the Internet Public Library

Reference Reference

Standard General Reference Aids.

Almanacs

Annual publications offering lists, charts, and tables of information on various topics.

Associations & Organizations

Directories of associations and non-profit organizations.

Biographies

Accounts of persons' lives written by another.

Calculation & Conversion Tools

Websites that assist with mathematical calculations, including online calculators and conversion dictionaries and tables.

Calendars

The organization and record of the passing of days or time.

Census Data & Demographics

Information from official and non-official periodic enumeration of the U.S. and other populations, including related demographic data and reports.

Dictionaries

General works containing alphabetical lists, with information given for each term.

Encyclopedias

Comprehensive, authoritative works containing articles on a wide range of subjects.

Genealogy

Information helpful in finding and/or interpreting records of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors.

Geography

Information on the earth, its features, the distribution of life, and political boundaries.

News

Information about recent events and happenings.

Periodical Directories

Directories to periodicals, serials, journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, etc.

Quotations

Resources to help identify quotations or find interesting quotations.

Style & Writing Guides

Resources for proper grammatical usage, citation formats, or paper writing.

Telephone

Directories on the Web listing telephone and fax numbers for people and businesses.

Resources in this category are:

Alki Babynamer

http://www.babynamer.com/

"Babynamer has a world of information on more than 18,000 names to help you choose just the right one for your child." This is an impressive array of name information. Divided up by boys names and girls names, you can search for the meaning behind a particular name, browse listings of thousands of possible names from all over the world, or look through a variety of theme lists from 'most popular' to categories such as sports figures, television and film, scientists and philosophers, literature, artists and musicians. Each name entry gives pronunciation, nicknames, alternate spellings, popularity, famous namesakes, and possible 'baggage' that the name carries, such as teasing nicknames.

Author: Alki Software Corporation (webmaster@babynamer.com)

Subjects:

Social Sciences--Social Issues & Services--Children & Parenting

Reference

Keywords: Baby Names; Name Meanings

Allexperts.com

http://www.allexperts.com/

A directory of experts in the areas of television, music, legal, medical, software, cars, sports, love & romance, and miscellaneous subjects who have volunteered to answer e-mail questions in their subject of expertise. Click on a subject area and you'll get a list of volunteers in that area, which includes notes on each person's specific area of interest, along with a link to an e-mail form. Level of expertise will vary since volunteers are only required to have "an above-average level of knowledge of the subject." The site requires a java-enabled browser.

Author: (feedback@allexperts.com?subject=feedback)

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: questions; answer; e-mail services; music; law; medicine; software; cars; automobiles; sports; love; romance

American Currency Exhibit

http://www.frbsf.org/currency/index.html

"Money hasn't always looked like it does today. Explore the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's American Currency Exhibit online and watch history come alive as you step back in time to our nation's beginning. Learn how our country's rich history is closely tied with our currency. Discover the role the Federal Reserve has played--and continues to play--in that history. Select Tour Showcase of Bills to examine highlights from the collection. Select Tour Exhibit by Era to navigate through historical eras, beginning with the Colonial struggle for independence. Your mode of transportation through history ranges from the Colonial horse to the global economy's jet airplane. As you follow the transportation revolution and the evolution of American currency, you'll learn how these events not only reflect our history, but help shape it." 

Author: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Subjects:

Business & Economics--Banking

Reference

Arts & Humanities--History--United States

Keywords: Money; Bills

AskMe.com

http://www.AskMe.com/

"Get answers to your questions from real people - for free! Join the 1.5Million people using AskMe.com and browse our categories to read over 300,000 answers." Categories include: Arts and Leisure, Business and Careers, Education, Entertainment, Health and Wellness, Science, Sports and Recreation, and Travel.

