Ready reference Web sites

These were the fifty most frequently noted ready reference Web sites on American library Web pages circa 2005.:

• Acronym Finder
• Acronym Server
• American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed.) from Bartleby
• AnyWho online telephone directory
• Bartleby reference collection: 30+ titles
• Bartlett's Familiar Quotations from Bartleby
• Biographical Dictionary
• Biography from A&E
• Britannica.com including some free content
• Census Bureau of the U.S.including American Factfinder
• CIA World Factbook
• CNN news
• Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.) from Bartleby
• FedStats gateway to statistics
• FindLaw
• FirstGov U. S. Government Official Web Portal
• Google search engine
• GPO Access government information portal
• Hoover's Online business information
• How Far Is It? distance calculator
• Infoplease almanac
• Internal Revenue Service home page
• Internet Movie Data Base
• Internet Public Library reference collection
• Kelley Blue Book of car prices
• Librarians' Index to the Internet mega-site
• Library of Congress home page
• LibrarySpot home page
• Mapquest online maps
• MedlinePlus health information
• Merriam-Webster Online dictionary and thesaurus
• Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Old Farmer's Almanac
• OneLook Dictionary Search
• Perry-Castaneda Map Library from the University of Texas
• RefDesk.com mega-site
• States & Capitals
• Statistical Abstract of the United States: pdf and selected tables
• Statistical Resources on the Web from the University of Michigan Documents Center
• Superpages online yellow page directory
• Switchboard telephone directories
• Telephone Directories from Infobel
• THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet from LC
• ThomasNet.com: formerly Thomas Register.
• Universal Currency Converter
• Weather Channel
• White House
• Yahoo! portal home page
• YourDictionary web of online dictionaries
• ZIP Code Lookup from the United States Postal Service

Eight more high-quality, under-used ready reference Web sites:

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-Present
• Bureau of Labor Statistics data
• EDGAR SEC company filings and forms
• Geographic Names Information Server from USGS
• MapMachine from National Geographic
• National Atlas of the United States interactive maps
• Trails.com online topographic maps
• UM Weather from Weather Underground

ALA RUSA MARS' Best Free Reference Web Sites Combined Index for sites selected since 1999.

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Page editor: Steven Sowards
Modified 11 June 2009