Updated
regularly, this handy chart displays the features of the best
Internet subject directories and search
engines. http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html
2
Librarians' Index to the Internet
Searchable,
browsable Web site of Internet resources
selected and evaluated by librarians for
their usefulness to public librarians and
the general public. All entries are carefully reviewed and evaluated before
entry into the lii.org database and then maintained throughout their life
cycle. The motto of lii.org: "Information You Can Trust." http://lii.org/
"A
growing compilation of links to the search
interfaces of resources that contain data not easily or entirely
searchable/accessible from general search
tools like Alta Vista, Google, or Hotbot." The sites are grouped under
broad headings such as Archives and Library Catalogs, Bibliographies,
Business, Humanities, Science, Government, and more. Searchable. Another great
resource from librarian Gary Price. http://www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm
A
searchable subject directory of Internet resources selected for the college
and university community. Each subject guide is an annotated listing of the
best general Internet sites in the field, as well as a gateway to specialized
and advanced research tools. http://www.academicinfo.net/
Santa
Cruz Public Libraries_Ready Reference Files
Nicely
done conversion of their "fugitive face" or "tickler" file
to a online database. Searchable or browsable, and containing lots that's
useful to all, this is definitely the place to start for that elusive
California information such as what E Clampus Vitus is, a list of all the
state librarians, and what Filoli stands for. Links to pertinent Web sites,
when available, are included. http://www.santacruzpl.org/cgi-bin/readyref.pl
Searchable Public Record Databases
This
site includes contents of the Information
Please Almanacs, a biography database,
a dictionary, an atlas, and articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia.
You can search these ready reference works together or separately or browse
the Almanacs. There are feature stories each week covering topics in the news,
with links to pertinent Almanac content and other Web resources. http://www.infoplease.com/
This
site has a combined database of more than twenty respected reference
works and several anthologies and individual works of poetry, fiction, and
non-fiction. In addition to out-of-copyright editions of classic works such as
Bartlett's, Bulfinch, and the Cambridge History of English
and American Literature the collection also includes recent editions of
the Columbia Encyclopedia, The World Factbook, Roget's II:
the New Thesaurus, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language, and much more. Searchable. http://www.bartleby.com/reference/
An
informative site for information on the states
of the United States. Each state's
page includes basic information and many links to sites with more information.
You can find the text of the state songs,
pictures of many of the state flowers and
birds, maps, parks, political representatives, and much more. http://www.50states.com/
This
site can be searched by United States city or place name, zip code, and
latitude/longitude. In addition to a topographic map, nautical chart, and
aeronautical chart, you get a satellite photo that can be zoomed in to include
only a few city blocks. The indication of latitude and longitude changes as
you move the cursor over the photo, maps, and charts, all of which can be
printed or e-mailed. http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/
Accessible
in twenty-six different languages, Maporama
provides street-level directional maps for fifteen European nations, all of
the USA, and most of Canada. Personal and business directories for a limited
number of European countries are also available. Maps are available in normal,
high definition, and interactive formats that include weather, local time, and
longitude and latitude of locations. http://www.maporama.com/share/
One of the "graduates" of Google Labs. Great for heavily populated locations, especially U.S. and Western Europe. It features the following:
·
Draggable maps
– Click and drag maps to view adjacent sections immediately (no long waits
for new areas to download).
·
Satellite imagery
– View an aerial image of your desired location that you can zoom and pan.
·
Integrated search results
– Find business locations and contact information all in one location. For
example, if you search for [pizza in San Jose], locations of relevant listings
appear on your map, and their phone numbers appear alongside.
·
Detailed directions
– Enter an address and let Google Maps plot the location and/or driving
directions for you. Click any part of the driving directions to see a
magnified map or satellite image of that part of the route.
·
Keyboard shortcuts
– Pan left, right, up and down with the arrow keys. Pan wider with the Page
Up, Page Down, Home and End keys. Zoom in and out with the plus (+) key and
minus (-) keys. http://maps.google.com
How
many seconds, minutes, hours, days, have you been alive? Can also check the time
to any date in the past or future.
