Quicklinks
Almanacs • Encyclopedias • Maps & Travel • Biographies • Calculators, Measurements, Calendars & Time • Dictionaries/Thesaurus • Acronyms • Quotations • Business & Career • Other Reference Resources • Computer • Government
District Provided Resources
My Bethel Portal Page - This has access to many resources including an access point to Groliers and Proquest if you are on a computer outside the district.
AP Photo Archive - The AP Photo Archive contains some 400,000 images, most of which are contemporary photos made since late 1995. Hundreds of spot news and feature pictures enter into the archive each day, and a selection of historical images are scanned in weekly. This is also a great resource for charts.
If working from a computer IN the district network, you can use the following direct links:
Groliers - An online encyclopedia resource.
Proquest - A searchable database of articles and references including access to the full article online.
Almanacs & Fact Books
Information Please Almanac - The world’s first and largest free reference site where you can find millions of facts.
Country Studies - From the Library of Congress.
CIA World Factbook - An excellent source of information on every country in the world. It includes maps, flags, and information on the people, geography, government, economy, transportation, and more.
FedStats - A site designed to provide easy access to federal statistics of interest to the public. Created by70 agencies in the United States Federal Government.
50 States and Capitals - Lists the fifty states and all their facts: locations (latitude and longitude), populations, birds, songs, flowers, capitals, flags, constitutions, geographical features, mottos, national parks, nicknames, dates of entry into the union, web cams, and more.
Internet Public Library Reference Center - This web site offers a collection of reference sources: almanacs, biographies, encyclopedias, an “Ask A Reference Question” service, a FAQ list, and reference guides.
The National Atlas of the United States of America - Gain a greater geographical understanding of the U.S. and its environmental, resource, demographic, economic, social, political, and economic dimensions through easy to use maps and other tools from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Old Farmers Almanac - Home, home on the range. Visit this site and find out everything you need to know about weather, business, advertising, cooking, gardening, home-owning, and other information relevant to farming.
Encyclopedias
Britannica Online - Free access to the excellent Encyclopedia Britannica. This site also has a guide tohigh-quality web sites with descriptions, reviews, and ratings; plus current news, sports, and more.
Encyclopedia.com - “This site conveniently places an extraordinary amount of information at your fingertips.More than 17,000 articles from The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition have been assembled to provide free, quick and useful information on almost any topic.”
Atlapedia Online - “Atlapedia Online contains full color physical and political maps as well as key facts and statistics on countries of the world.”
E-Conflict, World Encyclopedia and Simulation - This site, aimed at eradicating international conflict by increasing cultural awareness, features information on individual countries including national anthems, flags, maps, history, weather, news, and more.
Encarta Online Encyclopedia - Encarta is one of the most popular encyclopedias on the Internet because it is highly informative, entertaining, and easy to use. Rich illustrations, photos, and interactive features help bring a wide variety of topics to life. Includes learning activities and a teachers resource section called “Schoolhouse.” A valuable learning tool for the classroom!
Mythweb - Includes the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology, a cartoon version of Homer’s Odyssey, and a teachers guide.
Maps & Travel
CitySearch - “CitySearch develops city guides that provide rich local information on arts and entertainment, recreation, shopping and community, and integrate transactions to help people get things done. Currently you can get phenomenally detailed content for Austin, Nashville, New York City, Pasadena, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Toronto, and North Carolina’s Research Triangle (and even Melbourne and Sydney, Australia). The site creates a perfect thumbnail sketch of each city from a native’s viewpoint, all the way down to school lunches and volunteer programs.”
MapQuest - Explore the world, find directions to your friend’s house, or plan a cross-country trip using the right map from MapQuest.
Maps - A selection of all types of maps, including physical, historic, blank/outline maps, and more. Also cartography, games. (From About.com.)
Maps and References - An enormous list of links to maps and atlases of all kinds from the University of Iowa.
Maps On Us - “Maps On Us provides integrated yellow pages, directions, and mapping features in an easy-to-navigate site.”
Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia - Do you love the high country? Here’s a guide to the world’s major mountain ranges and peaks, including relief maps, interactive summit logs, photos, links, and lots more.
Biographies
Academy of Achievement - Brings you face to face with the extraordinary individuals who have played a major role in shaping the twentieth century.
Biographical Dictionary - “The Biographical Dictionary contains information on over 23,000 notable people from ancient times to the present day. The Dictionary is searchable by names, keywords, and dates.”
Distinguished Women of Past & Present - Obtain a comprehensive listing of important women throughout history. The listings are arranged into easy to find categories such as art, literature, science, politics, and many others.
Nom de Guerre - Have you ever wondered what Dear Abby’s or Madonna’s real name is? Visit this site to find out the real or full names of entertainment personalities, athletes, historical figures, and other individuals added for idol curiosity.
Calculators, Measurements, Calendars, Time
A Dictionary of Measures, Units and Conversions: Meters, seconds, moles - this site features an index of the major units of measurement around the world, and provides the conversion factors needed to change them into a standard unit of the system international (S.I.).
