top of page
REFERENCE RESOURCES

 

Collections of Reference Works    
Ready Reference -- From the Internet Public Library
Virtual Reference Shelf -- From the Library of Congress 

Almanacs 

Information Please Almanac 
Old Farmer's Almanac

Biographical Sources 
Biographical Dictionary -- Brief information on over 28,000 people in all fields, from ancient times to the present. 
Biography.com -- Information taken from Cambridge Encyclopedia Database and Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography 
InfoPlease People -- Searchable biographical sections of InfoPlease site

Calculators 

Calculators On-Line Center -- Hundreds of calculators for virtually every purpose 
Currency Converter -- Interactive converter for 164 currencies
Currency Converter-- from Yahoo! Finance 
Current Value of Old Money -- Links to websites that calculate relative value for specific time periods or product areas 
Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange -- from U.S. Dept. of the Treasury (click on Get Rates)
The Universal Currency Converter

Chronologies & Timelines
Anyday -- Extensive listings of birthdays, deaths, & historical events 
On This Day in History -- Headlines, top shows, songs, birthdays, & more 
This Day in History -- Historical events, from the History Channel
HyperHistory Online -- Click on Events (on the left); then select a sequence of years (on the right); no date-specific searching available
The Food Timeline -- Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream?
Reference eBooks: Chronologies & Timelines

Dictionaries (For foreign language dictionaries click on the language's link on the Internet Links page.)
Acronym finder -- "The world's largest and most accurate dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms."
Behind the Name -- a dictionary of names
Cambridge Dictionaries Online -- Several dictionaries available
Dictionary of Etymology
Encarta World English Dictionary -- From Microsoft
Language Tools -- translation tool from Google.com 
Lexicool.com -- Directory of over 1000 bilingual & multi-lingual dictionaries
Merriam-Webster Online -- Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed. 
OneLook Dictionaries -- Simultaneous searching of words and phrases in over 600 dictionaries

The Positive Lexicography Project--This is an evolving index of 'untranslatable' words related to wellbeing from across the world's languages.
RhymeZone --Rhyming dictionary
Wordsmyth English Dictionary and Thesaurus -- From the Univ. of Chicago
WriteExpress--Rhyming dictionary
YourDictionary.com -- Over 1500 dictionaries covering 230 languages and such dictionaries as name, dance and science dictionaries

Directories: Businesses & Individuals 

Anywho.com -- Search for individuals, businesses, 800 numbers
Your online Yellow Pages -- from SBC

Directories: Zip Codes 

Zip Code Directory -- Look up zip codes from the U.S. Postal Service
ZIP Code Lookup -- Enter a zip code & find county name, time zone, area code, latitude, congressional district

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia.com 

Glossaries 
Literary Terms and Definitions
A Literary Lexicon
SHAKESPEARE GLOSSARY
Chemistry & Environmental Dictionary
Online Chemistry Dictionary

Oddities 
Acronym Finder -- Over 200,000 computer, technology, telecommunications, and military acronyms and abbreviations.
Perpetual Calendar--Covers years 0001-9999
Popular Baby Names -- Lists of baby names, by year since 1880, from the Social Security Administration 
Symbols.com -- Database of more than 2,500 Western signs 

Opinion Polls 
Gallup 
Pew Research Center 

 

Quotations 
Quotable Women -- "An archive of memorable quotes by women"  

Brainy Quotes
 

 

© 2020-21 by Madeline Britton, Soquel High School Librarian. 

  • w-facebook
  • Twitter Clean
  • w-googleplus
  • w-youtube
bottom of page