LibGuides: Online Reference Resources: General Online Reference

Reference Types

Abbreviations.com
Abbreviations.com holds hundreds of thousands of entries organized by a large variety of categories from computing and the Web to governmental, medicine and business and it is expanding daily. Anyone can add abbreviations, this site may not be as reliable.
Acronym Finder
The Acronym Finder is a searchable database of abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military. It includes a reverse lookup to search for a word or concept.
The American Heritage Dictionary
WilkesU only
GovSpeak
This guide by UC San Diego seeks to list commonly used acronyms and abbreviations by the United States federal government.

CIA World Fact Book
GeoHive
A site with geopolitical data, statistics on the human population, Earth and more. The main kind of data you can find here is population statistics of regions, countries, provinces and cities. Maintained as a hobby, difficult to determine authority
Infoplease Almanac
Online version of the popular almanac which you can browse by topic or search. Also includes the Random House Webster's College Dictionary and the Columbia Encyclopedia.
The Old Farmer's Almanac
Covers astronomical events, weather conditions and forecasts, recipes, and gardening tips.

Artnet
Provides acccess to the biographies of artists. Most of these articles are derived from the renowned Grove Dictionary of Art, and are written by expert scholars from all over the world. Others have been specially commissioned for artnet.com.
Bartleby.com
General reference information including quotations by famous people
Biographical Dictionary
Biographical Dictionary is a Wikipedia type system and everyone can edit biographies or even create their own.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
A biographical directory of all members of the U.S. Congress since 1774.
Biographies Polysearch Engine
Access biographical information, sketches, and full biographies of famous and infamous historical figures, politicians, scientists, authors, artists & athletes. Maintained by a Hawaiian university, but difficult to determine authority of those maintaining the site.
Chiefs of States and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
International biographies of other world leaders
Classical Net
This site offers biographical information about individual composers. It is difficult to determine the authority of this source
IPLs POTUS- Presidents of the United States
In this resource you will find background information, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents. Links to biographies, historical documents, audio and video files, and other presidential sites are also included.
National Women's Hall of Fame
This is the home page of the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. Provides biographical information on distinguished American women. Seems very promotional
Getty Union List of Artist Names
Provides biolgraphical information for over 220,000 artists.

Farley Library Book Review Guide
Worldcat
Catalog of books, journals, recordings, and any type of material held by member libraries of Online Computing Library Center (OCLC).
Google Books
HathiTrust Digital Library
Digitized books within the public domain
Association of American Publishers
This is a dedicated list of American Publishers

Encyclopedia.com
Wikipedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
WilkesU only
The Columbia Encyclopedia
WilkesU only
The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Includes many images, audio and video clips.
WilkesU only

Merriam-Webster Dictionary
OneLook Reverse Dictionary
The American Heritage Dictionary
WilkesU only
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary
WilkesU only

I Love Language Dictionaries
Collins Spanish Dictionary
WilkesU only
Collins French Dictionary Plus
WilkesU only
Collins Italian Dictionary
WilkesU only
Collins Latin Dictionary
WilkesU only

Bloomsbury Thesaurus
WilkesU only
Roget's II The New Thesaurus
WilkesU only

Time Zone Converter Tools
Use for locations worldwide
The Official US time
World Time Server
Contains current times around the world
USNO Master Time Clock
U.S. Navy Time Clock