Author: AskMe.com, Inc. (feedback@AskMe.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Bridge to Japan

http://www.daiwa-foundation.org.uk/

An annotated index of Japanese/Japan-related Internet resources. Site contents: Academia; Arts; Bookshops; Companies; Computing; Directories; Economy; Environment; Gateways [to Japan-related online information]; Government; Language; Law; Leisure; Libraries; Literature; Living in Japan; Museums; News; Organisations; Politics; Regions; Research Institutes; Software; Technology; Travel; Voluntary Organisations; Japanese Resources A-Z; Search Engines & Internet Directories.

Author: The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation (daiwafdn@mailbox.ulcc.ac.uk)

Subjects:

Reference

Business & Economics--Business Directories

Reference--Geography

Canadian Postal Code Lookup Service

http://www.westminster.ca/cdnlook.htm

Enter Canadian address information and get back the appropriate postal code. Also has an American zip code lookup.

Author: Westminster International (mailman@westminster.ca)

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Postal Codes; Zip Codes; Canada; United States

ClasSearch.com

http://www.classearch.com/

"ClasSearch.Com is a free, diverse searchable database ofrecreational, personal, and professional enrichment classes, lectures,workshops, seminars, on-line learning, private instruction, volunteeropportunities, and educational travel. Topics include art, craft,cooking, dance, language, martial arts, music, sports, theater, yoga,and much more!"

Author: (classes@ClasSearch.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Education

Commemorative Motifs, Mourning Images, and Memento Mori

http://members.aol.com/TombView/symbol.html

"Commemorative Motifs, Mourning Images, and Memento Mori," from the "Tomb With a View" newsletter, explains funerary symbolism. It includes a list of symbols seen on tombstones and graves, and their significance.

Author: Tomb With a View (tombview@aol.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Arts & Humanities--Fine Arts--Sculpture

Arts & Humanities--Religion and Theology

Keywords: funerary; funeral; death; cemetery; graveyard; burial; tomb

eHow

http://www.ehow.com/

"A how-to site offering practical information for a host of real-world activities. eHow provides steps, tips, and warnings to help you get the job done whether your task is personal or professional. It offers thousands of staff-written, reviewed and edited step-by-step project solutions within 14 activity categories. Coupled with simpleinstructions, eHow.com offers printable shopping lists and direct links and directions to relevant shopping opportunities on each topic, so users can order the goods or services necessary to complete their task."

Author: eHow, Inc.

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: self-help; how-to

Encyclopedia FunTrivia

http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia.html

The Encyclopedia FunTrivia also bills itself as "The Archive of Useless Facts and Trivia," and "the world's largest source of Bizarre and Utterly Trivial Information about almost everything." Categories includes animals, construction, entertainment, food, history, humans, people, records, seasonal, space, sports, technology, time, world. This site allows visitors to contribute facts and knowledge. The most entertaining facts are added to a Fun Trivia mailing list to which users can subscribe. Message boards allow users to consult one another as well.  

Author: (terry@funtrivia.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Extrapolated Barcode Specs

http://www.spatula.net/proc/barcode/index.src

Description and specification for popular barcode types, including UPC, postal, and code 3 of 9, with illustrations and example CGI generators. Includes links to further Internet resources.

Author: Nick Johnson

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Barcodes; Universal Product Code; Code 3 of 9; EAN; UPC; POSTNet

The Finnish Virtual Library

http://www.jyu.fi/library/virtuaalikirjasto/engvirli.htm

"The Finnish Virtual Library is a subject gateway for the scientific community. It contains descriptions of Internet resources in 51 general topics. The main language is Finnish, but some of the text is also in English. " Topics include science, social sciences, fine arts, and health sciences.

Author: Jyväskylä Univeristy Library

Subjects:

Sciences & Technology

Reference

Getting Grants - Help for Grant Writers

http://granthelp.clarityconnect.com/

A site providing tips, techniques, and books related to grant writing. Resources include a list of Internet resources, quick tips, a glossary, a list of acronyms, and news.

Author: Frank Evangelisti (granthelp@clarityconnect.com)

Subjects:

Business & Economics--Non-Profit Organizations

Reference

Law, Government & Political Science--United States Federal Government

Keywords: grant writing; fundraising; grants; funding

GrantsWeb

http://sra.rams.com/cws/sra/resource.htm

A comprehensive listing of resources for anyone needing information on how to write a grant.

