Journalists' Reference Resources

WebSites for Journalists Reference Resources:

This page last edited, link-checked, and updated 13February2009

Libraries:

Don't neglect your local public library on the Web.
For example, my home public library,
the Anne Aurundel County Public Library of Maryland offers
excellent access to "electronic databases" from its Web site;
although, several require that you be a card-holder.

American Library Association:

http://www.ala.org/index.html

• This great site provides a smorgasbord of information about libraries and a host of important links for researchers. Don't miss this site.

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Library of Congress:

http://www.loc.gov

• I list this just as an example of one of the many government Web sites that could lead to a wealth of information.
• If one has a particular interest in legislation, bypass the LOC home page by going directly to the pending legislation locater: THOMAS (as in Jefferson): 

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Library Spot: *****This could easily become the lone reference link an editor would ever need.

http://libraryspot.com

This site was created in connection with Northwestern University. Designed to be a guide for researchers, educators and students using the WWW, LibrarySpot is a delight of reference links that is seeking to be a going concern without cost to the user.

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Emory University Law Library

http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS/

• This "Federal Courts Finder" helps one trace decisions made by the circuit and appeals courts of the U.S.
• The site contains a fine law reference shelf.

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Michigan Public Library (Internet Public Library):

http://www.ipl.org/div/about/

• The Internet Public Library is a public service organization founded at the University of Michigan School of Information and hosted by Drexel University's College of Information Science & Technology.
• Be sure to check out this site's "ready reference."

Academic Libraries (Libweb): http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/ A listing -- with hyperlinks -- of libraries at U.S. colleges and universities (and worldwide locations) with Web sites. A great launch pad for researchers. Digging into this source for my own heritage, I got lost in the site of the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Purdue U. Reference Desk:

http://www.lib.purdue.edu/

• USA Today calls this one of the best reference sites on the WWW. Incidentally, writers couldn't do much better than using Purdue's Online Writing Library for reference and research.

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George Mason University Library:

http://www.gmu.edu/library/

• A good example of how an academic library can serve the online community, one of several Virginia academic libraries linked at this site.
• For the literary journalists among us, GMU is the home of the Associated Writing Programs.

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Columbia University Library:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/

• If it's touted as the best school of journalism in the country (graduate program only), then it ought to have one of the best journalism libraries -- and it does!
• Known as the "Library Web."

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U. of Pennsylvania Libraries:

(Annenberg School of Communications Library; Lippincott Library of Wharton School of Business):

http://www.library.upenn.edu/

• The Annenberg School of Communications Library is one of several listed at U. Penn.
• Wharton's Lippincott Library is a business oriented library that leads to many research tools. For some, such as Lexis-Nexis, users must have a U. Penn ID.

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Feinberg Library at SUNY Plattsburgh:

http://www.plattsburgh.edu/library/

• A fine library that includes a virtual tour and a good summary page for finding one's way around the Web site.
• This site used to have the acronym FLIRT (Feinberg Library Internet Research Tracking), but that appears to have been superceded.

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Internet Library for Librarians:

http://www.itcompany.com/inforetriever/

• Though touted as being for librarians, this is a wonderful research site for anyone scouring for information. Keep in mind that librarians were cruising around the Internet long before journalists discovered its power.

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Special Libraries Association (News Division):

http://sunsite.unc.edu/slanews

• A good site for journalists, with lots of links not found in typical daily journalism links.
• Navigate especially to the link labeled, "Top Internet Sites for Journalists."

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Ready Reference Pathfinders (Johnson State College, Vt.):

http://www.jsc.edu/Library/GuidesAndHelp/SubjectPathfinders.aspx

• A neat set of reference links from the library at this college where I once taught journalism and non-fiction writing.

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New York Public Library:

http://www.nypl.org

• Let's face it, how often can a reporter get to the NYPL (or any of these online libraries, for that matter)? This online site at least gives one the flavor of the massive public library.

