Almanacs & Facts Books
Fast Facts
Find fast facts on a
wide variety of topics.
The World Factbook
Provides information on the history, people and society, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
CIA Online Directory
Lists chiefs of state
and cabinet members of foreign governments.
Bartleby.com
Contains:
dictionaries, encyclopedias, quotations, complete
fiction and nonfiction books, inaugural speeches,
language and style guides, and many other helpful
links. Bartleby can be searched or browsed
Information Please Almanac
Find answers to your questions
in this wide ranging reference work, which includes
an almanac, encyclopedia, and dictionary-- plus lots
more. See also their
Fact Monster
for kids.
The Living Almanac of Disasters
Find out which disasters
occurred on a given date, with brief descriptions
and some graphics.
Old Farmer's Almanac
One of the first almanacs
published in the U.S. is now online.
On This Day
The New York Times provides a
look at the front page and news stories about
important events from different years. Includes
recognition of important birthdays, plus other
information related to that day in history.
Today In History
A feature of the American
Memory collections of the Library of Congress. A
special historical, primary source feature for each
day of the year.
The Writer's Almanac
Web page and resources from
Keillor's daily program of poetry and history, heard
each day on public radio stations throughout the
country. Read and hear the program, including
full-text poetry.
Biography
Biographical Dictionary
Very brief descriptions of over
18,000 people who have helped shape our earth.
4000
Years of Women in Science
Biographies of women
in the sciences.
Biography.com
Contains over 25,000 biographies
Celebrities (Mr. ShowBiz)
Find out about famous people
here! Articles and pictures on the celebrities we
all know and want to know about.
Conversations With History
Distinguished men and women
from all over the world talk about their lives and
their work.
Classical Composer Biographies
Selected classical composers' lives are documented
here.
Distinguished Women of Past and
Present
"This site has biographies of
women who contributed to our culture in many
different ways. There are writers, educators,
scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil
rights crusaders, artists, entertainers, and others.
Some were alive hundreds of years ago and some are
living today."
Lives, the Biography Resource
Links to thousands of biographies, autobiographies,
memoirs, diaries, letters, narratives, oral
histories and more."
Outline of American History
Biographies
The biographies included in the
hypertext book about American History.
WIC Biography Index
Links to biographical
information about various "women of accomlishment".
Created by the Women's International Center.
The World Biographical Index Searcher
"This database is based on the
5th edition of the World Biographical Index
containing about 2,4 million short biographical
entries for eminent individuals who lived in North
and South America, Western and Central Europe,
Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania. This edition is
also a compiled index to many biographical
archives."
Calendar
Useful site which allows to view calendar for the
present year, as well as past and future years.
Calendar and
Date
Interfaith
Calendar
Provides detail of
sacred days and holidays of different religions
including, Islam, Christianity, Jewish, Hinduism,
Sikhism etc.
Islamic Calendar
Time and Date
Dictionaries,
thesauruses
See these sub-sections:
General Dictionaries |
Specialized Dictionaries |
Foreign Languages
Latin Language
|
Urdu Dictionaries
General
Dictionaries
Cambridge Dictionaries online ©
Three different Cambridge dictionaries may be searched
from this site: International Dictionary of
English, Dictionary of American English,
and the Learner's Dictionary.
Dictionaries and Thesauruses
A handy collection of online dictionaries and
thesauruses to aid you in your research and writing!
Included dictionaries for foreign languages as well!
(From the University of Texas at Austin.)
Specialized Dictionaries
A.K.A.
(Author Pseudonyms)
Here is where you go to find out the real name of an
author who is using an alias (pseudonym). As of
9/26/01 there were 10,982 entries (3,924 'real' +
7,058 'pseudo') listed.
The American Heritage® Book of English
Usage
A source of information on "grammar, style, diction,
word formation, gender, social groups and scientific
forms."
Artlex Dictionary of Visual Terms
Find out about terms and words used in the art world,
including "definitions of more than 3,100 terms here,
along with numerous illustrations, pronunciation
notes, great quotations, and links to other resources
on the Web."