Webmath - Select a mathematical subject from a list of subjects, then select a type of mathematical problem from a list of topics, and access tips and an example of how to solve math problems of this type.
Your Weight On Other Worlds - Calculate your weight on different planets, moons, and stars! Click on the images to get more info on specific places. From the Exploratorium.
A Walk Through Time - This site provides a brief and interesting overview of the development of various methods of keeping time over the course of history, from the use of celestial objects to the use of atoms in the attempt to calculate time. This worthwhile site is both visually pleasing and very informative. Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Diversity Calendar - A quick way to look up cultural and religious holidays from around the globe.
TimeAndDate.com - Find what you need to know about dates and times. Includes a world time clock, perpetual calendar, date calculator, countdown to the next millennium, and more.
Dictionaries/Thesaurus
Merriam-Webster Online: The Language Center - Online dictionary, thesaurus, and vocabulary builders. Very useful for any one interested in expanding their vocabulary with a “word of the day” site and archive. Try the quizzes, discover the origins of words, analyze and critic the development of new words. If you need interesting information for small talk, this is your spot!
One Look Dictionary - Searches for words in 215 dictionaries containing over 1 million words. Also helps with pronunciation and spelling.
Dictionary of Art Terms - Find the definitions to your basic art terms. Created by Argo Enterprise and Associates.
Etymology of First Names - Look up your first name in the alphabetical index to find out where it came from and what it means. This fun web site includes names from many nationalities, and lists of the 50 most common names for boys and girls in America and England.
Mental Health Dictionary - “A global information resource and research tool covering all of the disciplines contributing to our understanding of mental health.”
Roget’s Internet Thesaurus - Type in a word to find its synonyms or antonyms, or search for words within the categories listed.
Wordsmyth Educational Dictionary-Thesaurus - American English dictionary with an integrated thesaurus. Flexible search, hyperlinked synonyms, and 50,000 headwords.
BioTECH: Life Science Dictionary - A dictionary of biology, chemistry, and biotechnology terms.
Web of Online Dictionaries - Discover dictionaries you never knew existed! This amazing site links to over 400 dictionaries in 130 different languages. Also links to thesauri and other vocabulary aids, language identifiers and guessers, and specialized dictionaries on everything from literary and legal terms to the latest lingo used by rappers and UFO enthusiasts. From Bucknell University.
Acronyms & Abbreviations
Acronym Finder - “A searchable database containing common acronyms and abbreviations about all subjects, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military.”
The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server - This is a fabulous resource.
Quotations
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations - Do you know who penned the famous lines, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” or, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Type key words from each phrase into the search engine, and you’ll be able to trace these quotations to their sources. From Columbia University.
Creative Quotations - Tons of quotations indexed by name, birthday, profession, keywords, themes and special collections; or you can search by month and day. Also includes quizzes and links to more quotation web sites.
Business and Career
Dictionary of Occupational Titles - A comprehensive listing of job titles in the United States.
Glossary of Financial Terms - From the New York Stock Exchange.
Other Reference Tools
DeskRef: Quick Reference Links - “Links to ready reference material on the Internet,” including classroom subjects and entertainment. From the Ramapo Catskill Library System.
Infomine - A virtual library and reference tool containing highly useful Internet resources including databases, electronic journals, listservers, and other information to meet the needs of teachers and students. From the University of California.
Refdesk.com - The one stop site for everything on the Internet: news, weather, sports, reference materials, encyclopedias, facts on file, FAQs, tutorials, search engines, Win95, free stuff, games, and more.
Virtual Reference Desk - A huge reference resource, with annotated links, including links to more reference “megasites.” From the University of Delaware Library.
Computers
Beginner’s Guide to html - This is one of the best introductions to html coding. html (hypertext markup language) is used to create documents on the World Wide Web. The NCSA primer will help get you started programming your own web page. Developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Glossary of Internet Terms - A glossary of Internet terms. From Internet Literacy Consultants.
On-line Dictionary of Computing - “A searchable dictionary of acronyms, jargon, programming languages, tools, architectures, operating systems, in fact anything to do with computing.”
Government
Consumer Information Center - Full text versions of federal consumer publications focusing on topics such as cars, children, employment, food & nutrition, health, housing, federal programs, travel, small business, and more.
U.S. State Fact Sheets - Statistics and information on population, per-capita income, earnings per job, poverty rate, total number of jobs, unemployment rate, farm and farm related jobs, top export commodities, and more.
U.S. Census Bureau - As the source for social, demographic, and economic statistics and data, the U.S. Census Bureau provides everything from abbreviations of cities to zip codes.
U.S. Department of Education - The most reliable and up-to-date source for educators, policy makers, parents, students, and researchers.
U.S. Department of Education Search Page - A web site that offers a searchable database of government documents, information on a variety of topics, directories, and picks of the month.