Provides
information on ski conditions in the United States and Canada. For each ski
area, find information on last snowfall, base snow, surface conditions,
trails, acres, and open lifts, hours of operation, and road condition. And
much, much more http://www.wunderground.com/
Search
or browse 25,000 biographies of notable
personalities from antiquity to the present. The profiles range from one
paragraph to several. Searchable by name of person only. Entries include
dates, career information, and alternate spellings/versions of the name. More
recent entries can include photograph, list of works, video, and related Web
links. Material comes from the Cambridge Encyclopedia Database, the Cambridge
Dictionary of American Biography, as
well as the A&E family that includes the Biography
and History Channels and Biography
Magazine.
*1.5
Find
A Grave
A
directory of the locations of the graves
of thousands of famous dead people with photographs of many of the graves.
Browsable by name, location, and claim to fame, and searchable by first or
last name or date. There are also links to cemeteries, funeral homes, and
other related subjects. There is an extensive bibliography included. http://www.findagrave.com
2
Who2 - Find Famous People Fast
"Classic
authors, movie stars, famous frauds, kings and queens, mythical gods, cartoon
dogs--anyone famous is fair game for Who2."
Each entry includes birth and death dates, birthplace, what the person is best
known for, a couple of paragraphs with assorted other biographical
information, and four links to good Web sites. Who2
Loops includes dozens of eclectic lists of people who share something in
common, such as Death by Car, Celebrity Beekeepers, and May-December
Presidents.
Access
to over 112 million U.S. and Canadian listings of people, government offices,
and businesses. Search for a listing by name, address, business category,
phone number, or address. You can access federal, state, and local people and
addresses.
The
data at this site ranges from country profiles (provinces and main cities) to
the highest mountains in the world, to a list of all countries in the world
with their capitals, surface area and population. Nicely done tables and
charts with sources cited in all cases. Check out the Charts section for some
great data presentations that include: most populous countries, longest
rivers, largest companies, biggest islands, and religions with number of
members.
Use
this site to "view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for
the Member States of the United Nations." Includes a wide variety of
information on many different countries, from population to the level of
carbon emission, from the average temperature to the GDP." Material is
also available in Spanish and French.
Uses
Census Bureau data--population, housing, economic, and geographic--to create
tables, reports, and maps down to the census block level. Data sets are listed
by program area (census or survey) and year. Site includes community profiles;
data on age, education, income, and race; home values, ownership, and mortgage
information; and information on foreign trade, governments, and housing
starts. Searchable by keyword or place name. Includes tutorials and a
glossary.
This
site provides comprehensive and comparative information on the public policies
of all 50 states. It contains current and archived news, a calendar of events,
and background information about the states and their governments. The
information is accessed either by the issues (such as health care, education,
welfare, and utility deregulation) or by the state. Statistical data tables
include: budget and taxes; crime and prisons; environment; highways and
transportation; income and poverty; and population; as well as the specific
issues listed above. From the Pew Center on the States.
1
BookBrowser_The Guide for Avid Readers
This
site continues to offer reading lists, book discussion resources, and other readers'
advisory materials, but it is no longer the site it was, now that it has been
absorbed by Barnes & Noble, and the orientation is now distinctly
commercial.
This
searchable database is an index to adult fiction
that takes place in California. Each entry
includes a plot summary, locale(s), decade(s) in which the story takes place,
subject headings, author, title, and publisher. From the Los Angeles Public
Library. http://www.lapl.org/resources/en/california_fiction.html
This
"vast archive" of "articles from more than 300 magazines and
journals, dating back to 1998" can be searched by all magazines,
magazines within categories, or specific magazine. This service is the first
traditional periodical aggregator to release its material on the Web with ad
revenues as the sole funding mechanism. A joint project of LookSmart and the
Gale Group.
This
current awareness resource helps users stay abreast of recent free magazine
articles available online. Indexing some 140
periodicals, it organizes the articles in twelve categories, including
Business; Computers; Education; Entertainment; Family; Finance; Health;
Internet; Pets; Science; Society, Politics, and Culture; and Sports. These are
further subdivided into subcategories. Articles are abstracted and links are
provided to the full text. The site is also searchable by keyword; My
Account explains the mark and save function. Some article abstracts also
provide a link to similar articles and articles go back about a year.
The
resource for online newspapers around the world. The newspapers section lists
around 5,400 papers and is searchable by title or location and is also indexed
geographically. In addition the U.S. papers are indexed by state, frequency of
publication, and publication category. There are links to magazines,
broadcasters, and news services worldwide. There is a separate section for
campus newspapers. Also has many sources for journalists, including a database
of job listings.
1
Karlaís Guide to Citation Style Guides
Great
set of links to a variety of style guides.