Author: Robert Killoren (killoren@rtto.psu.edu)

Subjects:

Law, Government & Political Science

Reference

Business & Economics--Non-Profit Organizations

Keywords: grant writing; funding; fundraising

Great American Speeches

http://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/

80 years worth of great speeches are captured here, as well as some interesting excercises for students of speech and American History. The Critics Corner features Richard Nixon's Checkers' Speech, as well as background information and links within the speech to explain the context of specific words or terms used in the speech. 

Author: PBS (plpayson@worldweb.net)

Subjects:

Reference

Arts & Humanities--History--United States

INFOMINE: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections

http://infomine.ucr.edu/

INFOMINE is a virtual library holding a collection of thousands of annotated and indexed links to important university-level research and educational tools on the Internet. Links are divided in a variety of subjects, which can be browsed or searched by keyword. Subjects include social sciences and humanities, instructional resources, visual and performing arts, sciences, the Internet, and government information.

Author: Library of the University of California, Riverside

Subjects:

Reference

Education--Higher Education

Internet Clocks, Counters, and Countdowns

http://www.panaga.com/clocks/clocks.htm

A collection of Internet clocks, counters, countdowns, and timers. Current time, international clocks, alternate time systems, national debt, world and US population, death, military spending, doomsday, sun, millenium, and other clocks. Also has a section on clock and counter programming code.

Author: Paul Nagai (clocks@panaga.com)

Subjects:

Sciences & Technology--Horology

Reference

Keywords: Time

The Internet Lost and Found

http://www.internetlostandfound.com/

"Free directory listings for lost and found animals and items in the US, Canada and worldwide."

Author: (info@ilostandfound.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Entertainment & Leisure--Travel

Keywords: lost and found; property;

Language Identifier

http://www.rxrc.xerox.com/research/mltt/Tools/guesser.html

Enter a sentence of 5 or more words, and this tool will guess what language it is.

Author: The Xerox Research Centre Europe (info@xrce.xerox.com)

Subjects:

Arts & Humanities--Language and Linguistics

Reference

Learn2.Com

http://www.learn2.com/

Hundreds of illustrated tutorials on how to do things that are useful in daily living, from how to poach an egg to how to avoid junk mail to how to remove a tick. The tutorials can be searched or browsed by broad subject category. New tutorials are added each week.

Author: Panmedia (info@learn2.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Tutorials; How to; Food; Entertaining; Household; Personal Care; Parenting; Computers; Electronics; Automotive; Sports

Librarians' Index to the Internet

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/

"A searchable, annotated, subject directory of close to 3,000 Internet resources chosen for their usefulness to the public library user's information needs." The items in the directory are selected and maintained by a team of librarians. The spiritual sister of the IPL's own Ready Reference Collection.

Author: Carole Leita (cleita@sunsite.berkeley.edu)

Subjects:

Reference

Missing Pet Network (MPN)

http://web3.aphis.usda.gov/mpn/anlost.html

A network of mostly U.S. sites that allow people to register a lost or found pet and search animals already registered.

Author: (jdepoy@erols.com,evad19@probe.net)

Subjects:

Entertainment & Leisure--Pets

Reference

Keywords: lost; found

Morse Code and the Phonetic Alphabets

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~scp93ch/refer/alphabet.html

Table showing the morse code and various phonetics for the alphabet.

Author: Stephen Phillips (scp93ch@soton.ac.uk)

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Morse Code; Alphabet

Mundo Latino

http://www.mundolatino.org/

One of the first Web sites created that is entirely in Spanish. Maintained by writers, journalists, artists, and investigators in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, United States, Holland, Mexico and Venezuela. Selection of the best Web sites in Spanish. Links to hundreds of Spanish language news sources, chat rooms, and educational sites.

