Facets of Information Gathering and Sharing :: F.I.G.S.
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To be looked into
http://blog.ted.com/2008/01/online_tools_fo.php
Web-based ways to make a difference
To help those of us making resolutions this week, here is a sampling of web tools for making a difference, inspired by TEDTalks speakers.
o To refresh yourself on netiquette, check out: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
o Here’s a great set of guidelines for “The Successful Distance Education Student”: http://www.polk.edu/INSTRUCT/success.htm
o Please read this, too: “What Makes a Successful Online Student?” at http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/StudentProfile...
Title: free fast and factual -- workshop
Date: June 20, 2008 7:21 AM
Category: Online Resources
Tags: fff
Group contributed websites -as of 2008-0715.
Note: LCSH used when expressive of sites’ content (specificity attempted, topical sub-headings informally used) "common sense" (mine) otherwise.
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=012404423069508259964:tog5jtqmfjc
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Air quality
Easy access to national air quality information - AIRNow: http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local
"The U.S. EPA, NOAA, NPS, tribal, state, and local agencies developed the AIRNow Web site to provide the public with easy access to national air quality information. The Web site offers daily AQI forecasts as well as real-time AQI conditions for over 300 cities across the US, and provides links to more detailed State and local air quality Web sites."
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American Indian
American Indian Higher Education Consortium: http://www.aihec.org/
"AIHEC provides leadership and influences public policy on American Indian higher education issues through advocacy, research, and program initiatives; promotes and strengthens Native American languages, cultures, communities and tribal nations"
ERIC: Native Students Balancing Two Worlds: http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED483294&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED483294
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Arts
Artcyclopedia - Guide to museum-quality fine art on the Internet: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/
"The Artcyclopedia's custom search engine is already the fastest way to search the Net for information about fine artists."
"Mother of All Art and Art History Links Page" - art related links: http://www.art-design.umich.edu/mother/
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Biography
Biographies Polysearch: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jacso/extra/egyeb/poly-bio.htm
"edited, collective, searchable and substantial biography collections in the genres needed the most often by most users. I know that there are many others which don't meet the above criteria but are useful. I'll consider them for another group."
Teacher Reference Center (TRC) - 260 titles from the most popular teacher and administrator trade journals, periodicals, and books: http://www.teacherreference.com/
"This [bibliographic] database provides coverage on key education topics such as Assessment, Continuing Education, Current Pedagogical Research, Curriculum Development, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Literacy Standards, Science & Mathematics, and more for K-12 Teachers & Librarians."
Freely accessible research database focusing on the relationship between human beings and the environment - GreenFILE: http://www.greeninfoonline.com
"GreenFILE bibliographic database will serve as an informative resource for anyone concerned about the issues facing our planet."
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) : www.libraryresearch.com
"LISTA indexes nearly 600 periodicals plus books, research reports, and proceedings. With coverage dating back to the mid-1960s, it is the oldest continuously produced database covering the field of information science."
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BUSINESS
bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/
BigCharts offers, among other things, historical stock prices dating from January 2, 1970 to present. LII
www.hoovers.com/
Hoover’s offers extensive information about companies, industries, people, and products. It covers public and private companies, both nationally and internationally. Many libraries pay to upgrade so their patrons can access more in-depth information on the site. LII
Small Business Network Resource Library
smallbiz.infopeople.org/
A research center for all things related to small business. The most relevant part of the site is the "Information Resources" section, offering recommended websites for doing business with the government, demographics and market research, laws and requirements, start-ups, and more. The site also offers a Spanish version.