Virtual Reference Desk
Here are a few American Sign Language terms to help
those of you who are trying to communicate with a
person who signs, but does not hear. Also included is
the basic alphabet and numbers 1-10.
Connected Thesaurus (Lexical FreeNet)
"Allows you to search for relationships between words,
concepts, and people. It is a combination thesaurus,
rhyming dictionary, pun generator, and concept
navigator." Fun to play with: Includes related word
browsing links.
A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
Helpful for converting units of measurement.
Dictionary Links (Specialized--
Human-Languages Page)
Dictionaries dealing with specific subjects and areas
of interest are listed and linked here, as well as
general dictionaries.
The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
(Hypertext Ed)
"This classic work of
reference - described as a browser's joy - has been in
popular demand since 1870. The Dictionary is
extensively cross referenced, lending itself ideally,
to the hypertext environment. This First Hypertext
Edition is taken from Dr. Brewer's substantially
revised and extended edition of 1894."
The Nonverbal Dictionary
defines the meanings of gestures, signs and body
language cues. Explains how people communicate with
their body movements and expressions. "From
Adam's-Apple-Jump to Zygomatic Smile"
OneLook Dictionaries
Searches various specialized dictionaries, and then
organizes their results, so that the user can choose
the context in which the word is to be defined.
Online Ballet Dictionary
Explains "170 terms from the Technical Manual and
Dictionary of Classical Ballet."
Online Dictionary of the Social
Sciences
"This social science dictionary has 1000 entries
covering the disciplines of sociology, criminology,
political science and women's study with a commitment
to Canadian examples and events and names.... a
product of Athabasca University and ICAAP."
The Oxford English Dictionary: Browse
Check on the historical development and uses of a
defined word in the English language.
A Web of Online Dictionaries
Hosts an English language dictionary and links to
numerous dictionaries for languages of thre world.
Scroll down the page to access the many links.
Roget's Thesaurus Search Form
An online, searchable version of Roget's Thesaurus, a
recently updated version, which will find synonyms
very quickly, and allow you to link to different major
sections with ease.
Word-Online General Language
Dictionaries
WORD-ONLINE contains links to general language
dictionaries that available free in the WWW or the
Gopher. In WORD-ONLINE You will find monolingual
dictionaries like the Webster's or bilingual like
Finnish - English Dictionary or even multilingual
dictionaries.
The Wordsmyth English
Dictionary-Thesaurus (WEDT)
A full dictionary and a complete thesaurus, integrated
into one work; you only need to look up a word once,
with hyperlinks to synonyms, and similar or related
words available where appropriate.
WWWebster Dictionary
An excellent hypertext, online dictionary, offered by
the Merriam-Webster Company, a well known publisher of
reference books.
What?is.com
Specialized dictionary on Information Technology, and
explains the meaning of words, but also includes
concepts and phrases.
Foreign Language Dictionaries
Chinese-English Dictionary
"Provides a searchable
interface.... by Chinese (using either the Big5, or
GB encodings), pinyin, or English."
Dictionary of Spanish
Translate words to-and-from
English and Spanish.
Hmong-English Dictionary
An online dictionary which
translates common Hmong words to English. Arranged
alphabetically, by the Hmong word. Click on the
word, and have it translated to English.
Spanish-English On-line Dictionary
Translate (with definitions
provided) from English to Spanish. This is part of
Travlang's Translating Dictionaries, which
has dictionaries for many languages.
WordReference.com Online German,
Spanish, French and Italian Dictionaries
A dictionary publisher provides
dictionaries from several of the world's languages.
Translates both directions.
Latin
Dictionary Resources
English-Latin Word Search
Search for Latin words and
their meanings in this searcher from Project Perseus,
which specializes in classical languages and texts.
Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid
See the "Latin Wordlist and
Grammar Aid" section, down near the middle of the
page, for help in translating from Latin.
Latin Phrases Used In English
Phrases in latin, with
translations into English, filed alphabetically.
Search for Latin dictionary entries
in Latin!
Search for Latin words and
their meanings in another searcher from Project
Perseus, which specializes in classical languages
and texts.