Search
this database by country or name of language. You'll find out how many people
speak a language, what languages are similar, and in which countries the
language is spoken. More than 6,800 languages spoken in 230 countries. The
Name Index lists over 41,000 language names, dialect names, and alternate
names. The Language Family Index organizes languages according to language
families.
Extensive
guide to effective use of the English
language. Includes definitions of sentence parts, rules for comma usage and
other punctuation marks, plurals and possessives, spelling, nouns and
modifiers, words and phrases to avoid, capitalization, spelling and
abbreviations, and a lot more. Many interactive quizzes and exercises are
included as well as Ask Grammar where you
can look for answered questions or post one. http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
4
Voice of America Pronunciation Guide
Sound
files and pronunciation guide
for more than 2,200 names of people, groups, places, and things in the news
around the world. Search methods include keyword search, alphabetical by name,
the full list (10 at a time), and by country. There is also a short list of
names recently in the VOA news. http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/
1
Google Image Search (Advanced)
Another
coup for Google. They've hit the Web with
the best image search
engine. Google finds images
by matching search terms to the captions
of image files, to adjacent text,
"and dozens of other factors." Results pages contain up to twenty
thumbnail images with name and size of image
included. Clicking on the thumbnail brings a framed page with the larger
version of the image in the top frame and
the Web page on which the image is located
in the bottom frame. Image searches
are filtered by default, but you can turn off filtering at each searching
session. http://www.google.com/advanced_image_search
CalPhotos is a collection of 159,728 photos of plants, animals, fossils, people, and landscapes from around the world. A variety of organizations and individuals have contributed photographs to CalPhotos. Please be aware that these various contributors maintain copyright and follow the usage guidelines provided with each image. http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/
1
Artcyclopedia_The Fine Art Search Engine
An
index to the online exhibits of thousands of artists, searchable by artist's
name and browsable by movement, medium, subject of art,
nationality of artist, or women artists. Entries include links to museum
sites, image archives, and other online resources. The focus is primarily
painting and sculpture, but a smattering of other media (architecture and
decorative arts, for example) are
represented. The site also has archived monthly articles on art,
and a museum directory. http://www.artcyclopedia.com/
Thousands
of concise versions of articles from the Grove Dictionary of Art on
Artists's Biographies, Materials and Techniques, and Styles and Movements.
Additional articles have been commissioned by artnet.com.
http://admin.artnet.com/library/index.asp
Over
25,000 North American artists - painters, sculptors, and illustrators - are
listed in this searchable resource. Included are digital images of the
artists' work as well as auction data, brief biographies, book references, and
periodical citations. There is information on more than 1000 dealers and
galleries, and over 1500 museums are listed. Search by the last name
(required) and first name (optional) of an artist to see a basic profile page.
The site publishers welcome input, including biographical data, from
knowledgeable viewers. Specialized lists include Hudson River School,
California Artists, Early Taos, and other categories. http://askart.com/
4
Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders (WATCH)
The
detailed schedules for the next two years of 500 opera houses and festivals
worldwide are searchable by any combination of date, composer, title and
location, or by singer/role, conductor or producer. Mouse-sensitive maps
provide access to box office ordering information. The site available in five
languages and constantly updated. http://www.operabase.com/
This
is a searchable database of operas, performers, composers, and opera houses.
There is brief biographical information, not always in English, on performers,
including contact information. Birth and death dates are given for composers,
and their works are listed. Opera houses of 45 countries are covered, with
performance dates. http://www.operissimo.com/
*7.
Internet
Movie Database (IMDB)
Hundreds
of thousands of entries provide detailed information for movies (in theaters,
on video or DVD, and forthcoming), as well as television movies and series.
"Awards and Reviews" provides reviews from authoritative sources
such as the New York Times, Roger Ebert, and Slate, as well as reader-supplied
evaluations. Movie information includes directors, producers, actors, plot
summaries, character names, running times, trivia, soundtracks, release dates,
box office grosses, alternate versions, Academy Awards and other awards
information, and much more. http://us.imdb.com/
This
site contains two searchable sources of consumer
information: USConsumerInfo (covers sites created by the Federal
government and national non-profit groups) and WAConsumer (covers sites
maintained by Washington state government agencies and local non-profit
groups). Between them, they have information from 100 consumer
protection and public safety Web sites. Users can search by keywords or browse
selected topics of interest and top searches of the week. From the
collaborative effort of Washington state organization sponsors and the
Washington State Library. http://finditconsumer.wa.gov/
This
site for investing and personal finance
provides U.S. and international stock quotes with minimal delay when markets
are open, as well as historical stock quotes and other market information.