www.zillow.com
Find homes for sale, post homes, track your home's value based on local trends, view maps of your home's area to view recent sales and postings, participate in discussions, ask for competitive mortgage quotes, and a lot more. LII
bbb.org
The Better Business Bureau provides consumer and business tips, information on non-profits, e-commerce, and consumer ratings of various websites. LII
California Department of Consumer Affairs
www.dca.ca.gov/
Look up a company or individual in an occupation licensed by the CDCA (accountants, acupuncturists, architects, chiropractors, dentists, doctors, veterinarians, and much more). You can also file complaints or get information about recalls. Also check out the Bureau of Automotive Repair, that registers and regulates over 30,000 California automotive repair facilities, and licenses smog check, lamp and brake inspection stations. LII
www.consumersearch.com/www/
Product reviews in over 800 categories, both browseable and searchable. Their reviewers include "former writers for Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, & The New York Times."LII
Employment -resources -librarian
Library Employment Resources: http://www.ala.org/ala/hrdr/libraryempresources/libraryemployment.cfm
College at Home - Alisa Miller’s 100+ Job Resources for Librarians: http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/
2008/06/04/100-job-resources-for-librarians/
Employment -resources
Job descriptions, salaries, and job outlook - California Development Department (EDD): http://www.edd.ca.gov/
www.bls.gov/
Covering all aspects of jobs in the United States, you can find information about job safety, wage information, industry outlooks, employment numbers, and the famous Occupational Outlook Handbobok. LII
www.indeed.com/
Indeed is a meta search engine for jobs that looks at listings on job boards and aggregate websites as well as newspapers, associations, individual employer listings. Advanced search options allow for very specific criteria and you can register to have new jobs sent to you via email or RSS.
jobstar.org
An excellent one-stop shop for all things job and career related. Find job data, career guides, sample resumes and cover letters. LII
www.monster.com
Probably the best known online job resource, Monster offers job listings, an area to post your resume for potential employers, education and financial information, and career advice. Job listings include employer info with benefits, organizational services, and more. LII
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Comic books, strips, etc.
Graphic novels: http://www.noflyingnotights.com/
"Two Paths on the site: Sidekicks, a site devoted to all those kids graphic novels out there and The Lair, featuring graphic novels for older teens and adults."
One Manga: http://www.onemanga.com/
"Welcome to One Manga, where manga scans are made delicious!"
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Communication and social exchange
Vocera Communications - enables fluid, instant voice communication among team members: http://www.vocera.com/
"Vocera's hands-free, 802.11b/g wireless solution provides a cost-effective, easy-to-use system for instant voice communication in hospitals, retail stores, and other building and campus environments"
furl.net
Social bookmarking site.
del.icio.us
Social bookmarking site.
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Cookery -vegetarian
Vegetarian cooking - Vegetarian Times Magazine: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/
"Vegetarian Times has been at the forefront of the healthy living movement, providing delicious recipes, expert wellness information and environmentally sound lifestyle solutions to a wide variety of individuals"
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Countries -reports
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Country profiles, flags, and reference maps for the popular print version. LII
Background Notes - facts about Countries from the US Dept of State: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
"The publications listed .... include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty. The Background Notes are updated/revised by the Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs as they are received from the Department's regional bureaus. "
Country Profiles - BBC World News Edition: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
Country Insights (from Michigan State University) - globalEDGE: : http://globaledge.msu.edu/countryInsights/CountryList.asp
Country Studies - Library of Congress: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles.html
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Dictionary & Encyclopedia
www.answers.com/
Answers.com displays quick answers for factual queries. With one search, Answers.com will search content from over 100 encyclopedias, dictionaries, glossaries, and atlases and display results from matching entries.
