustrations from this online edition
of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology.
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| NetLibrary Reference Center Search 450 reference books with one keyword.
Click the above link and enter your search term.
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| NexisLexis Reference Search biographies, country/state profiles, quotations,
survey (poll) results, and the World Almanac.
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| Or search individual reference ebooks
Select a topic from the list on the left and
choose a title appropriate for your research. |
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Quality Web Resources for Free The following have been selected from university, government, and commercial Web sites. These sites make up a free virtual reference shelf that allows anyone with Web access to find reliable information and data on a vast number of subjects. |
(A) General Works
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| Bartleby.com Enter your query for general and literary information in the space below.
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| Virtual Reference Shelf Reference sources on the Web selected by the Library of Congress. |
| Harvard Classics Search 50 volumes of classic literature, history, philosophy, religion, and folklore with one keyword. |
Almanacs |
| Old Farmer's Almanac An abbreviated version that contains information on gardening, astronomy, weather, food and the outdoors. |
| Infoplease Contains statistics, biographies, and brief information on a variety of topics. |
Encyclopedias |
| HighBeam Encyclopedia Search over 57,000 articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia. |
Britannica ConciseA 28,000 article, single-volume encyclopedia. The full-text version is available for student/staff use. |
| Wikipedia A user written and edited encyclopedia with over 1,611,833 articles in English |
| Associations on the Net A guide to web sites of prominent organizations and associations. |
Dictionaries & Thesauri |
| OneLook Find a definition or translation of 7 million words in more than 900 online dictionaries at this search engine for words and phrases.
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| Allwords.com A multi-lingual dictionary that can translate words into Dutch, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. |
| American Heritage Dictionary Contains 90,000 entries, 900 full-page color illustrations, 70,000 audio word pronunciations, and language notes. |
| Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online version is based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary. Includes audio pronunciations. |
| Roget’s Thesauri Roget's II contains 35,000 synonyms in an easy-to-use format with brief word definitions. |
| Dictionary.com Multiple dictionaries or thesauri may be searched by entering one keyword at this site. |
| Acronym Finder The largest dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms with more than 530,000 human-edited entries. |
(B) Philosophy, Religion |
| Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Some articles are original contributions by specialized philosophers and others are temporary articles that will be replaced by original articles. |
| Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Partially complete dynamic reference that includes hundreds of refereed articles maintained and kept up to date by an expert or group of experts. |
| Bulfinch's Age of Fable Anthology of myths and classic legends told in prose to give the "work the charm of a story-book". |
| Golden Bough Study in comparative folklore, magic and religion that explains rites and beliefs of certain early cultures. |
(C-F) History |
| Biographical Dictionary Contains over 33,000 biographies on notable men and women who have lived from ancient times to the present day. |
| Academy of Achievement Interviews and biographies on over 100 world leaders from diverse fields are located on this site. |
| Biography.com Find basic information on the lives of 25,000 historical or prominent individuals. |
| New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy Identifies and defines the terms or concepts found in the body of information shared by a broad majority of literate Americans. |
| Encyclopedia of World History Conveys the key topics of world history in 20,000 entries written by thirty prominent historians. |
(G) Geography |
| Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names Contains coordinates, hierarchical position, and types of geographic place names. |
| World Factbook CIA assessment of the world's countries. "Entries include sections on Land, Water, People, Government, Economy, Communications, and Defense Forces." |
| Department of State Background Notes Includes "facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states". |
| Country Studies "Description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world." |
| U.S. Gazetteer Identify places, view maps, and obtain census data at this site. Maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. |
| Global Gazetteer Locate international countries, cities, and towns using online maps. |
| Columbia Gazetteer of North America Index to geographical places covering every incorporated place and county in the United States, along with physical features, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. |
| World Sites Atlas Contains a collection of continent, country, U.S. state and city online maps. |
| Mapquest Locate road and street maps and directions for driving to destinations. |
(H) Social Science |
| Occupational Outlook Handbook Source of career information that includes the education or training needed, earnings, job prospects, occupation description, and working conditions. |
| Dictionary Of Occupational Titles Provides job titles, job descriptions, and federal codes for thousands of occupations. |
| SEC Filings & Forms Collection of the registration statements and periodic reports filled by foreign and domestic companies with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. |
| ZIP Code Lookup Find the ZIP code for an address, a city, a company, or the cities in a Zip Code. |
| Infospace Phone directory type information for people and companies. Searches may be made by phone number, street address, ZIP code, email address, or area code. |
| Anywho An online directory that contains yellow pages, white pages, and a reverse lookup. |
| Online Conversion Converts units of length, temperature, speed, volume, weight, cooking, area, fuel economy, currency to other units or systems of measurement. |