Urdu
Dictionaries
www.urduword.com
English
Urdu Dictionaries
www.urduseek.com
Online English Urdu Dictionary
http://www.ijunoon.net/urdudic/mean.asp Urdu
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Roget's thesaurus online
Schools online thesaurus
Thesaurus.Com
Freeality.Com
Encyclopedias,
General and
Specialized
General
Encyclopedias
Columbia Encyclopedia
Contains "nearly 51,000 entries (marshalling six and
one-half million words on a vast range of topics),
and with more than 80,000 hypertext
cross-references."
Encyclopedia Britannica
Explore art,
history, science, and other topics with Encyclopedia
Britannica's
Funk and Wagnalls
In addition to the encyclopedia, this reference site
includes a dictionary, thesaurus, world atlas, animal
book, media gallery (with images, speeches, sound
bites), and news sections.
Infoplease Encyclopedia and Dictionary
A combined small encyclopedia and dictionary.
L1 Kids Encyclopaedia (Homework Helper)
If the other
encyclopedias are over your head, you may want to give
this one a try, designed for the younger student.
Specialized
Encyclopedias
Art |
History, Law & Social Science |
Religion & Mythology |
Science |
Technology
Art
Artcyclopedia
Offers "a comprehensive index
of every artist represented at hundreds of museum
sites, image archives....have now indexed 700
leading arts sites, and offer more than 24,000 links
directly to an estimated 80,000 works by 7,000
different artists." Search or browse by movement,
medium, name of artist, nationality, etc.
Encyclopedia of Graphic Symbols
"Symbols.Com contains more than
2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups
according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600
articles their histories, uses, and meanings are
thoroughly discussed. The signs range from ideograms
carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo
signs and subway graffiti."
History, Law
& Social Science
Encyclopedia of British History
A wonderful historical
encyclopedia created in Great Britain, and made
freely available on the Web by Spartacus Publishing
Company.
Encyclopedia of the Celts
The goal of this work is to
"give the reader access to a fragment of the
contents of some of the greater and lesser know
works of Celtic Literature; including works of
mythology, legend, fiction and history."
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
"Articles ... are currently
from three sources (1)adaptations from public domain
sources, (2) adaptations of material written by the
editor for classroom purposes, and (3)original
contributions by professional philosophers around
the Internet." Includes timeline, table of contents,
and keyword searching.
Legal Encyclopedia
Nolo Press offers this
collection of articles on a wide variety of legal
topics. "Plain-English articles on the legal topics
that affect you most."
Religion &
Mythology
Islam
The
detailed information about Islam involving all
sects.
Catholic Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia related to
matters involving the Catholic religion. This is a
broad area, with much historical and biographical
information about many, many related things.
Encyclopedia Mythica
An on-line encyclopedia about
mythology, folklore, legends, and more...
Science
The PLANTS Database
Encyclopedic in scope, includes
names, checklists, automated tools, identification
information, species abstracts, distributional data,
crop information, plant symbols, plant growth data,
plant materials information, plant links,
references, and other plant information.
Technology
(Mostly Computer-related)
Webopedia
An online encyclopedia that
covers technology and all things related to computer
technology and the Web. Very thorough and complete,
with links back and forth between many concepts and
topics.
Acronym Search - The ultimate acronym
tool
When you hear people use strings of letters (acronyms)
when referring to something, such as "CIA", do you
wonder what they stand for? This page tells you some
of the possible meanings.
Asia Reference
Explains terms used with the study of Asia. "Features
a growing general glossary of terms covering
Economics, Business, Politics, Arts, and Religion...
currently lists more than a thousand terms with a
particular strength in the Arts and Religion."
Financial Terms Glossary (Yahoo!)
Find out the meaning of terms related to investing,
such as stocks, bonds and commodities. At the top of
the page, click on the first letter of the term you
want explained.
Glossary of Grammatical Terms
Concise chart of common grammar terms, with Latin
meanings as well.
Glossary of Internet Terms
Find out the meaning of words and phrases related to
the Internet. Provided by Matisse Enzer, Internet
expert.