OneLook Dictionaries, The Faster Finder
www.onelook.com/
Search hundreds of general and specialized English dictionaries simultaneously, or select the ones you want to search. Millions of words indexed. LII
www.bartleby.com/reference/
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, Gray’s Anatomy, and much more. Fully searchable. LII
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
"Wikipedia is a free content encyclopedia that is being written collaboratively by contributors from all around the world. The site is a WikiWiki, meaning that anyone ... can edit any article. ..." Without editorial oversight, the quality of the content on this site varies, but it is worth exploring. The English version has over 500,000 entries. Spanish, French, and Esperanto are among the dozens of other languages offered. LII
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Government
www.brbpub.com/pubrecsites.asp
Links to national, state, county, and city public record sites as well as Canadian and U.S. territories. LII
www.usa.gov/
FirstGov is the official U.S. gateway to all government information. It provides a search engine and topical links to millions of web pages from federal and state governments, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. FirstGov also provides a Spanish-language web portal. LII
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Economic and Social Data -statistics
www.prb.org/
The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) website provides a comprehensive virtual gateway to data and reports on population trends. Most useful to first-time users is the access by topic, available from the left sidebar menu, which includes 16 subjects ranging from education to gender to income and race. Also found here are menu options for the six major regions of the world, and links for quick access to PRB's main focus areas of health, environment, and population trends. Other features of interest on this site are the "DataFinder," which offers searching by 95 demographic variables for 220 nations of the world, as well as for the United States and individual states. Also useful is the extensive "Glossary of Population Terms," which includes dozens of definitions related to the study of demographics. LII
www.census.gov/
Census 2000 statistics in the following categories: people, business, geography, newsroom, and special topics. The site includes complete access to the Statistical Abstract of the United States and quick access to information by location using the American FactFinder. LII
Comparable statistics, and economic and social data - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development: http://www.oecd.org/
"For more than 40 years, the OECD has been one of the world's largest and most reliable sources of comparable statistics, and economic and social data. As well as collecting data, the OECD monitors trends, analyses and forecasts economic developments and researches social changes or evolving patterns in trade, environment, agriculture, technology, taxation and more" -- http://www.oecd.org/statsportal/0,3352,en_2825_293564_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
Graphically compare nations’ data sets - NationMaster: http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
"central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD. Using the form above, you can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease."
Graphically compare a multitude of different data on US states - StateMaster: http://www.statemaster.com/index.php
"statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states. We have compiled information from various primary sources such as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. More than just a mere collection of various data, StateMaster goes beyond the numbers to provide you with visualization technology like pie charts, maps, graphs and scatterplots"
Read Bates’ article at: http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3624172
List of Least Developed Countries in 2003: http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/ldc%20criteria.htm
also http://www.unohrlls.org/en/ldc/related/62/
National Priorities Project: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/
"National Priorities Project (NPP) is a 501(c)(3) research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels." See in particular: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/related_links and http://www.nationalpriorities.org/nppdatabase_tool .
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Healthcare
Agency for the healthcare research and quality - US Department of Health and Human service: http://www.ahrq.gov/
"The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the health services research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), complementing the biomedical research mission of its sister agency, the National Institutes of Health. AHRQ is a home to research centers that specialize in major areas of health care research such as quality improvement and patient safety, outcomes and effectiveness of care, clinical practice and technology assessment, and health care organization and delivery systems"
Medline Plus, drugs and supplements tab - Drugs, Supplements, and Herbal Information: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html
Information on herbs and supplements is from Natural Standard©*. For additional herb and supplement information, see the MedlinePlus Complementary and Alternative Therapies topics or the Dietary Supplements Labels Database from the National Library of Medicine.
Natural Standard: http://www.naturalstandard.com/
Natural Standard was founded by clinicians and researchers to provide high quality, evidence-based information about complementary and alternative therapies. This international multidisciplinary collaboration now includes contributors from more than 100 eminent academic institutions. (subscription)
The Health e-Shows Series - Infopeople: http://www.infopeople.org/training/webcasts/webcast_data/242/index.html
"Top Ten" Most Useful Websites--For Health Consumers:
MLA :: Medical library Associations:
http://www.mlanet.org/resources/medspeak/topten.html
- Cancer.gov
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- familydoctor.org
- healthfinder®
- HIV InSite
- Kidshealth®
- Mayo Clinic
- MEDEM: an information partnership of medical societies
- MedlinePlus (English | Spanish)
- NOAH: New York Online Access to Health
Top 100 List- Health Websites You Can Trust:
The Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of MLA evaluates web sites based on the following criteria: credibility, sponsorship/authorship, content, audience, currency, disclosure, purpose, links, design, interactivity, and disclaimers.
