Reference Desks

Like the reference desk at your library, these sites have selected useful reference sources.

This page:
Reference Desks | Starting Points | Full-Text Reference Sources

Reference Desks

• Internet Public Library
• Ready Reference
• iTools - Uses forms to let you search dozens of reference sources from one page (formerly Research-It!)
• Library of Congress:
• Virtual Reference Shelf - Excellent links in many subjects
• Library of Congress' Alcove 9 - Annotated list of reference sites in the humanities and social sciences
• RefDesk.com (Bob Drudge)
• Reference Works (EServer)
• Best Information on the Net (formerly Where the Wild Things Are: A Librarian's Guide)
• Digital Librarian: Reference
• E-Reference Links (University of North Carolina)
• Editors' and Writers' Toolkit
• Electronic Reference Sources (Rutgers)
• Gulf Coast Community College Library's Virtual Reference Desk
• LibrarySpot
• Mansfield University Library Subject Guides
• Martindale's The Reference Desk
• Quick Reference (Purdue)
• ReferenceDesk.org/
• Reference Tool Surveys - Diane Kovacs' surveys of librarians about their favorite reference sources
• Stony Brook University Libraries: Reference Websites
• UC San Diego Libraries Reference Shelf
• University of Colorado, Boulder, Libraries Research and Subject Guides
• Virtual Reference Collection (MIT Libraries)
• Yahoo Reference - Dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, quotations, etc.
• Reference in the Yahoo Directory - Links to more reference sites
• Research Strategy (Michael Engle, librarian, Cornell University)
• See also
• Fact Sources
• Web Subject Guides (for sites that list in-depth resources by subject)
• Reference Sources for Libraries (including Fugitive Fact Files)
• Ask-A: Question and Answer Sources

Starting Points:

• CyberTimes Navigator - The page New York Times journalists use as a starting point
• Power Reporting - More recommended sites for journalists
• Web Library - Librarian Nick Tomaiuolo explains how Web resources can make a great personal library
• See also Personal Home Pages to customize your own starting point

Full-Text Reference Sources:

• Bartleby.com Reference
• Bloomsbury Research Centre - Fulltext reference sources: quotations, thesaurus, art, myth, philosophy, English literature
• Credo Reference - Search across many standard reference works (subscription). (Formerly xrefer)
• See also Search Engine for Fact Sources