Author: Red Mundo Latino S.L. (vangogh@mundolatino.org )

Subjects:

Reference

Social Sciences--Ethnic, Cultural, Immigration, and Racial Issues--Latin American/Hispanic

Arts & Humanities

Keywords: Latin America; news; current events; chats; entertainment; culture; education

The National Archives of Ireland

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/index.html

This site includes research guides about family history, the Great Famine, Transportation to Australia, and others; it also includes searchable databases of indices of government papers (the documents themselves can only be viewed on-site). A small section of the site is in Irish.

Author: National Archives of Ireland (mail@nationalarchives.ie)

Subjects:

Reference

Arts & Humanities--History--Europe

Law, Government & Political Science--Other National Governments

Keywords: Irish; Ireland

National Library of Australia

http://www.nla.gov.au/home.html

"Welcome to the National Library of Australia. Our collections and services underpin Australian cultural life & intellectual pursuits. We are the preeminent source for the documentary record of Australia & its place in the world." This site contains information about the library's collections, with links to related sites for each collection. It also contains information about other collections in Austrlia and has links to a broad array of Internet Resources. The library's catalog can be searched from this site.

Author: National Library of Australia (www@nla.gov)

Subjects:

Reference

Nom de Guerre - The Real People's Real Name Resource of Pseudonyms

http://www.walshnet.com/walshnet/punster/realname.htm

This site contains "the definitive" list of the real and/or full names for hundreds of celebrities, historical figures, writers, and fictional and non-fictional characters. Entries are listed alphabetically by pseudonym, and some contain brief biographical information. You might be surprised to find out who does not go by their real name. 

Author: Mark Samwick (mark@walshnet.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Pseudonyms; Real Names; Biographies

The Original Tipping Page

http://www.tipping.org/tipping/tipping.html

A guide to appropriate amounts to tip people who provide different kinds of services, including in barbershops and hair salons, casinos, cruise ships, restaurants, and trains.

Author: Manny Gonzalez (manny@nyp.org)

Subjects:

Reference--Calculation & Conversion Tools

Reference

Keywords: tipping; etiquette; gratuity

The Phobia List

http://www.sonic.net/~fredd/phobia1.html

Very long list of names of phobias sorted in order of the phobia and of the thing being feared. Also has some information about phobias, quotations about fear, and a list of phobia resources.

Author: Fredd Culbertson (fredd@sonic.net)

Subjects:

Social Sciences--Psychology

Reference

Price's List of Lists

http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/listof.htm

"The Internet contains numerous lists of information. Many of these lists present information in the form of rankings of different people, organizations, companies, etc. This collection is designed to be a clearinghouse for these types of resources." Lists relate to business, government, geography and regions of the world, education, entertainment, sports, science, and living.

Author: Gary Price (gprice@gwu.edu)

Subjects:

Reference

Business & Economics

Law, Government & Political Science

Public Agenda

http://www.publicagenda.org/

"Public Agenda prepares a broad array of educational materials that help explain policy issues tothe public in a balanced and easy-to-understand way. Our guides offer a nonpartisan briefing on policy and polling -- including 'red flags' where poll results may be misleading; a digest of news, legislation, and studies; and research sources. We offer 19 issue guides, each one combining background information with public opinion analysis." Covers many issues including education, race, health care, crime, the economy, the environment, abortion, social security, internet speech and privacy, and the right to die. Useful to both the general public and policy makers.

Author: Public Agenda

Subjects:

Law, Government & Political Science

Reference

Social Sciences--Social Issues & Services

Keywords: public opinion

Research-It!

http://www.itools.com/research-it/research-it.html

Searchable database that allows users to look up information from a variety of sources such as Merriam Webster Thesaurus and Dictionary, CMU Lanuguage Identifier, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Quote.com and more. Users can search by keyword or by linkng directly to the resource that's being searched.

Author: iTools (Webmaster@iTools.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Semaphore Flag Signalling System

http://155.187.10.12/flags/semaphore.html

"The Semaphore flag signaling system is an alphabet signalling system based on the waving of a pair of hand-held flags in a particular pattern."