These lists of resources expand upon the MLA Top Ten List. http://caphis.mlanet.org/consumer/index.html
Grouped as follow:
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History
www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
Short biographical sketches of famous people in history (browseable by time period or alphabetical index), timelines for world civilizations (browseable by time period), key historical events by year, and a decent collection of historical world maps. A lot of things are cross hyperlinked, so you can get more information and move from one section of the site to another. LII
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Images
Morguefile http://www.morguefile.com/
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Information gateways
INFOMINE: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections
infomine.ucr.edu/
A multi-disciplined, annotated directory of tens of thousands of links to "university level research and educational tools on the Internet." Includes "databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles ... [and] other types of information." Tens of thousands of records, some created by librarians, others generated by robot-crawlers. Searchable and browsable. From the University of California, Riverside. LII
lii.org/
A searchable and browseable website 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 reviewed at least once every 18 months. The motto of lii.org: "Websites You Can Trust." LII
www.dmoz.org/
"the largest human-edited directory of the web," built by members. LII
www.intute.ac.uk/
UK-based web resource portal site, slightly academic in nature. LII
Kansas City Public Library’s Subject Guides
kclibrary.org/guides/guides.cfm?go=cats
Guides with websites, article sources, library databases, and more.
New York Public Library’s Research Guides
nypl.org/research/electronic/subject.cfm
Guides with websites, article sources, library databases, and more.
Hennepin County Library’s Subject Guides
www.hclib.org/pub/search/Reference.cfm
Guides with websites, article sources, library databases, and more.
www.ipl.org/
The first subject guide of the web, built by librarians. LII
Online Archive of California: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/
Libraries Reference files:
http://www.santacruzpl.org/cgi-bin/readyref.pl
http://www.santacruzpl.org/refwebsites/index.php
http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/index.html
http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/fff_public.cfm
Those Dark Hiding Places - The Invisible Web Revealed: http://library.rider.edu/scholarly/rlackie/Invisible/Inv_Web.html
"Much of the Web is hiding information from us, but we can access this hidden content! Learn how you can reveal the secrets of these dark, hiding places."
Industry-specific research portals - Plunkett Research Online: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/HowtoBuy/Overview/tabid/126/Default.aspx
"Plunkett Research Online is your source for market research, industry analysis and company profiles 24/7 via the Internet." (subscription)
Subject Indexes and Search Engines - site is maintained by Linda Bertland, school librarian (retired): http://www.sldirectory.com/search.html
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Knitting
Knitty - Web-only knitting magazine: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/index.html
"Knitty is a free web-only knitting magazine with a sense of humor. Fun patterns, fabulous authors."
Ravelry - is a knit and crochet community: https://www.ravelry.com/account/login
"Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration."
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Laws & Legislation
FindLaw: Internet Legal Resources
www.findlaw.com/
FindLaw is the best place to start consumer-level legal research. Run by a private company, the site provides intuitive and easy access points to relevant information for the public, students, legal professionals, business, corporate counsel, and legal news sources. The site also features a lawyer search, legal forms, organizations, and other valuable legal information. LII
fatty.law.cornell.edu/
The best single starting point on the web for doing research into all laws: case law, state and federal code, Supreme Court decisions, etc. 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. LII
California legislation information and codes: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ • http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html
LA County Law Library: http://lalaw.lib.ca.us
http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/family/divorce/
Legal Information for consumers and small businesses - Nolo Press: http://www.nolo.com/
"Everything we publish is regularly revised, updated and improved by our staff of lawyer-editors, to make sure that it's the best it can be. We pay close attention not only to changes in the law and feedback from our customers, but also from the input we receive from lawyers, judges and court staffers"
Multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work: http://www.oyez.org/
Cases search engine: http://supreme.justia.com/
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MAINTENANCE & REPAIR
Dwellings -Maintenance and repair
Automobiles -Maintenance and repair
Do It Yourself - diynetwork: http://www.diynetwork.com/
How to do just about everything - eHow: http://www.ehow.com/
"We have more than 180,000 articles that are professionally written with clear and concise directions on how to do things."
www.bhg.com
From the long-time magazine creators, this site covers everything from decorating, to cooking, to home improvement, gardening, and crafts. LII
www.hgtv.com/
Find out about remodeling, kitchen, crafts, decorating, gardening, and a lot more. Included are video clips from the various HGTV shows, with do-it-yourself clips. LII
www.realsimple.com
Another magazine-based site, Real Simple discusses organizing, home, beauty, food, style, and a lot more. The easy and realistic tips given for all things home-related make life just a little bit easier.