Hypertextual Finance Glossary
"Over 6,000 Entries, More than 16,000 Hyperlinks, The
largest financial glossary on the Internet. Developed
as a result of teaching Global Financial Management at
both Duke University and the University of Chicago."
Sports Glossaries
Use glossaries to four popular sports: soccer, ice
hocky, football and basketball. Simply click on a name
of the sport for definitions of terms and phrases.
Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary
of Hardboiled Slang
Explains the slang used in hard-boiled detective
novels and films.
The World Wide Web Acronym and
Abbreviation Server
This is a list of (mostly) acronyms (abbreviations
constructed from the first letters of the words of a
phrase), not a dictionary or encyclopedia. For
example, if you want to know that ALANON stands for,
you can find out by searching here.
Handbooks
and Guidebooks
All Music Guide
Explains the different styles of popular music, from
bluegrass and country to gospel and rock. Includes
essays and background information on the styles,
performers and other aspects of popular music.
Includes a glossary, discographies, and "music maps"
which trace the development of various styles, with a
nice "decades" listing section.
-
American & English Poetry:
1250-1920
This superb poetry site (at
Bartleby.Com) contains five separate collections
of poetry: 1)The Oxford Book of English Verse; 2)
Yale Book of American Verse; 3) Modern British
Poetry; Modern American Poetry; 4) Metaphysical
Lyrics & Poems of the 17th C.; and 5) The Golden
Treasury. The collections may be searched by
keyword, and browsed via: Indexes to Poems:
Chronologic, Author, Title, First Line.
-
American Verse Project- Texts
The American Verse Project is
a collaborative project between the University of
Michigan Humanities Text Initiative (HTI) and the
University of Michigan Press, is assembling an
electronic archive of volumes of American verse
prior to 1920.
The Aria Database
"Information about opera and
operatic arias. Besides providing basic information
about each aria, the Database includes translations
for many arias and aria texts for those that are not
affected by copyright restrictions."
AwardWeb: Collections of Literary
Award Information
Lists of science fiction
literary award winners. "The emphasis is science
fiction awards, but you'll find other literary
awards as well."
BookBrowse
"A site dedicated to reading,
which offers fiction reading lists, book reviews,
forthcoming titles, author information and much
more."
The CIA World Factbook
Wide variety of information
about countries of the world, including maps,
prepared by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
CNN Travel Guide
Maps, city guides, travel
directions and much more travel information is
offered here by CNN.
Cagle's Professional Cartoonists
Index
A very large, well-organized
and indexed collection of editorial cartoons.
Calendar Conversions
There are many different
calendars in use. This converter converts one into
another.
Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members
of Foreign Governments
If you want to know who the top
government officials are in any country of the
world, please look at this page. It is offered by
the CIA!
Cliché Finder
Looking for a "well worn
phrase"? "Over 3,300 clichés indexed!"
Ethnologue: Languages of the World
Find information about the
6,800 main languages plus 41,000 alternate names and
dialects languages by the many peoples of the world,
organized by maps and charts, with descriptions and
other helpful data.
Free E-Mail Providers Guide
This seevice "allows you to
quickly search our extensive listings of over 1400
free email providers in more than 85 countries to
easily find the Free Email Provider that has all of
the features you want and is perfect for you."
A Glossary of Literary Terms and A
Handbook of Rhetorical Devices
"This book contains definitions
and examples of more than sixty traditional
rhetorical devices, all of which can still be useful
today to improve the effectiveness, clarity, and
enjoyment of your writing."
The Greatest Films
Offers interpretive,
descriptive review commentary and historical
background, a wealth of film reference material
(including a complete Academy Awards History and
Film History - by decade), and hundreds of colorful,
vintage film poster reproductions for some of the
best Hollywood and American classic films in the
last century.
How Stuff Works
Explains in detail what makes a
wide variety of things function, from air
conditioners to jake brakes to tattoos.
The Internet Movie Database
Find out about the different movies, actors, directors
and other interesting background on films. Huge! See
their
Oscar Awards section!
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and
Therapy (17th ed.)
and
The Merck Manual - Home Edition
Two highly used and
acclaimed sources of medical information are
available. Use each according to your information
needs.