Author: Jim Croft (jrc@anbg.gov.au)

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Flags; Signal; Alphabet

Sprocketworks

http://www.sprocketworks.com/

Would you like to know how to groom a horse or count on an abacus? This quirky little site is an interactive place for both kids and adults that relies heavily on shockwave files to teach users about an eclectic range of topics, including space, music, horses, chemistry, birds, ships, oceans, time, money, art and logic. A "look it up" subsection covers measurement, area codes, travel times and has a world of the world. Similarly, a "how to" section explains how to make an origami bird or a paper airplane. Users should be warned that some downloads may be required to access parts of the site.

Author:

Subjects:

Reference

Entertainment & Leisure--Arts & Crafts

Sciences & Technology--Mathematics

The Straight Dope

http://www.straightdope.com/

"The official Internet home of Cecil Adams, World's Smartest Human Being, and his famous syndicated column The Straight Dope". With searchable online archives of the column, this site is an excellent reference tool for finding answers to "just curious" type questions like "Why are races always run in a counterclockwise direction?" and "Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?".

Author: Cecil Adams (webmaster@straightdope.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Superstitions

http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html

This page lists and describes many common superstitions alphabetically by object/subject. Contains separate sections for death superstitions and wedding superstitions.

Author: (webmaster@corsinet.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Social Sciences--Anthropology

Keywords: Superstitions

takeAclass.com

http://takeaclass.com/

A directory of continuing education schools and classes, along with related articles and other learning resources. Also search here for professional training and online tutorials.

Author: MyBookworm, Inc.

Subjects:

Education--Adult

Education--Alternative

Reference

Trivial Knowledge

http://www.swishweb.com/trivia/

Trivial Knowledge provides an interesting array of information on trivia, be it general or related to specific topics such as art and cutlture, nature, history, sports, or religions. This site is also the home of a the Trivial Knowledge Challenge, described as a chance to "test your knowledge about science, movies, geography, food, and more." Registration is optional, and players are allowed to submit their own questions.

Author: Stephane Theroux

Subjects:

Reference

Reference--Almanacs

Keywords: Arts; Culture; Environment; History; Human Beings; Natural History; Religion; Myth; Science; Technology; Sports; Games; Cosmos

The Tutorials Search Engine

http://www.findtutorials.com/

"FindTutorials.com is a Web index and search engine dedicated to bringing you the best of the Web's tutorials and online courses. Featuring a large and constantly expanding database, which is categorized and closely monitored to make sure only the best and highest-quality sources are listed, FindTutorials.com allows you to search for tutorials on practically any subject, ranging from photography to gardening to psychology."

Author: (webmaster@findtutorials.com)

Subjects:

Reference

UnCover

http://uncweb.carl.org/

"UnCover is a database of current article information taken from well over 18,000 multidisciplinary journals. UnCover contains brief descriptive information for over 8,800,000 articles which have appeared since Fall 1988. UnCover offers you the opportunity to order fax copies of the articles from this database. UnCover is easy to use, with keyword access to article titles and summaries."

Author: CARL UnCover (uncovweb@carl.org)

Subjects:

Reference--Periodical Directories

Reference

Keywords: Journal Citations

Virtual Relocation.com

http://virtualrelocation.com/

"Virtual Relocation is the 'Internet's First Moving & Relocation Mega-Site' containing over 400,000 links to relocation services and related informational pages. Whether someone is moving around the world or just across town, award winning Virtual Relocation is the moving and relocation guide of choice." Site has many useful resources, including information about cities and a relocation cost of living calculator.

Author: Virtual Relocation.com, Inc. (info@virtualrelocation.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Business & Economics--Employment--Job Searching and Employee Recruiting

Business & Economics--Real Estate

Keywords: Relocation; Moving; Schools; Community

WebData

http://www.webdata.com/

"WebData is an Internet Database Portal, specializing in finding, categorizing and organizing online databases. WebData provides business and researchers a centralized location for searching and accessing thousands of useful Web databases. Webdata offers targeted access to information that text-based search engine sites do not. The WebData portal provides fast and concise access to Web data." Resources are available in many categories including Arts & Humanities, Science & Technology, News & Weather, Education, Business & Investments, and Medicine & Health.