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Mapping -location+service
Zip Code Lookup - BrainyZip: http://www.brainyzip.com/
"Now you can lookup all zip codes to find information including: State, County, Post Office Name, Latitude, and Longitude. For most populated zip codes we are providing demographic, social, economic, and housing data. "
Embassy World: http://www.embassyworld.com/
"EmbassyWorld is designed to provide a comprehensive list of contact resources for all of the world's diplomatic offices. Our goal is to provide an easy-to-navigate directory that is clearly laid out and fully cross-indexed. Our database is searchable via a bi-lateral search-engine to search both host location and hosted embassy from dual query boxes."
MyZipcodeMap.com: http://www.myzipcodemap.com/
All The Worlds Maps - A Compilation of Each Nation's Maps, Including City Maps: http://www.embassyworld.com/maps/maps.html
Map Collections: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
"The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection."
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Maps -historical
Historical Maps - Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/index.html (and more)
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NEWS
News agencies
News Aggregators:
Sunset Magazine - Living in the West: http://www.sunset.com/sunset/
"The history of the magazine is the history of the West. Its pages reflect the development and sophistication of America’s frontier; the tastes, the trends; and the lifestyle innovations. Sunset Magazine has documented and made popular the idea of a ranch house, indoor/outdoor living, cooking with regional ingredients, low water/low maintenance gardening, and Western-style home decor.
Generations of Western newcomers have turned to the magazine to learn how to garden in an unfamiliar climate, cook with new ingredients, and find a vacation destination in a new land. Today people still turn to the magazine for the same reasons: to learn how to make the most of life in the West"
ABYZ News Links: http://www.abyznewslinks.com/
"ABYZ News Links is a portal to online news sources from around the world. It is primarily composed of newspapers but also includes many broadcast stations, internet services, magazines, and press agencies. Please note that ABYZ News Links does not contain actual news content but only links to other news sources."
Newseum http://www.newseum.org
Google news archive search: http://news.google.com/archivesearch
"News archive search provides an easy way to search and explore historical archives. In addition to helping you search, News archive search can automatically create timelines which show selected results from relevant time periods."
www.hometownnews.com/
Links to 3,700 daily and weekly U.S. newspapers. Many of these newspapers don't have archives on the commercial databases but will have small date range archives on their own website. LII
world-newspapers.com: World Newspapers, Magazines, and News Sites in English
www.world-newspapers.com/
A searchable directory of online world newspapers, magazines, and news sites in English, from the customary to the bizarre, including alternative online publications. In addition, the news is searchable by magazine, newspaper, news, and television photo galleries. LII
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People & Businesses -searching
www.theultimates.com/
White Pages, Yellow Pages, as well as a trip planner and an e-mail directory. Search six separate directories from one page. Includes reverse look-ups and map look-ups. LII
Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records: A Genealogy Guide
www.deathindexes.com/
This site "gathers together links to online death indexes by state and county. Included are death indexes, obituaries, probate indexes and cemetery and burial indexes." Browsable by state. LII
Who2 - Find Famous People Fast! : http://www.who2.com/
"For any famous figure, Who2 presents the hard facts you're most likely looking for: birth and death dates, famous works, notorious trivia. Then -- in case that's not enough -- we sift the web and pick out the four best sites for additional detail"
All Nations Expatriates & Travelers Telephone Search: Engine.http://www.escapeartist.com/global/telephone.htm
Telephone Directories on the World Wide Web: http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/guides/phone91.htm
Telephone - subscribers: http://infobel.com/en/world/index.aspx
http://www.pipl.com/ "The most comprehensive people search on the Web." It can be a useful tool for searching directory listings hidden in the "Deep/Invisible Web."
Contractors State License Board - California Department of Consumer Affairs: http://www.cslb.ca.gov/
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PERFORMANCE ARTS
Music -guides, Motion pictures -guides, Video games -guides
AMG - All music guide: http://www.allmusic.com/ also http://www.allmovie.com/ and http://www.allgame.com/
"The AMG editorial staff, along with hundreds of expert contributors (all music fanatics in their own right), has made allmusic the most comprehensive music reference source on the planet. We are all dedicated to creating and maintaining the knowledgeable, spirited content that music lovers and industry professionals have come to expect from AMG."