Periodic Table of the Elements
Find information about the
elelemnts that make up our physical world. Very
basic and simple.
The PLANTS Database
Includes names, checklists,
automated tools, identification information, species
abstracts, distributional data, crop information,
plant symbols, plant growth data, plant materials
information, plant links, references, and other
plant information.
-
Representative Poetry Online
Excellent collection of the
great poets of the English language, courtesy of
Ian Lancashire. Poetry has been selected with
editorial comments by members of the Department of
English at the University of Toronto from 1912 to
1996. Included is an extensive collection of
criticism, both in verse and prose forms. The
works are indexed by poet, title, date, keyword
and first line.
Robert's Rules of Order Revised
The copyright on the original
1915 version has expired. However, the modifications
and enhancements to this work are Copyright © 1996
Constitution Society.
Telephone Directories
An
index of online phone books, with links to Yellow
Pages, White Pages, Business Directories, Email
Addresses and Fax Listings from over 150 countries
all around the world.
Toll Free: The Internet 800 Directory
Search this database for
toll-free phone numbers according to the subject or
service that you are interested in. Allows you to
narrow down to a single state.
World Flag Database
In addition to flags, "There
are over 260 pages on countries and international
organizations. Each page contains basic information
on the country, including its formal name, capital
city, area, population, currency, languages, and
religions."
Gazetteers and
geography
Altapedia Online
"Contains full color physical
and political maps as well as key facts and
statistics on countries of the world."
Atlas Maps - The National Atlas of
the United States of America
The National Atlas of the
United StatesTM is intended to provide a
comprehensive, map-like view into the enormous
wealth of data collected by the Federal Government.
Historical Map Web Sites
Collection of links to maps of
places in earlier times. Provided by The Perry-Castañeda
Library Map Collection.
How far is it?
"Finds the latitude and
longitude of two places, and then calculates the
distance between them (as the crow flies). It also
provides a map showing the two places."
HRW World Atlas
A comprehensive
world atlas provide information about the different
countries of world
LookSmart - Interactive Maps
Collection of maps that allow
the viewer to specify travel or destination
information desired, and then get a map and
information back.
Map Collection at Perry-Castaneda
Many maps from countries around
the world are available here, at this excellent
online map collection. Maps are organized by
continent, and then by country.
World maps are also available, and
this one is very detailed and expandable.
Map Machine (National Geographic)
Some maps from the world famous
National Geographic organization.
U.S. Geological Survey
Geographical information for
the United States is offered here. See and browse
their new section: USGS Information by State
for information on Earthquakes, Floods, Maps, Public
Health, Volcanoes and other similar/related topics.
Gazetteers
There are many types of gazetteers, and a
number of the various types are linked below. Take a
look at them!
U.S. Gazetteer
Find geographic facts about
places in the U.S.
The World Gazetteer
Offers current population
figures for cities, towns and places of all
countries.
Other Typical
Gazetteers
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names(Research at the
Getty)
The Global Gazetteer: 4 million places on file
World Gazetteer: population figures for cities,
towns and places
Bill Thayer's Gazetteer of Europe
Astronomical
Gazetteers
The Galactic Gazetteer
Planetary Nomenclature Introduction
Historical
Gazetteers
A Roman Gazetteer
Gazetteer to Locations in The Political Graveyard
Mythology
Gazetteers
A Gazetteer of Arthurian Sites
The Gazetteer of Mysterious Britain
Fantasy Gazetteers
The Mystara Gazetteer
Geography Learning
Resources
National Mapping Program Teaching Packets
Quotations
Conversations With History
Choose your own quotations from
these interviews and conversations with famous
people of our times.
Quotations for
Creative Thinking
Search 50,000 quotations from more
than 3,000 famous people. Creative Quotations is a
great resource for students, teachers and quote
lovers.
Quotations About Libraries and
Librarians
A subject guide to topical
quotations about libraries and librarians.