Additional investment topics include general financial news, industry news,
annual reports, and mutual fund, bond, and option information. Also includes
links to more than 20 international sites. Personal finance
subjects include loans, insurance, and taxes. http://finance.yahoo.com/
3
California Department of Consumer Affairs License Lookup
Look
up a company or individual in an occupation licensed
by the Department of Consumer
Affairs. Select a license
type from the list and then search by name, geographic location, or license
number. Professions include accountants, acupuncturists, architects,
chiropractors, dentists, doctors, optometrists, pharmacists, physical
therapists, psychologists, nurses, and veterinarians. http://lii.org/search?goto=010745
4
NADA Used Vehicle Values & Appraisal Guides
*.5
Findlaw
The
best single starting point on the Web for doing legal research. Full-text,
searchable database of all law
reviews and journals on the Internet. Updated nightly. Another search
interface, LawCrawler, helps you
focus your search on legal issues on the Web. Also includes Legal
News, legal forms, organizations, law firms and lawyers, judicial opinions
and case law, consultants, and more. http://www.findlaw.com/
1
martindale.com Lawyer Locator
This
site has a database of over one million lawyers
and law firms in 160 countries, searchable by name, location,
practice area, firm size, and language spoken. There are other databases of
alternative dispute resolution practitioners, services (court reporters,
expert witnesses, process servers), and legal personnel (administrators,
librarians, marketing professionals, paralegals). There is also information on
legal careers (jobs, resources, insider reports on law firms, recruiters) and
professional resources (conferences, schools, associations, associations,
continuing education). http://www.martindale.com/
Extensive
materials on the law: brief summaries of law topics, with links to key primary
sources; state and federal constitutions and codes; federal and state judicial
opinions; federal, state, and international law by source or jurisdiction;
current awareness resources, including "Eye on the Courts" (news on
important court decisions); and directories of organizations, journals (law
reviews), judges, lawyers, and law schools. From the Cornell Law School. http://www.law.cornell.edu/
*.5
Best
of History Web Sites This
site provides categorized links to hundreds of "history-related web sites
that have been reviewed for quality, accuracy and usefulness. Sites with
engaging content and useful multimedia technologies are most likely to be
included. General resources and research-oriented sites included." There
are also links to information about Teaching with Technology. http://www.besthistorysites.net/
*.75PBS
HistoryDirectory
of history-related broadcast series and programs produced by the Public
Broadcasting Service (PBS): American Experience, American Masters, Frontline,
Ken Burns's American Stories, NOVA, and P.O.V. Topics include the ancient
world, biographies, United States, war and espionage, and the world. Features
lesson plans and activities for teachers. Searchable. http://www.pbs.org/history/
1
Congressional Directory -- C-SPAN View
legislators by State Delegation or alphabetical list, Senate or House
committees, Congressional Leadership, and Key Officers & Capitol
Hill Phone Numbers, or search by member name or zip Code. Member Name
Search can be narrowed by party, chamber, and/or state. Results include
Washington and home district addresses, e-mail addresses, phone and fax
numbers, brief background information, committee assignments, political action
committee contributions, etc. Particularly useful is the congressional
committee information, including rosters, contact information, subcommittees,
etc. http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir
"Since
1920, the Clerk of the House has collected and published the official vote
counts for federal elections from the
official sources among the various states and territories. These documents,
out of print for many years, have been collected and scanned in a format to
make them once again available to researchers and students." Searchable.
From the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/elections.html
3
Political Resources on the Net
Comprehensive,
annotated directory of political sites
available on the Internet, searchable and
sorted by country, with links to the political
parties, information about the political
system, constitution, organizations, and the national media. Excellent resource.
http://www.politicalresources.net/
Online
version of a series of books prepared by the Federal Research Division of the
Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area
Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army between 1986 and
1998. This series contains studies of more
than 100 countries. You can search across
all countries or any combination of countries,
browse the table of contents for a specific country,
or read the full text for any of the countries
listed. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
The
site’s self-description
“SalaryExpert
reports are used by thousands of people to help them better understand their
“worth” in the employment marketplace. Our reports not only factor in salary
information, but also benefits and "cost-of-living", thereby
providing the most comprehensive, yet free, information available on the Web.”
