On-line Reference Tools
Below are links to many different Reference Tools, Including Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Thesauri, Etymologies, Quotations, Acronyms, Language Translators, American Sign Language and Braille.
Columbia Encyclopedia 6th Edition
From Bartleby.com.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian
Responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) hierarchically arranged by topic. Includes many reading lists of recommended books.
Wikipedia
is a multilingual , web-based , free content encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. With rare exceptions, its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit this page link . The name Wikipedia is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia . Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference Web sites ..
Lists of heads of state and heads of government (and, in certain cases, de facto leaders who do not occupy either of those formal positions) of all countries and territories, usually going back to at least 1700. Includes brief biographical information |
A dynamic reference work in which each entry is maintained and kept up to date by an expert or group of experts in the field. |
Site devoted to the history and impact of communications media. Includes an extensive chronology of media history and development. |
Covers all areas of mathematics including algebra, calculus, discrete mathematics, geometry, history, number theory, probability, statistics and topology. |
Contains the complete unedited contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia, which was originally published between 1901-1906. Contains over 15,000 articles and illustrations. Since the original work was completed almost 100 years ago, it does not cover a significant portion of modern Jewish History (e.g., the creation of Israel, the Holocaust, etc.). |
Provides scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy. Articles are submitted by specialists in the field and are peer reviewed according to strict criteria. |
A database of more than 120,000 movies. Includes biographical records (including complete filmographies) for close to 200,000 individuals involved in international film and television industries. The Glossary includes definitions of terms and phrases frequently used in the world of movies, film, acting, and cinema-going. The Box Office Summary lists the weekly summary of top-grossing US films and also includes a year-to-date archive of top-grossing US films and listings of top-grossing international films. The database also provides links to Top-Grossing Rentals . |
A general all-purpose almanac. |
Includes more than 1,000 original essays from more than 250 contributors and examines specific programs and people, historic moments and trends, major policy disputes and such topics as violence, tabloid television and the quiz show scandal. Also includes histories of major television networks as well as broadcasting systems around the world and is complemented by resource materials, photos and bibliographical information. |
Covers mythology, folklore, magic, and more and contains over 6,100 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world. |
De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors |
Encyclopedia on the rulers of the Roman empire from Augustus (27 BC-AD 14) to Constantine XI Palaeologus (1449-1453). Wherever possible, these materials are cross-referenced by live links. Contents are supplemented by an ancient and medieval atlas, a link to a virtual catalog of Roman coins, and other recommended links to related sites. |
The 1913 15-volume set of the Catholic Encyclopedia. Covers topics both religious and secular, from a Catholic perspective. |
A free collection of classic and contemporary reference works. Includes sources such as dictionaries, thesauri, quotation books, English usage guides, the Fannie Farmer cookbook, Gray's anatomy, Emily Post's book on etiquette, and more. |
MORE ON-LINE ENCYCLOPEDIAS
- 1Up Info - a portal with a difference.
- CIA World Factbook - current, in-depth data on every country in the world.
- Britannica Concise
- Britannica Online
- Bushido Martial Arts Encyclopedia - information on karate, judo, kung fu, aikido, kobudo, and gatka, the deadly physical discipline of Northern India. Scan a few illustrated examples and pick up some historical background.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia - Site provides the full text of the Canadian Encyclopedia, containing the efforts of over 3800 contributors from all parts of Canada.
- Catholic Encyclopedia, The
- Columbia 2001 Encyclopedia - Full Sixth Edition Online
- Country Reports - Country information from around the world.
- Encarta - This online version of Microsoft's encyclopedia contains search engines and browsable indexes to help users learn and perform online research. Research tools include the encyclopedia, a dictionary, and an atlas.
- Encyclopedia Astronautica - information about space exploration
- Encyberpedia
- Encyclopedia of British History - "A comprehensive encyclopaedia being produced for the National Grid of Learning and a completely free resource for all students of British history. The encyclopaedia currently contains over 1,000 entries and is an attempt to show the history of Britain through the eyes of people from all levels of society."
- Encyclopedia of Education Statistics - The Encyclopedia of Education Stats brings together data from several National Center for Education Statistics sources including: The Condition of Education, The Digest of Education Statistics, and Projections of Education Statistics.
- Encyclopedia of the Orient - easy to use, fast growing, and free of charge; with photos and sound; specializes in North Africa and the Middle East.
- Encyclopedia of Plants - Resource for all of your gardening needs. It provides information regarding the general description of the plants, the various methods of cultivation, such as indoor or outdoor planting, soil and temperature requirements, pruning, and other important details, the means of propagation (seeds, cuttings, division, etc.), and the different varieties and hybrids.
- Encyclopedia of Psychology - over 2000 psychology related links.
- Encyclopedia Smithsonian
- Encyclopedia of Technology - more than 20,000 IT terms.