Video games -guides
IGN - Network of videogame-related information: http://www.ign.com/
"IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., is a leading Internet media and services provider focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets."
Motion pictures -guides
Movie Review Query Engine - largest online database for movie reviews: http://beta.mrqe.com/
"The re-launched MRQE aggregates reviews, news, interviews and other material associated to specific movies. MRQE also partners with leading movie blogs so that their content is collected in the MRQE database and searchable by any user."
Music -museum
Museum of Making Music - explores the multifaceted history of the American music products industry: http://www.museumofmakingmusic.org/index.php
"The Museum tells stories of hard work, challenge, inspiration and pioneering innovation, and reveals the profound relationship between the industry, popular music, and global culture."
Television programs -dvd release
Tvshowsondvd - updated news on when your favorite shows will finally be released on dvd: http://tvshowsondvd.com/
"This site allows you to vote for shows you'd buy on DVD, and how you'd want to buy them"
Theater -broadway
Internet broadway database (ibdb) - official database for Broadway theatre information :http://www.ibdb.com/
"IBDB provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today"
Music
www.arkivmusic.com/
Detailed information on thousands of classical recordings, both in and out of print, and opera DVDs. The site is "browsing" only, unless you know the label catalog number. Can browse by composers, conductors, performers, ensembles, operas, and record labels.
Music
www.free-scores.com/index_uk.php3
A directory of links to sheet music for dozens of instruments—wind, string, keyboard, voice, and other. Currently boasts over 9,000 fully free pieces of sheet music. LII
Scores for free: http://sfpl.org/librarylocations/main/art/onlinesongindexes.htm (http://sfpl.org/librarylocations/main/art/songs.htm)
"The San Francisco Public Library has an extensive collection of popular songs including songbooks and sheet music from the Dorothy Starr Collection. Locating songs can be very simple or can require detailed research. Because no single approach is complete, a number of different strategies are offered for finding and verifying the titles of popular songs." In particular see: http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/musi/callon/2273/scores.htm [These links include only sites with scores that may be downloaded free of charge.]
Free scores - Choral Public Domain Library!: http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
"Begun in December 1998, CPDL is one of the world's largest free sheet music sites. You can use CPDL to find scores, texts, translations, and information about composers"
8notes: http://8notes.com/
"8notes.com is run and owned by Red Balloon Technology Ltd, a music and technology company based in St Albans, England. 8notes.com was launched in early 2001"
Motion pictures -guides
us.imdb.com
The most complete collection of movie and film information you’re going to find—search for movie titles, characters, quotes, plots, people working together, and more. LII.
Radio -broadcasting archives
www.npr.org/archives/
Search audio archives of NPR radio programs from 1996 to date. LII
Video -search engine
www.blinkx.com/
Blinkx searches over 26 million hours of video which they have built through over 350 media partnerships with organizations like national broadcasters, commercial media giants, and private video libraries.
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Photographs
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Reading Room
www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html
Access to approximately 2/3 of the LOC’s prints and photographs, approximately one million digital images. The site warns fairly obviously that "not all images displayed in this catalog are in the public domain." LII
www.picsearch.com/
A search engine for pictures and images with a relevancy ranking they claimed is unrivalled among other web image search engines. Picsearch also claims that their 2 billion images are all "family friendly."
Public Image Reference Archive: http://www.morguefile.com/
"A place to keep post production materials for use of reference, an inactive job file. This morgue file contains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use."
Online photo collections of the Los Angeles Public Library: http://catalog1.lapl.org/cgi-bin/cw_cgi?getLimitedTerms+22586
"The Los Angeles Public Library's History and Genealogy Department's Photo Collection emphasizes the history of Los Angeles, Southern California, and California."