| Universal Currency Converter Performs interactive foreign exchange calculations, using live currency rates. Calculations can be made on the currencies of 85 countries. |
| Realtor.com Find real estate listings and homes for sale. Search for properties throughout the United States. |
(J) Political Science |
| Statistical Abstract of the United States The Census Bureau's summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the U.S. |
| CensusScope Tools for investigating U.S. demographics including state, metro, and county charts, trends, maps, rankings, and segregation measures. |
(K) Law |
| Everybody's Legal Glossary Glossary contains plain-English definitions for hundreds of legal terms. |
| FindLaw Directory of lawyers that practice in the United States and a listing of brief information on common legal questions. |
(L) Education |
| Best 361 Colleges Rankings Rankings of colleges in 8 categories based on surveys of over 115,000 students. |
(M) Music |
| Allmusic Selection guide that includes biographies, reviews, information about music, and other writings about artists and albums. |
| Instrument Encyclopedia Pictures of musical instruments from different cultures around the world are shown along with descriptions of their relationship. |
(N) Fine Art |
| Artcyclopedia Contains basic artist information with an index to 2,300 sites and access to an estimated 180,000 works of art. |
| Internet Movie Database Catalog of the actors, directors, filming locations, trivia, reviews, and other details about movies. |
| All Movie Guide Database of synopses of films with reviews of major hits or those with artistic importance. Over 220,000 titles are indexed. |
(P) Language, Literature, Usage |
| American Heritage® Book of English Usage Problems in grammar, style, diction, usage, gender, social groups and scientific forms are addressed. |
| Columbia Guide to American English Guide to how our language is best written, spoken, and used effectively. |
| Cambridge History of Eng. & Am. Literature An 18 volume encyclopedia of literary history and criticism on a wide selection of writings. |
| Chicago/Turabian Documentation Guidelines from the Chicago Manual of Style and Turabian's Manual for Writers for documenting works. |
| Hutchinson Dictionary of Difficult Words Browse or search for over 13,900 difficult words with their meanings. |
| Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable "Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of Common Phrases, Allusions, and Words That Have a Tale to Tell." |
Quotations |
| Quotations Over 87,000 contemporary and classic quotations in a searchable database. |
| Quoteland Site's mission is to get useful, on-topic, quotes for people's work. |
Speeches |
| Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents Includes inaugural speeches from George Washington to George W. Bush. |
| World’s Famous Orations Access 281 classic orations by 213 rhetoricians. Selected by William Jennings Bryan. |
| Oxford Shakespeare Contains all of the works, 37 plays, 154 sonnets and miscellaneous verse, that William Shakespeare wrote. |
Poetry |
| American Verse Project Collection of American poetry books published prior to 1920. The entire collection can be searched for individual poems using keywords or phrases. |
(Q) Science |
| Encyclopedia of Plants and Gardening This directory of plants and gardening information includes a dictionary of botanical words. |
| Physics and Astronomy Reference Contains tables, data, equations, and other information useful in studying physics and astronomy. |
| Ency. of the Atmospheric Environment Covers atmospheric issues, such as acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion. |
| World of Science Brief encyclopedic information on topics in physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, and biography. |
| Life Science Dictionary Over 8300 terms are defined in biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, cell biology and genetics. |
| USDA Plants Database "Provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S." |
| Global Crop Pests - Identification & Information Covers basic identification and recognition of pests, along with their biology, ecology, and control strategies. |
| Mammal Species of the World On-line taxonomy of scientific names organized in a hierarchy that includes Order, Family, Subfamily, Genus and Species. |
| ChemFinder Contains common types of chemical information that can be accessed by chemical name, formula, molecular weight, or CAS Registry Number. |
| Hazardous Chemical Database Allows "user to retrieve information for any of 25,009 hazardous chemicals or 'generic' entries based on a keyword search". |
| All About Birds Learn how to identify, attract, and conserve birds and their habitats at this site. |
(R) Medicine |
| Merck Manual of Medical Information Explains symptoms, diagnosis, disorder prevention and treatment. |
| RxList - The Internet Drug Index Search by keywords for drug information, interactions, names, NDC codes, side effects, and patient information. |
| MedlinePlus Health Information Provides authoritative health information from the National Institutes of Health and NLM. Includes an illustrated medical encyclopedia. |
| AMA DoctorFinder Obtain basic professional information on over 690,000 licensed physicians in this country. |
| AIM DocFinder Search for physician license data supplied by the Association of State Medical Board Executive Directors. |
| Hospital Compare Information from the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services to help compare the quality of care hospitals provide. |
| MedlinePlus Directories Links to directories of health professionals, specialists, services, hospitals, and other facilities. |
| MedlinePlus Go Local Directory to help find local resources for health-related issues. |
| MedlinePlus Organizations by Health Topic Listing of organizations that provide health information arranged by topic. |
| MedlinePlus Other Resources Directory of health related federal government databases and other resources. |
(T) Technology |
| ThomasNet Industrial Product/Service Search Provides information on industrial products, services, and CAD drawings. Search by product, company name, or brand name. |
| North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) "Includes definitions for each industry, tables showing ... codes that changed, and a comprehensive index." |
| NADA Guides Find new and used vehicle pricing, comparisons, and information on cars, motorcycles, boats, and recreation vehicles. |
| Old Farmer's Almanac An abbreviated version that contains information on gardening, astronomy, weather, food and the outdoors. |