- Encyclopedia of Television - The Encyclopedia of Television includes more than 1,000 original essays from more than 250 contributors and examines specific programs and people, historic moments and trends, major policy disputes and such topics as violence, tabloid television and the quiz show scandal.
- Encyclopedia Titanica - This on line resource is for anyone interested in the Titanic. You can read over 2,100 individual passenger and crew biographies, browse the regularly updated passenger and crew listings, read exclusive articles by leading historians or join in discussions about Titanic research in a message board.
- EncycloZine - Describing itself as a hybrid of a portal and a "concise encyclopedia," Encyclozine features encyclopedia-like entries to over 100 topics and quality links to related sites.
- Home Improvement Encyclopedia - Better Homes and Gardens
- Information Please - from the print reference database, offering millions of useful and interesting facts on a wide range of topics online. Also includes a dictionary and encyclopedia.
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Jewish Encyclopedia - This website contains the complete contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia, which was originally published between 1901-1906. The Jewish Encyclopedia, which recently became part of the public domain, contains over 15,000 articles and illustrations.
- Legal Encyclopedia - Plain-English articles on a variety of legal topics from Nolo.com.
- Literary Encyclopedia and Literary Dictionary - The aim of The Literary Encyclopedia and Literary Dictionary is to provide profiles of the lives and works of literary authors whose works are valued in the English language, and to do so within an electronic publication which will enable readers to explore literary history as never before.
- Mathematics Encyclopedia - What is an abacus? What did Euclid discover? Find answers to these and other questions with this browsable math encyclopedia.
- MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences, The - organizes the cross-disciplinary topics of cognitive and brain sciences under the six domains of computational intelligence; culture, cognition, and evolution; linguistics and language; neuroscience; philosophy; and psychology.
- My Virtual Encyclopedia
- News.Answers WWW Archive, The
- PC Webopaedia - "The #1 online encyclopedia and search engine dedicated to computer technology"
- Regulatory Fish Encyclopedia - US FDA / Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
- Spices & Herbs Encylopedia - information on spices from allspice to vanilla.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Symbols.com - world's largest online encyclopedia of over 2500 graphic symbols
- Virus Encyclopedia - "The entries are sorted by the first letter of the virus name, plus a page for virus names which are numerical (#). It is important to note that many viruses have several aliases. If you are looking for information on a virus, it may be in here under a different name."
- WWW news.answers archive - The Usenet newsgroup news.answers is a repository for periodic informational postings (also called Frequently Asked Questions postings, or FAQs) from other newsgroups
- Wikipedia -Free, open content encyclopedia project with over 100,000 articles.
- World Encyclopedia - site answers your highest peak questions (including the high point of each state in the U.S.). It has an index of geographic regions and mountain ranges and another of individual peaks and volcanoes. Visual indexing is offered through clickable relief maps.
American British-British American Dictionaries
Dictionary.com
Lexicool.com
Links to bilingual and multilingual dictionaries and glossaries available on the Internet.
Merriam Webster WWWebster Dictionary
PC Webopaedia
Excellent dictionary for computer-related terms. Includes diagrams, related terms, links to other definitions in the database, links to related web sites.
Webster's Revised Unabridged (1913 ed.)
Whatis.com
Definitions of current IT and computer-related terminology.
The Word Spy
Dictionary that is devoted to recently coined words and phrases and old words that are being used in new ways.
Your Dictionary.com
Comprehensive site for dictionaries in many languages.
American Society of Indexers: Thesauri online
The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (Carnegie Mellon)
The Semantic Rhyming Dictionary
Use for rhymes, to spell check, to find homonyms or synonyms, etc.
WordNet Vocabulary Helper
Provides homonyms, synonyms, and coordinate terms.
WWWebster Thesaurus (Merriam Webster)
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - 9th edition (1901)
Searchable quotations dictionary. Includes both alphabetical and chronological author lists.
Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Governrnent
From Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Journal Abbreviations Sources
Journal Abbreviation Sources is a registry of Web resources that list or provide access to the full title of journal abbreviations.
WWW Acronym and Abbreviation Server
AltaVista Translation Service
Users can copy and paste plain text into search form or provide exact URL and this service will translate the material from English to: French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish; or translate from these languages into English.
Free Translation and Professional Translation Services
Internet Dictionary Project
Translates English words into either Italian, French, German, Spanish, Latin, or Portuguese; or from those languages into English.
Lexicool.com
Search engine intended for linguists, especially translators and interpreters.
Animated American Sign Language
Basic Dictionary of ASL Terms (American Sign Language)
Read about Louis Braille who invented Braille, a wonderful system that allows blind people to be able to read with their fingertips. (A big thank you goes out to the students in Ms. Baston's computer class, at Pinewood Elementary School who suggested I add this great site to my Web Page!)