The Quotations
Page
Welcome to the web's most
comprehensive site for famous quotes, since 1994. We
have over 27,000 quotations online from over 3,100
authors, and more are added daily.
quoteland.com
Quotations on many topics, by
many authors, and in many possible fashions.
Speeches Quotes
Search for the texts of many
famous speeches and addresses. Find quotations too.
WebElements Periodic Table
The Preiodic Tabel of the
Elements includes basic information about the
chemical elements of the scientic world.
Words4ever
A source for ever
lasting words
Statistics
World Population Dashboard
"...contains the latest
population estimates, projections, and other key
indicators for 200 countries, including births,
deaths, natural increase, infant mortality, total
fertility, life expectancy, urban population,
HIV/AIDS prevalence, contraceptive use, GNI PPP per
capita, land area, and population per square mile.
Adherents.com
"A growing collection of over
40,000 adherent statistics and religious geography
citations -- references to published
membership/adherent statistics and congregation
statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches,
denominations, religious bodies, faith groups,
tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns,
etc."
Encyclopedia of ED Stats
"Brings together data from
several NCES sources including: The Condition of
Education (click here for 2001 edition), The Digest
of Education Statistics, and Projections of
Education Statistics... find information by
searching documents through their table of
contents."
Fedstats
Offers a "full range of
official statistical information available
to the public from
the Federal Government; track economic and
population trends, health care costs, aviation
safety, foreign trade, energy use, farm production,
and more; collected and published by more than 70
Federal agencies." Or, go directly to their:
Statistical Reference Shelf:
Published collections of statistics available online
including the Statistical Abstract of the United
States.
InfoNation
This is "an easy-to-use,
two-step database that allows you to view and
compare the most up-to-date statistical data for the
Member States of the United Nations.... Statistics
and indicators are provided by the United Nations
Statistics Division from the World Statistics
Pocketbook, Statistical Yearbook and Demographic
Yearbook 1995, except languages."
Statistical Resources on the Web
A statistics "gateway" site
that organizes the most useful Web sites according
to the type of statistics offered there. Compiled by
the University of Michigan Library.
Statistics Every Writer Should Know
Check this place out so that
you will be able to tell if someone is "lying with
statistics."
General References & Collections
Educator's Reference Desk
you can access AskERIC's 2,000+
lesson plans, 3,000+ links to online education
information, and 200+ question archive responses.
Fast Facts: Almanacs/Factbooks/Statistical Reports &
Related ....
A
huge collection on non-annotated links to ready
reference sources online.
Federal Agencies & Commissions
Various government agencies,
listed alphabetically.
Find Articles.Com
This is a free database of
magazine and news articles.
Finding Data On The Internet
How to find basic references
and information to back up your research. Designed
for reporters, but useful to many others seeking
information on a wide range of subjects.
Guinness World Records
A source contains
information about the records in every field.
HyperHistory Online
"HyperHistory presents 3,000
years of world history with a combination of
colorful graphics, lifelines, timelines, and maps."
Pinchbeck - Reference Section
From the famous student's
Homework Helper website. Collection of links to
ready reference works.
Power Reporting: Resources and
Training for Journalists
"Here are thousands of free
research resources for journalists, annotated and
updated daily: Find people and companies; Check
facts; Find data for your beat; Try new search
tools; Subscribe to news alerts; Plan newsroom
training."
Reference. Bartleby.com
A number of high quality
reference books are available here includes
"contemporary and classic reference works."
Refdesk.com
- Quick Reference / Research
Collection of links to ready
reference works. Check out
their main page too!
The Totally Trivia Search Engine (AbsoluteTrivia.com)
The title says it all!
Xrefer
A large, searchable collection
of high quality reference sources which "contains
encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, books of
quotations and reference works covering a wide range
of subjects."
Weather
Lahore Weather
BBC Weather
BBC weather information and five day forecasts for
regions in the UK and worldwide
Weather Forecast
World wide weather forecasts from Yahoo
Met Office
of Pakistan
Includes all sorts of weather and climate
information in Pakistan
World Climate
Worldwide average temperatures and other weather
information for each month of the year. Search by
city or town
World Clock
Provides a
comprehensive listing of time zones around the
World.
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