Presidential Libraries: http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/ This page of the National Archives and Records Administration will take browsers to any one of the 12* presidential libraries, museums or special projects, and explain the administration of the presidential library system.  [*Wilson's library in Staunton, Va., is not administered by this agency.] AARP has produced an interesting travelogue advisory based upon visits to the presidential libraries.  I'm not certain how long this will remain posted. Just for basic reference on Presidents of the U.S., visit the Internet Library's POTUS site. The individual presidential libraries are: George W. Bush Library and Museum: http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/bushlib/ The newest of the presidential libraries at College Station, Texas. Jimmy Carter Library: http://carterlibrary.galileo.peachnet.edu/ In Atlanta, Ga., and one of the most active research libraries in the system. William J. Clinton Presidential Materials Project: http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/  Clinton library in Little Rock, Ark.  Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum: http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/ The buildings are in Abilene, Kansas, though the Web site is maintained by the U. of Texas. A valuable site to students of World War II. Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum: http://www.ford.utexas.edu/ The Ford library is in Ann Arbor, Mich., home of Ford's alma mater, the U. of Michigan; the museum is in Ford's birthplace across the state, Grand Rapids, Mich. Herbert L. Hoover Library and Museum: http://hoover.nara.gov/ Probably the most remote of the libraries and historically the oldest, its buildings are located in West Branch, Iowa. Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum: http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/ LBJ's presidency lived in the deep, dark shadow of Vietnam. Some good references here for anyone studying that era. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum: http://www.jfklibrary.org/ Located on Boston Harbor near the campus of the U. of Massachusetts in Boston and across the street from the offices of The Boston Globe, the JFK library is one of the most visited sites in the region. Richard M. Nixon Presidential Materials Staff and Project: http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/index.php The Nixon materials are archived at NARA headquarters in College Park, Maryland. Ronald Reagan Library and Museum: http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/ In Simi Valley, California. Perhaps it's my imagination, but the Reagan library appears to offer more in the way of entertainment and American popular culture than the other presidential libraries. Must be the Hollywood influence. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu On the campus of Marist University in New York but administered by NARA. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/ The presidential library in Independence, Mo., houses some interesting exhibits, most of them relevant to the presidency of Truman from 1945-1953. + + + + + Woodrow Wilson Library and Birthplace: http://www.woodrowwilson.org/ Located in Staunton, Virginia, and administered by a private Virginia foundation.  Houses an extensive collection of Wilson papers and artifacts. There seems to be a lack of recognition of the Wilson Library by the National Archives that watches over the other collections.

The Best Information on the Net:

http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Default.htm

• The librarians at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, have put together a host of links to statistical sites. The page's label is significant at the >005 level.
• This library site is great, and I note in in other contexts. An Internet sleuth's paradise at the school's O'Keefe Library.

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Ready References on the Internet (from Poynter Institute):

http://www.poynter.org/research/index.htm

• This site contains several links to basic references for reporters and editors that can be accessed on the Web. Be warned: Some sites require a fee. 

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Army Historical Foundation:

http://www.armyhistoryfnd.org

• A private foundation that operates much like a specialized academic library.

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U.S. Army Center of Military History:

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/default.htm

• Anyone doing research in military history must put this site on his or her bookmarks or favorites list. Keep in mind it is the officially maintained site of the U.S. Army and will need to be augmented by visits to some civilian sites.

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and other reference works:

Oxford English Dictionary (OED):

http://www.oed.com/

Perhaps the dictionary to end all dictionaries; although, if one is simply searching for a quick meaning, spelling or etymology, the OED may be a bit cumbersome.

This dictionary was meant to be read more than simply referred to when needed.

It's a costly item to purchase or access the OED ($550). Oxford offers a "compact" version that is searchable.

Perhaps an easy "in" to the OED is to subscribe to their word-of-the-day feed. 

Your Dictionary:

http://www.yourdictionary.com

Anyone with an interest in words simply can't afford not to visit this amazing site.

I think it developed at Bucknell University, but it's now a quasi-commercial site loaded with every sort of dictionary and word reference site one could possibly imagine.

