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Online Reference Materials

Thomas Ford Librarians have selected these online reference sources to help you answer your reference questions.

Abbreviations & Acronymns

AbrreviationZ
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

Book Reviews

Chicago Tribune Books
Kirkus Reviews
NPR Books
New York Review of Books
New York Times Book Reviews

Calculators and Converters

Conversion Maestro
Martindale's Calculators On-Line Center
Measurements Converter

Calendars

10,000 Year Calendar
Calendar Converter
Calendars 1-9998

Computer Technology Magazines and Journals

Computer Source (EBSCO) - You will need your library card number if outside the library.

Dictionaries

American Heritage Dictionary
Dictionary.com
Webster's Online Dictionary

Encyclopedias

Columbia Encyclopedia
Grolier Online(In the Library) or Grolier Online(Away from the Library) - Encyclopedias for all ages. You will need your library card number if outside the library.
Wikipedia

Gazetters

Coumbia Gazeteer of North America
Getty Thesaurus of Geographical Names
U.S. Gazeeteer

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.
Librarians' Internet Index - "Websites you can trust."
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 Magazines and Journals

Health Source - Consumer Edition (EBSCO) - You will need your library card number if outside of the library.

Investment Reports on Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Funds

Standard and Poor's NetAdvantage - You will be asked for your library card number.

Magazine Articles

MasterFile Elite (EBSCO) - You will need a library card number if outside the library.
America's News Magazines - You will need your library card number if outside the library.

Newspaper Articles

Chicago Tribune - You will need your library card number if outside the library.
Newspaper Source (EBSCO) - You will need your library card number if outside the library.

Quotations

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
Columbia World of Quotations
Respectfully Quoted

Reading Advise and Literary Criticism

NoveList (EBSCO) - You will need your library card number if outside the library.
NoveList K-8 (EBSCO) - You will need your library card number if outside the library.
Magill On Literature Plus (EBSCO) - You will need your library card number if outside the library.

Statistics & Demographics

2000 U.S. Census
Bureau of Labor Statistics
State of the World Population 2005
Statistical Abstract of the United States

Style Sheets

Citation Style for Research Papers
Columbia Guide to Online Style
MLA Style Guide
Turabian Citation Guide

Telephone Directories

411.com
AnyWho
InfoBel
Toll-Free Directory
Yahoo! People Search