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Virtual Reference Shelf

The following links are provided for your convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by the library.  For more information, please see the disclaimer.

Choose a subject from the following menu, then click Go to view an annotated listing of Web resources.

 

 

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Abbreviations.com - Still can't find it? Try this giant site with links to generic as well as subject-specific acronym finders.  http://www.abbreviations.com

Acronym Finder - A more sophisticated search engine that offers options such as such as wild card and keyword searching. http://www.acronymfinder.com

Acronym Search - A simple-to-search source for acronyms and abbreviations. Also contains useful links to other search engines and dictionaries.  http://www.acronymsearch.com

The Internet Acronym Server - Another site that offers a simple search as well as opportunities for users to submit new acronyms. http://silmaril.ie/cgi-bin/uncgi/acronyms

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Almanacs

Farmers Almanac - Founded in 1818, this classic compendium of historical and agricultural lore is an invaluable source of weather predictions and climatic data. http://www.farmersalmanac.com/

Information Please Almanac - The online version of a popular print resource. Includes basic information on a wide variety of topics such as disasters, sports, and entertainment. http://www.infoplease.com/

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Associations and Organizations

Idealist.org - Information for and about nonprofit organizations. http://www.idealist.org/

National Center for Charitable Statistics - The national repository of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States.  http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/FAQ/index.php?category=31

National Council of Nonprofit Associations - A network of 39 state and regional associations. http://www.ncna.org

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Biographies

Biographical Dictionary - This dictionary covers more than 28,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day.  http://www.s9.com/

Biography.com - This Web site is the companion to the popular Biography series on A&E and includes brief biographical sketches of people profiles on the program.  http://www.biography.com/

Who2 - A searchable web resource for finding biographical information about famous people with brief biographies and related Web links for additional information.  It also includes "curious collections of famous people."  http://www.who2.com/

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Calendars

10,000 Year Calendar - A perpetual calendar; allows users to check days of the week for dates in history and in the future.   http://www.calendarhome.com/tyc

The Calendar Zone - "Comprehensive categorized calendar catalog currently containing countless correlating connections & calzone recipes!"   http://www.calendarzone.com

Calendars through the Ages - A site covering the "history of the human endeavor to organize our lives in accordance with the sun and stars." This site covers the calendars of several different cultures and includes a timeline of calendar facts.  http://webexhibits.org/calendars

The Interfaith Calendar - English calendar dates for holidays and holy days for several different world religions.  http://www.interfaithcalendar.org

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Citation and Style Manuals

APA Style - Electronic References  - This is a supplement for the Publication Manual offered by the APA covering citations from electronic sources. http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

ONLINE! - A guide to electronic citations in APA, MLA & Chicago styles.  http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html

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College Guides, Scholarships and Financial Aid

FAFSA On the Web - Complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on the Web!  Also includes a Federal School Code Search utility to search for a Federal School Code, if you do not know the code for a school. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

FastWEB - Searchable database of 275,000 scholarships, plus information about federal grants, work student programs, and loans. Requires free registration.   http://www.fastweb.com

FinAid! - "This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive annotated collection of information about student financial aid on the web."   http://www.finaid.org

CollegeView - "A free online college search service with extensive profiles of all accredited colleges and universities."  Also includes information on financial aid, campus life, and careers and majors.  http://www.collegeview.com/

Peterson's - Web version of Peterson's popular publications.  Includes information on K-12 schools, vocational-technical schools, undergraduate and graduate programs, study abroad, careers, distance learning, financing education, and special education.  http://www.petersons.com

Yahoo! Education > Higher Education > Colleges and Universities - Extensive list of links to college and university information in the U.S. and abroad. http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/higher_education/colleges_and_universities

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Dictionaries and Thesauri

Dictionary.com - Free online English dictionary, thesaurus and reference guide, crossword puzzles and other word games, online translator and Word of the Day.  http://dictionary.reference.com/

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary - This classic, comprehensive dictionary is easy to search and features a link to the Collegiate Thesaurus for quick synonyms.   http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

One Look - Searches in over 600 on-line dictionaries. Includes options for other languages as well as English. http://www.onelook.com

Your Dictionary.com - In additon to an English-language dictionary and thesaurus, this site contains 240 foreign language dictionaries as well as rhyming, speciality, and pronouncing dictionaries. http://www.yourdictionary.com

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Directories: phone, zip, fax, email, etc.