Author: ExperTelligence, Inc. (admin@webdata.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Computers & Internet--Internet--World Wide Web

Keywords: Web resources

WebExhibits

http://www.webexhibits.com/

"WebExhibits helps you find high quality exhibits on the internet" and focuses on illustrated educational exhibits, not just references."Exhibit sites range in subject from the ancient world to science and technology, and from the creative arts to health and medicine. All exhibits are easily indexed.

Author: Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement (IDEA) (suggestions@webexhibits.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Arts & Humanities

Sciences & Technology

Keywords: Culture; Health; Environment

Webliography: A Guide to Internet Resources

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/weblio.html

From LSU Virtual Library, a well annotated hierarchical guide to resources available on the Internet, covering a broad range of topics from government to science to humanities.

Author: Louisiana State University Library

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Resources; Government; Science; Humanities

Who's Alive and Who's Dead

http://www.neosoft.com/~davo/livedead/

Author: David Carson

Subjects:

Reference

Entertainment & Leisure

Keywords: Celebrity

WWW Accessible National Libraries of the World

http://ifla.inist.fr/II/natlibs.htm

This site provides a list of links enabling online access to the national libraries of more than 50 countries.

Author: International Federation of Library Associations (iflanet@ifla.org )

Subjects:

Reference

Keywords: Catalog; International

The WWW Virtual Library (VL)

http://vlib.org/

"The WWW Virtual Library is a distributed, not-for-profit system of specialized directories and guides, each maintained by an expert in the field... The VL is the oldest catalog of the web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of html and the web itself. Unlike commercial catalogs, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the web, the VL pages are widely recognised as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the web." Divided into 14 broad categories, the VL catalog covers almost any topic imaginable.

Author: Gerard Manning and the WWW Virtual Library

Subjects:

Reference

Arts & Humanities

Keywords: Agriculture; Business; Computer Science; Communications; Economics; Education; Engineering; Information Management; International affairs; Law; Recreation; Regional Studies; Science; Society

WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources

http://www.etown.edu/vl/

"This section of the WWW Virtual Library presents over 1400 annotated links in a range of international affairs topics. Sites are chosen because of long-term value, favoring those with cost-free, high-quality information and analysis online." Topics include media sources, organizations, regions and countries, world religions, human rights, international business, study abroad, international and foreign law, etc.

Author: Wayne A. Selcher (selchewa@etown.edu)

Subjects:

Reference

Social Sciences--Ethnic, Cultural, Immigration, and Racial Issues

Law, Government & Political Science

Keywords: international affairs

xrefer

http://www.xrefer.com/

"We're working with some of the world's best known publishers to bring together and interlink their reference works online. xrefer contains encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, books of quotations and reference works covering a wide range of subjects. And the best thing is that all this content is intelligently linked to allow you to follow a trail of relevant information throughout our extensive library." Includes the content of the following reference works: A Dictionary of Business; Bloomsbury Biographical Dictionary of Quotations; Bloomsbury Thematic Dictionary of Quotations; Bloomsbury Thesaurus; Concise Medical Dictionary, Oxford University Press; Grove Concise Dictionary of Music; Oxford Dictionary of Art; Oxford Paperback Encyclopedia; Penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women; Penguin Business Dictionary; Penguin Encyclopedia of Places; Penguin Dictionary of Psychology; Penguin Dictionary of Sociology; Who's Who in the Twentieth Century; Oxford Companion to English Literature; Oxford Dictionary of Music; Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Author: xrefer.com (help@xrefer.com)

Subjects:

Reference

Search the IPL Ready Reference Collection

Return to: Ready Reference Collection | IPL Reference Center | IPL Lobby