Quality Online General Reference

by Librarian Carl

Finding information online is so easy these days it’s almost trivial. However, finding quality information is as difficult as it has ever been. What I’d like to showcase here in this month’s entry are some of the best free (or mostly free) online general reference sites that will foster sound research. These sites, although they are online, are not simply unqualified web pages. These sites include databases and collections of web pages based upon the quality of the information and the authority of their creators. Not surprisingly libraries or library-associated projects often provide the best quality control. As always, be critical of your sources of online information but the following are sites that have a better than average chance of leading you to quality sources of information suitable for research, reports, or general interest.

1) Libraries
Reading Public Library
Virtually all public libraries have online resources associated with their homepage. The Reading Public Library helps pay for access to databases that are free to registered library users.
Databases: Web Databases, Power Library
Other Online content: Reference Department Bookmarks, Children Websites, Young Adult Websites

Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections. What is less well known is the depth of free online resources that the Library of Congress makes available. Some of these resources require membership, some do not.
Databases: Databases & E-Resources (Free) (All)
Other Online content: Digital Collections & Services, Virtual Reference Shelf, Alcove 9: An Annotated List of Reference Websites

New York Public Library
As one of the leading public library systems in the world the NYPL offers a wide assortment of online content. Some of these resources require membership, some do not.
Databases: Databases and Indexes Online (Free) (All)
Other Online content: Digital Collections

Internet Public Library

“The Internet Public Library is an educational, research, and service laboratory; two of its major roles are educating students at graduate schools of information and providing library services to internet users. As part of the Internet Public Library’s service, students in Internet Public Library workshops select (credential) and maintain links to web sites.”
Databases: Reading Room
Other Online content: Subject Collections, Ready Reference, Special Collections

2) Other Sources
Librarian's Internet Index - The Librarian's Internet Index (LII), brought to you by the Califa Library Group, is dedicated to providing a directory of websites that you can trust. Users can find more than 20,000 quality sites organized into more than 14 main topics and 300 subtopics.

Bartleby Reference - "Bartleby.com combines the best of both contemporary and classic reference works into the most comprehensive public reference library ever published on the web." This site is free to all, funded by Bartleby.com, Inc., and featured on Columbia University's webpage.

BUBL LINK - An Internet-based information service for the UK higher education community, developed by the Centre for Digital Library Research, which organizes sites by the Dewey decimal classification scheme.

INFOMINE — A virtual library of Internet resources relevant to university students and faculty. Built by librarians from the University of California, California State University, the University of Detroit-Mercy, and Wake Forest University.

Infoplease — A free, authoritative, and respected reference for Internet users, provides a comprehensive reference suite: encyclopedia, almanac, atlas, dictionary, and more. Infoplease is funded by Pearson, a private educational publishing firm.

Intute — A searchable database of trusted web sites, reviewed and monitored by subject specialists. Intute originates from the Resource Discovery Network which is a massive consortium of mostly European universities.

RefDesk - This Internet fact checker offers information on nearly every topic imaginable. Special features include searchable reference materials, news sources and facts at a glance. RefDesk is privately owned by Bob Drudge father of Matthew Drudge of the renowned Drudge Report.

Scholarpedia - This site looks like Wikipedia, but don't be fooled. Scholarpedia is a peer-reviewed encyclopedia that is created and maintained by scholars around the world, which means that articles can be cited in most cases. Currently scholarpedia’s content is limited but growing. Articles for Scholarpedia are generated by scholars the world over and curated by Dr. Eugene M. Izhikevich.

The Virtual Reference Desk — The Virtual Reference Desk is designed to help academic researchers find what they are looking for fast. The site has a database with more than 1,000 general references, 150,000 official government documents and a listing of government agencies. The Virtual Reference Desk is produced by Christopher C. Brown, Reference and Government Documents Librarian at the University of Denver.