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Plants -botany
California Native Plant Society Calypso - Increase understanding and appreciation of California's native plants and to conserve them: http://www.cnps.org/
"Originally formed in 1965 in the east bay region, the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a statewide non-profit organization of amateurs and professionals with a common interest in California's native plants"
For native plants in the Pacific Northwest - California Native Plant Society:
California - http://www.cnps.org/cnps/horticulture/
Oregon - http://www.npsoregon.org/pos/gard.htm
Washington State - http://www.wnps.org/landscaping/index.html
Variety of garden niches in the coastal Pacific Northwest - Great Plant Pick: http://www.greatplantpicks.org/
"Great Plant Picks is an educational awards program committed to building a comprehensive palette of outstanding plants for Pacific Northwest gardens."
Pacific Northwest authors specific to gardening and .... - Elisabeth C. Miller Library: Pacific Northwest Gardening Connections - http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/collections/collections.shtml
"The heart of the Miller Library’s book collections is the Pacific Northwest Connections. Here you find books by Pacific Northwest authors specific to gardening, horticulture, native plants, ecosystems and habitats of our region." Also the Pacific Northwest is an ideal climate for growing plants from all over the world: http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/resources/hort_web_sites/pnw_connections.shtml
National Gardening Association: http://www.garden.org/home
National Arbor Day Foundation: http://www.arborday.org/
Herbs at a Glance: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/herbsataglance.htm
"Herbs at a Glance is a series of fact sheets that provides basic information about specific herbs or botanicals—common names, uses, potential side effects, and resources for more information"
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Political participation
Project Vote Smart - Access to abundant, accurate, and relevant political information: http://www.votesmart.org/index.htm
"..young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century." See: Voting Records, Biographical & Contact Information, Issue Positions (Political Courage Test,) Interest Group Ratings, Public Statements, Campaign Finances, etc. (http://www.votesmart.org/program_about_pvs.php)
The Memory Hole: http://www.thememoryhole.org/
"The Memory Hole exists to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known."
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Power resources
Energy statistics from the US Dept of Energy Energy Information Agency: http://www.eia.doe.gov/
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READING & BOOKS
www.gnooks.com/
Gnooks is a reader’s community that helps you discover new writers you will like based on the books and authors you already like. Their ever-changing "Map of Literature" is the chief attraction—pointing you to new authors based on authors you already know and enjoy.
www.gutenberg.org/catalog/
Project Gutenberg is the longest existing producer of free eBooks. Their collection totals over 25,000 eBooks produced by volunteers. Most of the Project Gutenberg eBooks are works that are in the public domain, at least in the United States. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use. The catalog also includes over 100,000 titles from Project Gutenberg partners.
LII
Reading
Goodreads - a social networking site where you share your books lists, ratings, and reviews: http://www.goodreads.com/
"Most book recommendation websites work by listing random people’s reviews. On Goodreads, when a person adds a book to the site, all their friends can see what they thought of it. It’s common sense. People are more likely to get excited about a book their friend recommends than a suggestion from a stranger."
Reading -series
Find the order of books in a series - KDL, Find Book In a Series: "What's Next" Database:: http://ww2.kdl.org/libcat/WhatsNextNEW.asp
" Our What's Next?: Books In Series™ database helps you search series fiction. A series is two or more books linked by character(s), settings, or other common traits. (e.g. Sue Grafton's "A is for Alibi", "B is for..." etc. or the "Star Wars" series)"
www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv/
From the Mid-Continent Public Library in Missouri, the most comprehensive list of books in a series that I’ve found. Covers children’s and YA titles, and is arranged and accessible by series title, series subject, book title, and book author.
Reading
Story Lovers: http://www.story-lovers.com/
"SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES Comprehensive free archival library for finding stories, sources and advice from professional storytellers "
Harlynne Geisler - story teller site: http://storyteller.swiftsite.com/
story teller directory: http://storyteller.swiftsite.com/links.htm
Reading -children
Columbus Metropolitan Library Picture Book Index: http://www.columbuslibrary.org/cmlpcbk/browse3.cfm
Authors -american writers
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is the national association for published and aspiring romance writers. : http://www.rwanational.org
"As one of the largest writers' associations, Romance Writers of America is proud to help its members pursue a career in romance fiction by hosting a national conference each summer which provides the perfect opportunity for authors to grow their knowledge of the business."