International Mailing Address Formats - Links to many sources of information dealing with international mailing. Postal codes, international rates, address formats and much more. http://www.bitboost.com/ref/international-address-formats.html

International White and Yellow Pages - Global directories of phone and fax numbers, addresses, and email for individuals and businesses. http://www.wayp.com/

Official Postal Service Abbreviations - United States Postal Service site. Includes designations for all U.S. states and possessions. http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/lookups/abbrev.html

Telephone Directories on the Web - Detailed guide to online phone books with links to Yellow Pages, White Pages, Business Directories, Email Addresses and Fax Listings from all around the world. http://www.infobel.com/teldir

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Encyclopedias

Britannica Online - This web site allows users to search and read (for free!) the full text of the Encyclopedia Britannica, "the oldest and largest general reference in the English language."  http://www.britannica.com

The Columbia Encyclopedia - This is an online version of the sixth edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia, a one volume, short-entry encyclopedia with over 50,000 entries.   http://www.bartleby.com/65

HighBeam Encyclopedia - "The Internet's premiere free encyclopedia! Newly updated and expanded with more than 50,000 articles."  http://www.encyclopedia.com/

Microsoft Encarta Concise Encyclopedia - "An online version of the award-winning Encarta Encyclopedia." http://encarta.msn.com

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Government and Law

The Avalon Project - Extensive site covering historical as well as contemporary legal and diplomatic documents. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/search.htm

FindLaw - "Provides access to a comprehensive and fast-growing online library of legal resources for use by legal professionals, consumers and small businesses. FindLaw's mission is to make legal information on the Internet easy to find."  http://www.findlaw.com

USA.gov - Links to numerous Federal agencies and departments. A well-planned site to help the user navigate smoothly through the enormous amounts of government information. http://www.usa.gov/

Governments on the Web - Extensive site with numerous links to government information for more than 220 countries. Includes links to parliaments, courts, embassies, and ministeries.  http://www.gksoft.com/govt

Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School) - One of the most extensive and reputable sites on the Web. Includes Supreme Court decisions, state statutes, legal ethics, and much more. http://www.law.cornell.edu

Maine State Government - Links to all major agencies and departments as well as all three branches of state government. The site also provides links to information on weather and tourism as well as a special section for children. http://www.state.me.us

Nolo - Free legal information on consumer, business, and personal law. A great source of information in "plain English."  http://www.nolo.com

State of Maine Judicial Branch - Offers online access to Laws of the State of Maine as well as court forms and procedural rules. Includes links to information on Federal case law. http://www.courts.state.me.us/legal_links/maine_law.html

Thomas - "In the Spirit of Thomas Jefferson", this site is a comprehensive source for U.S. legislative information as well as providing links to the executive and judicial branches and historical documents. http://thomas.loc.gov

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Maps and Geographic Data

MapQuest - This interactive street atlas of the continental United States gives you mileage, door-to-door or city-to-city, and street maps with driving directions.  http://www.mapquest.com/

MapsOnUs - A mapping and routing service that provides detailed maps and driving directions.  http://www.mapsonus.com/

MSN Maps & Directions - This site provides accurate interactive maps and driving directions.  http://mappoint.msn.com/

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News

CNN Online - CNN.com relies heavily on CNN's global newsgathering team of almost 4,000 news professionals, features the latest multimedia technologies, from live video streaming to audio packages to searchable archives of news features. Updated continuously throughout the day. http://www.cnn.com

Kidon Media-Link - An international directory of newspapers and other news sources on the internet.   Choose a region/country/state to view a comprehensive listing of links to newspapers and broadcast news sources.  http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml

MSNBC - Provides full coverage of the day's events, updates on breaking news stories, and in-depth reports.  Includes webcasts featuring hourly video news updates and extensive streaming video. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

New York Times Online - "The New York Times on the Web: Daily international, national and local news coverage from the newspaper, breaking news updates, technology news, sports, reviews, crosswords, classified ad listings."  http://www.nytimes.com
  
National Public Radio Online - Official website for NPR.  Listen to streaming audio newscasts, get the day's news, link to NPR programs, find your local station, and much more!  http://www.npr.org        

PBS News Online - The website of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.  Includes streaming audio and video reports.  http://www.pbs.org/newshour

Wired News  - Daily news and analysis of the technologies, companies, and people driving the information age.  http://www.wired.com

WKTJ - Maintained by Farmington’s commercial radio station, the site features information on local activities, sports, and weather. http://www.wktj.com/news.htm

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Quotations

Barlett's Familiar Quotations - Online version of the 1919 edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.  Contains over 11,000 searchable quotations.  http://www.bartleby.com/100/

