Encyclopedias

Britannica.com: Free access to brief summary articles.

Citizendium: an edited alternative to Wikipedia. Editorial oversight is provided by subject-matter experts and contributors must use their real names.

Encyclopedia.com: Free articles from the Columbia Concise Encyclopedia.

Europeana: Links to 2 million items from Europe's museums, galleries, archives, libraries, and audio-visual collections.

Top

Dictionaries

Acronym Finder: Comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms.

MEDLINEplus Medical Dictionary: Online version of the Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary.

Merriam-Webster Online Language Center: A combination dictionary and thesaurus.

One Look Dictionaries: Collection of more than 600 dictionaries including English language, slang, arts, humanities, business, computer, medical, religion, science and technological, and foreign language dictionaries.

Text Doctor-English and Language Resources: Collection of dictionaries, thesauri, grammar and mechanics guides.

Top

Almanacs

Information Please Almanac: Brief information on almost any topic you can think of, including maps, country profiles, biographies, timelines,  and historical information.

Old Farmer's Almanac: Useful information for people in all walks of life, including tide tables, sunrise tables, planting charts, and weather forecasts.

Top

Maps, atlases & countries

Background Notes: Authoritative country information from the U.S. State Department. 

Country Studies: Descriptions and analyses of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world. Prepared by the Library of Congress.

Nation Master: A massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations using data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook and United Nations.

Perry-Castenada Library Map Collection: Digitized maps.

Portals to the World: In-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world. Prepared by subject specialists at the Library of Congress.

State Master: Research and compare data on U.S. states using information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI, and National Center for Education Statistics.

World Factbook: Produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to give information about the geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation and military strengths of many nations of the world.

Top

Careers

Occupational Outlook Handbook: Describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects in a wide range of occupations. Compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Top

Government documents

Statistical Abstracts of the United States: An online version of an extremely useful reference work by the same title, listing many of the most commonly requested statistics from the federal government.

U.S. Government Manual: A searchable version of the major reference work for accessing government publications.

Top