Libraries and Online References
Most libraries in our area are equipped with Internet access. Some have training classes, others will provide help if you ask.
Two useful urls are http://www.svls.lib.ca.us/, which provides access to the card catalogs of several of our local libraries: Los Gatos Public Library, Mountain View Public Library, Palo Alto City Library, San Jose Public Library, Santa Clara City Library, Santa Clara County Library, and the Sunnyvale Public Library; and http://www.santaclaracountylib.org/locallib.html#CATALOG , which provides broader information, including local colleges, a much wider area of libraries, special libraries and collections, and a link to the previous url. Of the two, the first url is probably the more useful one day-to-day, with the second good if you are looking for something special or unusual.
The Palo Alto Library online catalog can be reached at http://webcat.cityofpaloalto.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=#focusfocus. There are also links to Online Databases and Other Libraries. If the Other Libraries link doesn't work, try the SuperSearch, which is something the Peninsula Library System is doing separately from the Palo Alto LibraryCat site.
The United States Library of Congress is at http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/lchp.html.
The Librarians Index to the Internet is at http://lii.org/
Libraryspot.com http://www.libraryspot.com/gives you a quick starting point to a number of Web reference resources. It has stats, current events and links to everything from acronyms to ZIP codes.
Some useful "virtual" online references are:
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias and General Reference
- Bartleby's (www.bartleby.com is a vast arsenal of reference sources, including various types of dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, books of quotations, mythology, fables, style guides, cookbooks, anatomy volumes, medical texts, and more. Plus, there's a searchable database of classic fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
- The Internet Archive www.archive.org has a Wayback Machine that allows you to surf more than 10 billion pages stored in the Internet Archive's web archive.
- Encarta (Microsoft) - Web based; can have word pronounced for you, if you have sound installed. encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/dictionaryhome.aspx
- iTools (www.itools.com is one of the best places to start when searching for elusive facts is . The site lets you do a keyword search under a wide variety of categories, including discussion groups, online dictionaries (regular and tech), translators, periodicals, quotation anthologies, phone directories, etc.
- Encyclopedic source of info on an internet range of topics at http://home.about.com/
- A wide-ranging collection of links called EncyloZine encyclozine.com/
- Martindale's Reference Desk http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/Ref.html
- Encyclopedia Britannica Online http://www.britannica.com/
- FedStats - www.fedstats.gov is a gateway to statistics from federal agencies.
- RefDesk refdesk.com - The emphasis is on, well, everything: news (and links to major sources); health, science, and technology stories; virus threats; over a dozen reference sites; a grab bag of miscellany (Harper's Index, the Internet Health Guide); and more.
- The Royal Society journals www.royalsoc.ac.uk
- The Scout Report - scout.wisc.edu is a weekly digest of useful sites with an academic bent. Specialized spin-offs are devoted to physics, life sciences, and math/engineering/technology.
- The IT-specific encyclopedia http://www.whatis.com/
- Webliography: A Guide to Internet Resources http://www.lib.lsu.edu/weblio.html
- World History Synchronically http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
- InfoPlease.com Almanac, reference, Atlas, encyclopedia http://www.infoplease.com/
- Atlas and Maps
- Legal Reference
- Literature and the Arts
- Science
- The eFunda site (engineering fundamentals) www.efunda.com/home.cfm is a premier online publisher for original engineering content, software, excellent unit converters and calculators.
- The Physics and Astronomy Reference Page (www.physlink.com/Reference/Index.cfm) site has links to a variety of pages, includign decimal multiples and prefixes, the Greek alphabet, nuclear and particle data, unit conversion, the periodic table of the elements, an atomic clock with the exact time, and a humidex and wind chill calculator.
- Nanotechnology (www.zyvex.com/nano); Foresight Institute (www.foresight.org) are places for information on nanotechnology.
- Periodicals