Quoteland - This site is searchable or browsable by subject.  Discussion groups are available for visitors to share favorite quotes or find the source of a quote.  http://www.quoteland.com

Cybernation.com - Quotation Center - Over 27,000 "of the greatest quotations indexed by author and subject. These words of wisdom will inspire and empower you to achieve your dreams and fantasies."  The collection can also be searched by keywords. http://www.cybernation.com/quotationcenter/

The Quotations Archive - "A comprehensive, searchable database of general purpose quotations." Users can browse through quotations by subject, alphabetically by author, or they can search by keywords.  http://www.aphids.com/quotes/index.shtml

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations - Comprising over 10,000 quotations from 4,000 sources.  Searchable by keywords, or browse by author or subject.  http://www.bartleby.com/63/

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Statistics

FedStats - The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies. http://www.fedstats.gov  

OFFSTATS - University of Aukland's web site lists web sites offering free and easily accessible social, economic and general data from official or similar "quotable" sources, especially those that provide both current data and time series. http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/stats/offstats/
 
Statistical Reference Datasets - National Institute of Standards and Technology website providing benchmark data with certified computational results that enable the objective evaluation of the numerical accuracy of statistical software and algorithms. http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/strd

Statistical Resources on the Web - A wide range of statistical resources from the Documents Center at the University of Michigan.  http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html

United Nations Statistics Division - A wide range of statistical outputs and services for producers and users of statistics worldwide. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm   

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Time and Weather

AccuWeather - Detailed world-wide weather information as well as long range forecasts, averages & records, and much more.  http://www.accuweather.com/

Daylight Saving Time - This informative site includes information on why we save daylight, the history of Daylight Saving Time, and when it starts and stops each year between 1990 and 2015. Brought to you by the California Energy Commission, it also includes some interesting trivia about time.  http://www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html 

MEMA: Zone Forecasts (National Weather Service) - Five-day forecasts for all areas of the state. Features both a clickable map and a list of state weather zones. http://www.state.me.us/mema/weather/weather.htm

Official U.S. Time - Accurate to within 1 second. Pick a time zone in the United States or its territories and the official US government time is displayed in large, easy-to-read numerals.  http://www.time.gov

Time and Date - timeanddate.com has the current time and date for 512 cities, worldwide, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT or UTC), Daylight Saving Time (DST) information, sunrise & sunset, and a list of travel books (with Amazon.com link). http://timeanddate.com/

weather.com - A site from the TV Weather Channel. You can access current conditions and forecasts for U.S. States, cities, and towns (many with links to radar maps), as well as most places in the rest of the world.  http://www.weather.com

Weather Underground - Weather Underground is a database of weather conditions and forecasts from around the globe, as well as hard to find daily historic weather records (most dating back six years).  http://www.wunderground.com/

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Weights and Measures

Calculators On-line Center - Over "18,325" calculators. http://www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators.html

Convert-Me - Interactive units converter. http://www.convert-me.com/en

Dictionary of Units - Provides a summary of most of the units of measurement to be found in use around the world today (and a few of historical interest), together with the appropriate conversion factors needed to change them into a 'standard' unit of the S I. http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/dictunit/index.htm

OANDA, The Currency Site - This is an excellent site for determining exchange rates for currency from countries all over the world.  Historical exchange rate information is also available.  http://www.oanda.com/

Online Conversion - Over 9000 converters and calculators. http://www.onlineconversion.com

MegaConverter - MegaConverter.com is an ever-growing set of weights, measures and units conversion/calculation modules.  There are two interfaces: the original MegaConverter and a newer Megaconverter 2 which includes "more converters, more features and quicker access."  http://www.megaconverter.com

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Other Virtual Reference Shelves

Fogler Library's Virtual Reference Desk - A collection of reference Web resources compiled by the librarians at the University of Maine.  http://www.library.umaine.edu/virtualref/default.htm

The Internet Public Library - The mission of the IPL is to "serve the public by finding, evaluating, selecting, organizing, describing, and creating quality information resources."  http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref00.00.00/

The Librarian's Internet Index - The LII is a searchable, annotated subject directory of Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of public libraries. http://search.lii.org/index.jsp?more=SubTopic10

LibrarySpot - "A free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons, families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information." http://www.libraryspot.com

RefDesk - "Refdesk.com has three goals: (1) fast access, (2) intuitive and easy navigation and (3) comprehensive content, rationally indexed."  http://www.refdesk.com/facts.html

Yahoo! Reference - A browsable, comprehensive list of reference Web resources.  http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference

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Last Updated 11/06/2007 11:59 AM 

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