Reference Sites
Encyclopedias and Handbooks | Dictionaries and Thesauruses | Atlases
Encyclopedias and Handbooks
MedlinePlus - Trusted Health Information for You
Drugs, Supplements, and Herbal Information. A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
Britannica Online Encyclopedia
Contains articles, images, illustrations, maps, charts and tables.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Contains training, education, earnings, expected job prospects and working conditions on hundreds of different types of jobs.
ProCon.org
Presents research on controversial topics in a non-partisan manner, includes a pro-con section with access to resources used in arguments.
Dictionaries and Thesauruses
Merriam-Webster Online
An excellent Web dictionary and thesaurus free to anyone. Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.
Internet Public Library's Dictionaries Page
This page has links to many types of dictionaries, including slang, rhyming, American Sign Language (ASL), etc.
ARTFL Project
French to English; English to French Dictionary.
Atlases
Mapquest
Allows users to input data, from general to specific, and see a map or written directions. Information on U.S. seems to be most thorough. Entertaining and well-designed although it is complex to use some aspects.
National Geographic Map Machine
Maps from the National Geographic web site. You can select country names from an alphabetical list by going to "Map Machine Atlas" and then to Index. Or there are "Political' or "Physical" maps of continents. "Map Resources" lists links to additional map resources on the web.
U.S. Census Bureau Maps and Gazetteer
Official government maps and census information for U.S. A little tricky to use at first, but a lot of information is there. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all your options.
Yahoo's list of map links
This is a list of Web links for Yahoo, which is also a search engine that lets you enter specific places, names, or topics and search several million web pages or limit the search to just the links being displayed. Be sure to scroll down the first page to see the list of links.
U.S. Geological Survey National Mapping Information
Covers how to use maps and descriptions of different kinds of maps. Links to Geographic Names Information System, which searches for specific place names.