Electric Library (ProQuest): ***Outstanding resource (for a price).

http://www.proquestk12.com/libraryspot.shtml

• The Electric Library is a cross between a library and an online reference site. The full texts of many popular magazine articles found nowhere else online are available here. There is a monthly charge to join, but there's also a free trial period. Searching for a subscribing institution with which one has a connection may be the cheapest way to gain access. School libraries, for example, may provide a way in. Some schools give access to alumni for an annual fee, perhaps close to $100 per year. 
• My local public library gives cardholders free access to basic ProQuest databases. 

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Library Spot: Grammar and Style Links:
*****This could be the lone reference link a writer or editor would ever need.

http://libraryspot.com/grammarstyle.htm

As use of the WWW as a reference site has grown and the number of pertinent sites for editors and researchers has multiplied, a new business developed around making it easier for people to find things on the Web. This may be one of the most important sites developing out of that impetus.

Of course, some of its links are protected by site owners who allow only limited accessibility (e.g., MLA Style Book).

Connected with Northwestern University and intended as a guide for researchers, educators and students using the Web, LibrarySpot is a delight of reference links seeking to be a going concern without cost to the user.

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Encylopaedia Britannica:

http://www.britannica.com

• Britannica is still a good place to start any investigation, and the information is now free on the Web.
• Special reports change periodically. Good stuff. 

Webster's Online Dictionary and Thesaurus:

http://www.m-w.com/

• A quick search of words available here, but there's lots more.
• Exploring this site uncovers some hidden treasures. People who "read" dictionaries will find a similar serendipidous experience in browsing around this site.

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Expedia:

http://expedia.msn.com/daily/toc

• Microsoft's entry into the reference world with an emphasis on travel. An excellent tool, especially its map locator, called PlaceFinder.

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Information Please Almanac:

http://www.infopls.com

• A handy reference that usually adorns copy desks around the nation is now online.
• For quick checks of statistical facts about the U.S. and its residents, this resource is hard to beat.

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Encarta Online:

http://encarta.msn.com/find/find.asp

• Hyperlinks abound at this wonderful online encyclopedia from Microsoft.
• Of all the commercial online encyclopedias, Encarta is the best site for one committed to free searches.

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Compton's Encyclopedia Online:

http://www.comptons.com

• For a price, one can get unlimited access to CEO for a year. There's is a one-week free trial.
• What is on the site without subscribing is limited.

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Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia Online:

http://gme.grolier.com

• This site is more of a brochure than anything else, with less immediately valuable information than Compton's.
• Grolier's charges for a one-year subscription and tacks on a registration fee. It offers a two-week free trial.

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Electronic Book:

http://www.electricbook.com/

• If one buys the notion that the Internet can be called the world's largest electronic book, this is confirmation. From here one can link to thousands of newspapers, hundreds of magazines, and who knows how many books.

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American Memory:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html

This is a Library of Congress site that is touted as a "gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States."

According to its home page it provides "more than 5 million items from more than 90 historical collections."

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Encyclopedias by Topic:

http://edis.win.tue.nl/encyclop.html

• I believe this site is maintained by a group of Dutchmen working for an organization called the Encyclopedia of Delayed Insensitive Systems. At any rate, their site provides links to an assortment of specialized encylcopedias (encyclopediae).

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Biographical Dictionary:

http://www.biography.com/

• A good place to find brief life histories of celebrities, scholars, etc. Site has a connection with the A&E and History Cable television networks. Has some limitations, too.
• It flunked my test using "Bonhoeffer," but it came through with "Niebuhr."
• When it found "Tillich" but missed "Bultmann," I decided it has a decidedly American bias built in.

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AlterNet:

http://www.alternet.org

• A news service providing digests of the alternative press, much of it online.
• The organization syndicates for online distribution about 40 stories each week taken from weekly newspapers or online publications (Salon, Boston Phoenix, Sojourners, etc.).
• Membership required to download full articles.

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Online Reference Resources (St. Ambrose University in Iowa):

http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Online/onlindex.htm

• Somebody's put together a neat list of reference works on the net and hid it in this Midwestern school's library.

