Reference Shelf 


All sites are free unless marked with WSC - these marked sites are available only to Worcester State College users. 

New! Start here: Credo Reference – Cross search over 463 reference books online with a single search. Easy to use search box and all results are clearly documented as to what book title is displaying results. Click a button and your search can be continued in our other reference databases such as the Gale Virtual Reference Library and Oxford Reference. Or, if you're ready to move to the next level, continue your search in the WSC Library's Online Catalog; Academic Search (EBSCO) or Academic One File (Gale). Also has “concept map” interactive software to map out and focus your chosen research topic. (WSC)

Associations

• Associations on the Net - arranged by broad subject categories, Internet Public Library 
• Info Please - general interest U.S. 
• Scholarly Societies Project - over 4,000 societies worldwide

Colleges & Universities 

• CollegeNet - helps you quickly find the ideal college; also financial aid and scholarship information 
• College Locator  - from the Princeton Review 
• Campus Tours -  online tours and campus maps for over 800 colleges & universities in the U.S., links to institution's official Web site 
• FinAid - student's guide to financial aid  
• Peterson’s guides 
• College Scholarships - College locator, and financial aid in addition to free scholarships

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Dictionaries  

• Oxford English Dictionary  (WSC)  
• Merriam-Webster - 11th edition of the Collegiate Dictionary; also includes a thesaurus  
• American Heritage Dictionary - 4th edition, 2000 
• Visual Dictionary - site offers annotated images that identify each part of a given item. Created by lexicographers at Merriam-Webster.
  
  Specialized dictionaries: 
• Acronym Finder - currently contains over 475,000 entries covering all fields of interest 
• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - hosted by Info Please. The 1894 edition, the last one  Brewer worked on himself; a classic reference book.  
• Oxford Reference Online - (WSC) many foreign language dictionaries [listed under Bilingual Dictionaries] and special subject resources  
• American Sign Language Dictionary  
• Multi-lingual dictionaries 

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Encyclopedias 

• Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia - (WSC) available through EBSCO Host  
• Encyclopedia Americana - (WSC) 
• Encyclopedia Britannica - (WSC)  
• Grolier Multimedia - (WSC) - text from the Academic American Encyclopedia 
• Columbia Encyclopedia - 6th edition, the largest one-volume general encyclopedia available  

    Specialized encyclopedias: 

• Encyclopedia of Science & Technology - (WSC)  
• Canadian Encyclopedia - now available free online  
• Symbols - about 2,500 Western signs, arranged according to their graphic characteristics  
• Encyclopedia Smithsonian - art & design, history & culture, science & technology  
• For more subject-specific encyclopedias written by experts look at our Subject Guides 

Fast Facts 

• Anthems, Lyrics and Flags - MIDI format recordings of anthems 
• Currency Converter - interactive foreign exchange rate calculations  
• Flags of the World - also includes special flags, rules for flying flags; 32,000 flag images  
• Facts on File - (WSC) Reuters news sources worldwide; includes full text World Almanac  
• Guinness Book of World Records - a really fun site  
• How Stuff Works - searchable database includes diagrams and animated schematics  
• Information Please Almanac -  
• Library of Congress Country Studies - description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world  
• World Fact Book -  flags of the world, reference maps, country profiles, and much more

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Internet Reference 

• Desk Ref – 491 links to the best of free online resources  
• Internet Public Library - reference center; new section with pathfinders - subject guides to get started in research online  
• Ref Desk - links to a wide array of ready reference sources  
• Library Spot - hundreds of reference and research sources indexed all in one site.
    
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Law 

• Duhaime's Legal Dictionary  
• Findlaw - Legal Web site, providing the most comprehensive set of legal resources on the Internet for legal professionals, corporate counsel, law students, businesses, and consumers. 
• Nolo's Legal Dictionary - also one-stop site for legal info geared toward consumer & layperson 
• Massachusetts Government - includes links to the Mass.gov portal and the Mass General Laws 
• Also try our Research Guides to Government and Criminal Justice .
  
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Quotations 

• Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - 11,000  quotations from the 10th (1919) edition; WSC Library owns several later editions in print. 
• Oxford Dictionary of Quotations -  (WSC) Concise, complete, modern and scientific quotes 
• Quotations Page - One of the oldest quotes pages on the Web; now fully searchable. 
• Dictionary of Scientific Quotations - in order by name of person to whom the quote is attributed

Resumes and Cover Letters 

• Career Magazine - resumes, interview tips, career planning resources  
• Massachusetts Jobs - contains complete job searching resources  
• Riley Guide - Cover letters, resumes, preparing your resume for the Internet  
• Best College Cover Letters - and other job resources  
• Jobstar - sponsored by local public libraries; resumes and cover letters; job links
  
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Statistics - subject guide for all types of statistics

Telephone Directories 

• AT&T's AnyWho - also features a reverse directory 
• Big Book - for U.S. businesses; links to Canadian businesses. Address, phone number, street map for location, driving directions. Verizon maintains. 
• Reference USA - phone numbers and detailed information on more than 15 million U.S. and Canadian businesses, 210 million U.S. and 12 million Canadian residential listings. 
• Switchboard - business, people, maps & driving directions, area and zip code directories 
• Telephone Directories on the Web - Web's original and most complete index; worldwide coverage
• Massachusetts Web Directory - comprehensive database of public information for every city & town in the state  

Zip Codes & Area Codes

• Zip Code Lookup - from the US Postal Service 
• National Address Server - Provides zip+4 codes for any U.S. address provided. Includes street maps 
• Canada Postal Codes - from Canadian Post

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