Thomas Ford Librarians have selected these online reference sources to help you answer your reference questions.
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Abbreviations.com
Acronym Finder
Almanacs
Information Please Almanac
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Atlases
Digital Atlas of the United States
Landform Atlas of the United States
Perry-Castaneda Library of Map Collection
WorldAtlas.com
Biography
Biography in Context
Encyclopedia of World Biography
Biographical Memoirs of National Academy of Sciences
Nobel Prize Winners
Book Reviews
Chicago Tribune Books
Kirkus Reviews
NPR Books
New York Review of Books
New York Times Book Reviews
Calculators and Converters
Martindale’s Calculators On-Line Center
Measurements Converter
Calendars
10,000 Year Calendar
Calendar Converter
Car Prices
National Automobile Dealers Association
Kelley Blue Book
TrueCar
Charity Accountability
Computer/Technology Information and Tips
Dictionaries
American Heritage Dictionary
Dictionary.com
Webster’s Online Dictionary
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia Britannica (Away from Library)
Encyclopedia Britannica (Inside Library)
Encyclopedia.com
Gale Virtual Reference -
Search many specialized encyclopedias simultaneously to find authoritative articles for many topics. Use your library card to log in from home.
Infoplease
Wikipedia
Gazetteers
Columbia Gazetteer of The World
Getty Thesaurus of Geographical Names
General
About.com – Over 500 experts give advice on wide-ranging topics on this popular website.
Answers.com – Search a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and other tools from a single box.
Bartleby.com – A collection of online reference books.
Illinois Clicks – Research links vetted by over 100 Illinois librarians.
Internet Public Library – Many useful links for students and researchers.
MeL Reference Desk – Links to hundreds of free reference sources.
Reference.com – Links to almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, directories, and other tools. Business, legal, and medical links are highlighted.
Health and Medical Resources
Healthfinder.gov – Easy to use website with basic health information.
Mayo Clinic – Information on a variety of diseases and conditions, medical tests and drugs.
MedlinePlus – Health infomation from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. In addition to articles on 750 diseases, conditions, and wellness, there are medical dictionaries, drug profiles, and health alerts.
Magazine Articles
MasterFILE Premier – General magazine articles. You will need a library card number if outside the library.
OmniFile Full Text Select General magazine articles. All records are full text! You will need a library card number if outside the library.
Quotations
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
Quoteland
Respectfully Quoted
Reading Advice and Literary Criticism
BookPage Reviews
Fantastic Fiction
NoveList Plus (EBSCO) – You will need your library card number if outside the library.
Recycling Information
EPA.org: List of resources for recycling electronics
Earth911.com: Find nearby recycling centers
Dell Reconnect: Computer recycling program in conjunction with Goodwill
Statistics & Demographics
2000 U.S. Census
2010 U.S. Census
Baby Name Wizard
Bureau of Labor Statistics
State of the World Population 2011
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Style Sheets
APA Style Guide
Citation Style for Research Papers
MLA Style Guide
Turabian Citation Guide
Telephone Directories
411.com
AnyWho
Area Code Locator
InfoBel
Toll-Free Directory
Yahoo! People Search
All Area Codes