Fiction -bibliography
Fantastic Fiction - Bibliographies for over 15,000 authors: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
"Information on over 250,000 books. Throughout the site, just click on a book to see its cover picture, description and publication details"
Reading -children -storytime
Know it all - For preschool storytime ideas (Harris County, Tx): http://www.hcpl.net/cgi-bin/ebranch/story_time/browse.pl
"The Children's Librarians of the Harris County Public Library .... Story Time ideas"
Reading -children
Children's readers' advisory by Lisa R. Bartle reference librarian at California State University, San Bernardino: http://www.dawcl.com/search.asp See site’s development history at http://www.dawcl.com/developments.html
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Searching -tools
clusty.com/
A search engine offering clustered search results grouping similar items. LII
Google Search Features and Shortcuts
www.google.com/help/features.html
Search shortcuts for books, a calculator, definitions, file types, products, movies, news headlines, phonebook entries, street maps, travel info, weather, & more. LII
help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/tips/tips-01.html
Search shortcuts for airport information, area codes, dictionary definitions, exchange rates, stock quotes, traffic reports, current weather, & more. LII
www.quintura.com/
A visual search engine offering word cloud results.
www.noodletools.com/
Citation tools (MLA & APA), NoodleQuest (develop a search strategy based on your topic), and recommendations for search tools based on your needs. LII
Tara Calashain’s site about search engines, library technology, & more. LII
www.resourceshelf.com/
Gary Price’s site about search engines, government information, and libraries. LII
scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/Current/
A weekly report with recommended web links in subject areas, current news, and useful web tools. Produced at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. LII
http://sites.menashalibrary.org/
A blog highlighting library and technology sites, including useful reference tools.
Ixquick - metasearch engine: http://www.ixquick.com/eng/phone.html
"Ixquick is a metasearch engine: when you search Ixquick, you are searching many popular search engines - anonymously - at the same time. Combined, these engines cover more of the Internet than any one search engine covers...Find phone numbers and addresses worldwide with Ixquick's International Phone Directory, or search through 18 million hours of video fun with Ixquick's Video search."
Focused search: http://www.surfwax.com
Once you run a search on a term, click on "Focus" to view narrower, broader, and similar keywords
College at Home: http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/06/19/100-useful-niche-search-engines-youve-never-heard-of/
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Sports
www.amstat.org/sections/SIS/Sports%20Data%20Resources/
How do TV commentators know that Barry Bonds' batting performance in the first two weeks of May was the worst ever by a player who had hit over .400 in April? The web offers an embarrassment of riches in sports statistics, and the American Statistical Association, which normally concerns itself with weightier matters, offers a portal with links to a couple dozen statistical sites covering sports, major and minor.
The LA84 Foundation Sports Library houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of sports information - The LA84 Foundation Sports Library: www.la84foundation.org
"Digital resources include academic journals, scholarly books, popular sports magazines of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and an extensive offering of Olympic publications." Accessible on line through the search page.
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Teaching -resources -computech
Tutorials on computer use:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/course/coursemenu.shtml
http://www.refdesk.com/factbeg.html
Computer related questions: http://www.computerhope.com/
"The location for free online computer support and computer related information. Computer Hope has been designed to assist all types of computer users with any of their computer related questions as well as a great location to learn more about your computer and its hardware and software."
Dictionaries/Encyclopedias:
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/
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Weather
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
wunderground.com/
Weather conditions and forecasts from around the globe, as well as hard to find daily historic weather records from airport weather stations. Use FastForecast to "enter a city, state, country, zip code, or station code for the current National Weather Service forecast." Includes links to hundreds of weather sites; weather cams with live pictures of current weather conditions in hundreds of locations; tropical storm-related sites; ski reports; radar and satellite imagery; and temperature, jet-stream, and upper-air maps. LII.
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Websites -evaluation
Review and evaluation of child-directed advertising in all media - Children Advertising Review Unit : http://www.caru.org/
"The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) was founded in 1974 to promote responsible children's advertising as part of a strategic alliance with the major advertising trade associations through the National Advertising Review Council (comprising the AAAA, the AAF, the ANA and the CBBB)."