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Yearbook of Experts, Authors and Spokespersons:

http://www.yearbook.news.com

• Operated by Broadcast Interview Service, this site is geared more to broadcast journalism than to print. Could be a good source for locating a specific expert, though.

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CARL Uncover Web:

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~nmtlib/brochures/CARL/uncove2.html

• A resource to over 17,000 articles.
• More information about this service is available at New Mexico Tech's Skeen Library 

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Folk File:

http://www.folklib.net/folkfile/

• A comprehensive dictionary of acoustic folk music. Nicknamed "The Folkie's Dictionary," there are lots of hyperlinks for navigating this fascinating source.

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Readers Guide to Periodical Literature:
(and other H.W.Wilson products)

http://www.hwwilson.com/

• This is a teasing site, with access to some examples and trial samples. If one wishes to access the Guides, it will be costly.

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Online Books Page (U. of Pennsylvania):

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

• Includes full text of some volumes.

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Bartlett's Quotations:

http://www.bartleby.com/reference/

• The online version is more limited and frustrating than using the book, I find, but if one navigates around , one finds a literary treasure trove that is growing every week.

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History Net:

http://www.thehistorynet.com

• Just about any question one has about history can be tracked from this site.

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U. of Wisconsin Writing Center:

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/index.html

• Many colleges put their "writing center" online, but generally such sites are for students taking Composition 101.
• This site provides much more sophisticated help, including links to the MLA, Chicago (Turabian) and the APA style guides.

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National Institute for Science Education -- the "Why?" Files:

http://whyfiles.org/

• Anyone interested in the science that lies behind the daily headlines should check this site; it's precisely what it claims to be all about.

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Dictionary of Military terms (DOD):

http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/

• A valuable reference from the U.S. Department of Defense.
• Searchable and alphabetized. This specialized dictionary contains a listing of military acronyms as well.
• It also has a special section on terms related to NATO.

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Newslibrary: (Originally of The State in Columbia, S.C.):

http://www.newslibrary.com

• An archive to several newspapers around the nation, with articles dating back into the '60s at least.

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Font Glossary:

http://www.fonts.com/aboutfonts/glossary/

• Specialized, but perhaps necessary reference for those working with the WWW.
• A related reference -- but unrelated site -- is the "Typography of Desktop Publishing" site.

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West's Legal Directory:

http://www.wld.com

• Anyone who's familiar with West is likely to go browsing in a library to find this large publisher of legal books. This site isn't really a library site (for that one has to pay); it's a search engine to let seekers find a good lawyer for any kind of special legal problem

Organizational, Community References: ( Includes some of the best government watchdogs. )

Brooklyn Museum:

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/research/

• Could a kid from Brooklyn fail to include this reference site? An ideal place to spend some time browsing. I spent many childhood days here, mostly running from the guards and laughing at the mummies, but I've grown some since then. Remember, museums basically are reference halls.

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Carter Center [in cooperation with Emory U.]:

http://www.cartercenter.org/homepage.html

• It's difficult to know whether to categorize The Carter Center as a library or a community resource. Of special interest is its tracking of global conflicts. A recent count showed 33 different research programs being operated by the Center. A fine site for browsing with research links, incidentally, to all the countries involved in the conflicts it monitors.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Center (at Stanford U.):

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

• Questions concerning civil rights in America are addressed at this site, which is primarily devoted to the writings and life of the famous Civil Rights activist and pioneer.

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United Nations research:

http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/quick.htm

• A good starting point for finding information on the world body.

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Legal opinions:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/opinions.html

• The law school at Cornell U. provides legal opinions at this site.

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U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals:

http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS

• This fine site at the Emory University School of Law does for the several appeals court circuits what the Cornell U. site above does for the Supreme Court.

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My Virtual Reference Desk:

http://www.refdesk.com/

• The father of notorious cyberjournalist Matt Drudge, Bob Drudge, maintains this site.
• Inspired by Samuel Johnson's epigram that the next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it, Drudge has compiled a compact, comprehensive encyclopedia of hyperlinks. A handy tool.

