- GENERAL REFERENCE SOURCES - Dictionaries, Encyclopedias | Other Reference | Rumor Verification | Time & Date Info | Zip Codes/Area Codes | Language Translators & Tutorials | People & History | Census Info | Writing Help | Online Books | Miscellaneous Information Directories and Reverse Look-ups are in our Search Tools section Maps and Directions are in our Travel section Technology Reference Info is in our Computers and Technology section How-To Info is in our Education section Current U.S. and World populations:

QUICK REFERENCE...
Search Webster's Dictionary	Search the Thesaurus	Search the Encyclopedia
ZIP Codes and City Info [Courtesy, www.ZipInfo.com] Find county name, FIPS code, area code, time zone, latitude, longitude, and MSA/PMSA   Enter a ZIP code, city, or city and state
Medical Spell-checker [Courtesy, www.Medical-Spell-Checker.com]

REFDESK.COM

Links to thousands of reference sites! If you can't find the information here, it probably isn't worth finding! See Also: My Virtual Encyclopedia

DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, GENERAL REFERENCE

Reference Resources

iTools - Dictionary, Thesaurus, Translator and other tools, all on one page! Reference.com - Multiple reference tools on one page! Information Please - Search their almanacs, plus the Columbia Encyclopedia and Random House College Dictionary using a single search! Research & Learn - Encyclopedia, Dictionary, and more, from AOL.com Encarta Online - Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia The WWW Virtual Library - A distributed subject catalog, indexed by topic Internet Public Library - Lots of info! Bibliomania - Free online literature and study guides Free Internet Encyclopedia - It's vast and (you guessed it) FREE! Wikipedia - another FREE-access encyclopedia AskOxford.com - Oxford Dictionary, Thesaurus and Quotation lookup Webster Language Center - Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus OneLook Dictionary - Look up a word in multiple dictionaries, simultaneuosly! YourDictionary - a complete selection of various dictionaries and more! DICT - online dictionary database VoyCabulary - transforms any webpage into links to Dictionary or Thesaurus lookups Roget's Thesaurus - What's another word for Thesaurus?

Specialized References

WordOrigins.org - devoted to Etymology, the study of word origins The Word Detective - [ Search Tool ] [ Alphabetical list ] Discover the derivation and history of our language! Behind the Name - What's in a name? Explores the origin and history of first names. Acronym Finder - "The web's most comprehensive database of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms" Acronym Lookup - What does LASER mean? Find out here! Business Glossary - from The Washington Post MotionNET - includes many handy engineering reference sources Toonopedia - information about your favorite cartoons The Skeptic's Dictionary - "A Critical Survey of Questionable Therapies, Eccentric Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions and Dangerous Delusions" The On-Line Medical Dictionary Dictionary of Aerospace Technical Terms NASA Acronym List Dictionary of Military Terms - from the Department of Defense Understanding Military Rank - Did you know a captain can out-rank another captain? Victorian Dictionary - a dictionary of Victorian London Ballet Dictionary - courtesy of the American Ballet Theatre Sign Language Terms - features video clips demonstrating hundreds of American Sign Language terms Symbols.com - the world's largest online encyclopedia of graphic symbols Manual of Traffic Signs - a catalog of common traffic signs

Online Spell-checkers - Copy/Paste your text to check spelling!

SpellCheck - check up to 20,000 characters! SpellOnline - International Spell Checking Medical Spellchecker - spell checker of medical terminology

OTHER REFERENCE SOURCES

Online Conversion - Convert just about anything to anything else. Miles to kilometers, stones to pounds, dress sizes, temperatures, cooking measurements, etc. Over 5,000 units, and 30,000 conversions! Convert It! - Similar to above, but oriented more more toward the fields of math & science Calculator.com - online calculators for a multitude of calculations! THE BIBLE - Multiple translations, word/phrase search and more, courtesy of Bible Gateway. Flags of the World - Pick a country. See the flag. Mooney's MiniFlags - small flags for use on reports and Web pages

RUMOR VERIFICATION - Is that story really true?

NOTE: Some content may be inappropriate for children

TruthOrFiction.com - Is that recent e-mail true or false? Find the answer here! Urban Legends Reference Pages - from the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society The AFU & Urban Legends Archive Urban Legends and Folklore - from About.com

TIME, TIME ZONES and CALENDARS

Time Reference

Official U.S. Time - Based on Atomic Clock time, courtesy of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) The U.S. Navy Time Service Department - part of the U.S. Naval Observatoy, is responsible for providing the standard time reference for the United States, including the Department of Defense and the Global Positioning System (GPS)

Time Zone Info

World Time Server - "any time, anywhere" Be sure to download Atomic Clock Sync, a small program to keep your PC synced with the Atomic Clock! Time and Date - a guide to time zones, calendars and more Time Zone Converter - Find the time anywhere in the world! World Time - What time is it in Pago Pago? Local Times Around the World - In Morocco, the time is...

Calendars

Perpetual Calendars - Any month. Any year! Plus more! Julian Day Calendar - Find the "day number" for any date Day-of-Year Chart and Calculator - Find the "day number" for any date

ZIP CODES and AREA CODES

Zip Code Info

ZIPINFO.com - Free zipcode lookup with area code, county, latitude, longitude, MSA, PMSA, congressional district, FIPS code, and time zone. Updated monthly. Zip Codes - Zip Codes and other postal information, direct from the U.S. Postal Service! Zip Code +4 Lookup - from the U.S. Postal Service City/State/Zip Code Associations - from the U.S. Postal Service

Area Code & Prefix Info

Fone Finder - Search by area code, prefix or city Telephone Prefix Location Directory - Enter any area code and prefix to find the city. (Will identify cellular and PCS phone exchanges not listed in reverse lookups.) Country and City Codes - used in international dialing Toll-Free Area Codes - Is your call really toll-free? Check before you dial!

LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS and TUTORIALS

Online Language Dictionaries and Translators - a listing of language help online Google Language Tools - Translate text or entire web pages AltaVista "Babel Fish" Language Translator - Translate text or entire web pages InterTran - Translates text, phrases or web pages (scroll to bottom of page to see translation form) FreeTranslation.com - Free, fast, online language translation service Translating Dictionaries - from Travlang English-to-English - An "American English" to "British English" translation list. It's a horse of a different "colour." (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Free Online Language Courses - a listing of free, online language courses. Parlez vous Français? Foreign Languages for Travelers - Se Habla Espanol?

PEOPLE, BIOGRAPHIES and HISTORY

Biographies and History

Who2? - "Find Famous People Fast" Biographies - Brief biographical information on over 25,000 people, from the makers of A&E Network's Biography series Biographical Dictionary - Biographical information on over 28,000 people from ancient times to the present day Our Documents - 100 Milestone documents from American history, courtesy of the National Archives American Presidents - American Memory Collections - The Library of Congress has compiled a vast collection of photos, documents and interviews about the American experience America's Library - Discover stories of America's past Liberty Library - classic books and other works on constitutional government National Archives Database Access - Online access to nearly 50 million historic electronic records! FBI Info on Famous Persons - courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act Farmer's Almanac - What's so special about today? WhoWhatWhen - Interactive historical timelines from a database of people and events from 1000 A.D. to the present This Day in History - What happened on this date? Time Capsule - What was happening in the world on the day you were born?

Quotations and Clichés - Who said that?

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - 10th edition, 1919 World of Quotes - over 32,000 quotes and 17,000 proverbs QuoteLand - "Quotations on every topic, by every author, and in every fashion possible" Indexed, with searchable database. The Quotations Page - over 15,000 famous quotes Quote Me On It - a collection of over 14,000 quotations Quotation Center - over 13,000 quotations. Indexed, with searchable database. BrainyQuote - over 10,000 famous quotations The Quotations Page - "Your Source for Famous Quotes" Quote-O-Matic - "Your Favorite Quotes Online!" House of Quotes - Quotations from Leaders - courtesy of LeadershipNow Memorable Quotations - "a treasure of penetrating wisdom, keen wit, and beautiful thoughts gleaned from the writings and speeches of the world's most memorable individuals" Chiasmus - Quotations with phrase reversals - (ky-AZ-mus - n . a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases.) IdiomSite - Where do those "old sayings" come from? Find out why you say what you say! Cliché Site - "a list of clichés As long as your arm" Cliché Finder - Need a cliché to spice up that report? A click in time saves..., well, you know.

Famous Speeches

Great Speeches - A collection of some of history's greatest speeches Great American Speeches - from PBS Great Speeches Collection - courtesy of The History Place The World's Famous Orations - 281 masterpieces by 213 rhetoricians

Finding Dead People

Dead or Alive? - Verify whether famous people are dead or alive Dead People Server - Are they dead or alive? Find-a-Grave - Okay, who really is buried in Grant's Tomb? National Obituary Archive - Internet Obituary Network - Veteran Grave Locator - Search burial records of 3.2 million veterans, buried in 120 national and state cemeteries

CENSUS DATA and STATISTICS

CensusScope - Your portal to census 2000 data U.S. Census Bureau Data - How big are we? Where are we? Who are we? Look it up! American FactFinder - Interesting info from the U.S. Census Bureau FedStats - A list of federal statictics. (Your tax dollars at work!) Your Nation - Compare facts and statistics of nations around the globe. CIA World Factbook - So, where is Luxembourg, anyhow? (Hey, if the CIA doesn't know...) Country Reports - Country information from around the world U.S. State Department Background Notes - Background information on the nations of the world! World Rulers - lists of heads of state and heads of government worldwide World Population Info - from the United Nations

WRITING HELP

Grammar and Style Info

Journalism.org - Research, Resources and Ideas to Improve Journalism The Grammar Lady - Hast thou a grammatical predicament? Go to the grammar doctor! Dr. Grammar - "Your Rx for Writing Ills " Daily Grammar - Want to improve your grammar? Daily Grammar sends you e-mail messages with a writing lesson five days of the week and a quiz on the sixth day. You can review their archives, too! Grammar Tip of the Month - including archives! Common Errors in English - The Elements of Style - William Strunk's definative work on good writing. The Chicago Manual of Style - (access requires free registration) AP (Associated Press) Stylebook - $$$ - Requires subscription (or. try this Google search) Writer's Guide - an introduction to the process of writing and to the study of literature, courtesy of The University of Victoria Writers Digest - tips for aspiring authors The Writer's Almanac - a daily program hosted by Garrison Keillor

Other Tools

WriteExpress Online Rhyming Dictionary - for poetry and songwriting RhymeZone - Saves time when trying to rhyme! (Sorry, but I couldn't resist that.) Grammar Slammer - a free Help file utility WordLab - Looking for a new slogan or brand name? Check this out!

ONLINE BOOKS

Project Gutenberg - thousands of titles online Bibliomania - over 2000 classic texts online The Cambridge History of English and American Literature - Considered the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published, the Cambridge History contains over 303 chapters and 11,000 pages, with essay topics ranging from poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and political writing.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Guinness Book of World Records - I wonder which is the world's most usefull website? Hmmm... Ask Now - Can't find it? Ask a librarian! FREE, 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. All Experts - Pick a category, click a volunteer's name, ask a question! FAQ Finder - Got a question? If you've wondered about something, somebody else probably has, too. Collections of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) on numerous topics are stored all over the Web!