This service is free for the basic report.
Gives zip code based wage survey information.
Also provides DOT description of job duties.
2
Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
This
site provides employment and wage
estimates information by occupation. The information is available at the
national, state, and metropolitan area level. It is further categorized under
managerial, professional, sales, clerical, service, agricultural, and
production. For each occupation, it provides the OES code, occupation title,
definition, employment level, mean wages,
and median wages. From the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. http://stats.bls.gov/oes/oes_data.htm
Occupational
and employment information, including overviews of the job market for the U.S.
and for all fifty states. Profiles hundreds of specific occupations, including
detailed salary and wages information by state and county from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. http://www.acinet.org/acinet/
*.5
MEDLINEplus
This
directory site is designed to lead the user to resources containing
information that will help with researching their health questions. It
includes information from MEDLINE, links to self-help groups, the United
States Pharmacopeia (USP) drug database, medical dictionaries, directories of
doctors and hospitals, access to National Institute of Health consumer-related
organizations, clearinghouses, health-related organizations, and a search
databases section with dozens of databases on topics such as clinical trials,
nutrition, AIDS, cancer, etc. Also available in Spanish. http://www.medlineplus.gov/
Searchable
by drug name, keyword, and imprint code (great for identifying pills). Gives
the brand, generic, and category for more than 4,500 drugs in English and more
than 3,000 in Spanish. Also has most common indications and side effects. The
site also contains Taber's Medical Encyclopedia, with more than 53,000
definitions as well as information on some major Western herbs, Chinese herbal
remedies, and homeopathics. http://www.rxlist.com/
Use
this site to analyze the nutrient content of foods, including fast foods and
foods by brand name. Features definitions of nutrients, their functions,
recommended amounts, and key foods; an energy calculator; and other resources.
Note: Site maintained by Circle Group Holdings, maker of Z-Trim, a fat
substitute. http://www.nat.uiuc.edu/
A
collection of "over 1,950 medical images
and videos, pertaining to 1,350 topics and themes." They are indexed
according to the MeSH medical
classification system and are searchable and can be browsed alphabetically.
The topics include human anatomy, organisms, chemicals and drugs, techniques
and equipment, psychiatry and psychology, biological and physical sciences,
and more. Also available in French. http://www.hon.ch/HONmedia/
The
Pet Care Library contains searchable information on a wide range of
topics about pets including behavior, common health problems, the human/animal
bond, nutrition, care tips, and preventive care. Additionally, there is
information about how to select an animal hospital as well as a locator for an
AAHA (American Animal Hospital
Association) - accredited hospital, a newsletter, and a FAQ. http://www.healthypet.com/
1
Science Fair Project Database
An
index of experiments and projects in all
areas of science and many areas of
technology from books published in 1990 and later. The primary users are
grades K-8 although there are some books intended for older users. It is
searchable by general topic, keywords in the experiment, title and other
bibliographic information, and grade level. Earlier editions were published in
print format. From the Akron-Summit County (OH) Public Library. http://www.ascpl.lib.oh.us/scifair/sftp.htm
*1.5Everyday
Mysteries: Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress
This
site provides answers to questions that "deal with everyday
phenomena that we often take for granted,
but ... can be explained scientifically.
... All of the questions presented on this Web site were asked by researchers
and answered by librarians from the Library's Science Reference
Services." Searchable and browsable; links to the library's "Ask a
Librarian" feature. http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/
*1.75
Extreme
Science
The
highest, lowest, biggest, deepest, driest, largest, oldest, fastest, and other
extremes in the natural world are available here, suitable for younger
students. Each category includes a clear, easy-to-understand explanation of
the item and the Map Directory shows the location of each one. Also
available are related links. http://www.extremescience.com/index.html
2
EPA Search Your Community by ZIP Code
A
search by
zip code
of several Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
databases will produce a list of all known hazardous waste sites, general
environmental conditions and trends, the current UV rating, a map of regulated
sites within the area of choice, and the condition of any watershed. http://www.epa.gov/epahome/commsearch.htm
3
Earthquakes Hazards Program (USGS)
At
this site from the U.S. Geological Survey (Menlo Park, CA) you can check the
latest earthquake information and reports
(including a special on recent California earthquakes)
and find out more about quake hazards and
preparedness. There are also study resources and links to additional earthquake
resources. http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/