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FINDLAW:

http://www.findlaw.com/index.html

• Its names says it all. Look it up here. A kind of Yahoo! of the legal world.
• Though it has no connection, one trying to find recent law might wish to consult Lawyers Weekly.

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American Association for the Advancement of Science:

http://www.aaas.org

• The premier scientific organization has this site on the Web. More importantly, it leads to a database built in conjunction with Stanford U. and Duke U. called Eurekalert, which is loaded with news about science, medicine and other related areas, including special links to science newspapers and others devoted specifically to science writers.

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Federation of American Scientists --
Project on Government Secrecy:

http://www.fas.org/siteindx.html

• An organization that challenges the government's penchant for secrecy. Claims to promote public oversight and free exchange in science, technology, defense and intelligence.
• There's a print newsletter, but this site give the electronic equivalent.

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American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

http://www.aclu.org

• This group, often wrongly maligned as a left-wing organization, monitors legal opinions and court cases that affect individual and social rights. This site also keeps a tally on Congressional voting records on civil rights issues.

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Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC):

http://www.eric.ed.gov/

• For educators and educational resources, this may be the best site on the Web. It contains a searchable database.

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Disinformation:

http://www.disinfo.com

• Some would call this a search engine, but it takes the browser to places that deal with propaganda and disinformation.

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Gale Publishers:

http://www.thomson.com/gale/default.html

• A promotional site for one of the major publishers of reference materials for journalism and mass communications. Provides "factsheets" for each of the reference works that Gale publishes.

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American Memory:

http://rs6.loc.gov/

• Part of the National Digital Library, this research site is particularly good for researchers of 19th- and 20th-Century American history. It includes links to key photographic collections in the Library of Congress.

Clever Reference Tools: Listed alphabetically

Acronym Finder:

http://www.acronymfinder.com

• Designed mostly to help military minds wade through the alphabet soup that seems to be everywhere, this site is a good reference for anyone wanting to know what those crazy letters mean.

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Airport Code Finder:

http://www.webflyer.com/travel/milemarker/lookup.shtml

• A handy gadget for air travelers. Plug in the name of a city and it returns the three-letter code of that airport.  Word of warning:  Use the back button instead of clicking on "search again?"  You'll avoid the commercials!

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Anywho?

http://www.anywho.com/

• From AT&T comes this search for phone numbers. It includes a reverse phone directory.

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Daily Currency Exchange Rates:
PACIFIC: (Policy Analysis Computing & Information Facility in Commerce):

http://pacific.commerce.ubc.ca/xr/today.html

• This site with the rather strained acronym is hosted by a professor at the University of British Columbia and gives a detailed list of the daily exchange rates in 65 nations.

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How far is it?

http://www.indo.com/distance/

• Plug in the terminal cities, and HFII provides the distance between them -- as the crow flies, that is.
• Really a promo site for Indonesia and related travel destinations. 

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Mapblast:

http://www.mapblast.com

• One can locate several maps and print them out at this site, or one can generate one's own map.
• MSNBC's competition for MapQuest and Google Maps. 
• Locate a place by typing in its address, and a map will appear pinpointing the location.

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Netdictionary:

http://www.netdictionary.com

• Look it up here. I'll rate it later against other dictionaries.
• Keep in mind this is a specialist's dictionary for net-heads.

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Onelook Dictionaries:

http://www.onelook.com

• Searches multiple dictionaries. Great little tool that not only finds the definition of words, but puts them in a topical context.
• Each response also allows a browser to get to the home page of the specialized dictionary being linked.

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Research It (iTools):

http://www.itools.com/research-it/research-it.html

• An all-purpose reference tool, including a foreign language translator.

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The Universal Currency Converter:

http://www.xe.net/currency/

• A high-tech company, Xenon, maintains this useful and simple-to-use tool that's very comprehensive.

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World Pages:

http://www.worldpages.com/

• Find anything, anyone, anywhere, this site boasts.

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Zip Code Finder (U.S. Postal Service):

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

• Type in the location and get the zip code, or vice versa.

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Comments

[hanry]

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[Hid Light]

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