ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 14 / C&RL News Internet resources for read y reference By J e f f R osen a n d C arl E. Snow A g u id e to the electron ic stacks A few years ago the Internet was a much different place. There were few sites re­ liable enough to be counted upon by librar­ ians for reference purposes. But as the World Wide W eb has exploded and becom e more stable, it is time to reassess the usefulness of the Internet for reference work. Many academic libraries now have a terminal equipped with a W eb browser such as Netscape Navigator at the reference desk, so electronic ready refer­ ence sources may be a real alternative for small academic libraries and for all libraries that have a goal o f user self-sufficiency. Certainly librar­ ians should use the same criteria for evaluating Internet reference resources as they do for print resources: W ho is the authority behind the source? How often is the information updated? Is the com plete reference source available or is it a “teaser site” that gives only partial informa­ tion? Librarians w ho decide to use the W eb to answer ready reference questions may want to create a ready reference Web page with links to new or familiar reference sources so that reference librarians and patrons will becom e used to using these resources. This means that librarians working at the reference desk need to becom e more familiar with the “electronic stacks” in order to make wise selections of links to reference materials. What follows is a list o f Meta-sites, Web sites that are well organized with links to many dif­ ferent ready reference sources, and a listing of individual reference sources that is by no means all inclusive, but that we felt were especially good. M eta sites • T h e I n t e r n e t P u b lic L ib r a r y (IP L ) Ready R eferen ce C ollection . This site at the University of Michigan is an excellent collec­ tion o f many different types o f reference re­ sources with an easy-to-use layout and organi­ zation. The creators state that “sources are selected according to ease o f use, quality and quantity of information, frequency o f updat­ ing, and authoritativeness.” Broad categories o f information such as arts and humanities are used as major subject headings with links to more specific categories underneath. For ex­ ample, choosing the topic ‘Biographies” un­ der the broad category o f “Reference” leads the user to a page with links to many specific re­ sources including A&E’s B io g ra p h y television series site which includes the searchable text o f 15,000 entries from The C a m b r id g e B io ­ g r a p h ic a l E n c y c lo p ed ia or a link to The C om ­ p le te List o f P op es or the N o ta ble C itizen s o f P la n et Earth B io g r a p h ic a l D iction ary. Each site is given a short description and the W eb ad­ dress and author o f the page are listed. A ccess: http://www.ipl.org/ref/. • A ccurate E ye’s R eferen ce Desk. Accu­ rate Eye’s Reference Desk is a great collection o f many resources and, despite the W eb ad­ dress in Australia, it appears to be a relatively fast connection. The use o f frames to lay out the page may be confusing to some users at first but is really quite easy once you get used to it. Visitors choose a category in the small index frame on the left of their screen, such as J e f f R osen is e d u c a t io n l ib r a r ia n a n d in stru ction al c o o r d in a t o r f o r the S o cial S c ie n ces T eam a t th e University o f A riz o n a , e-m a il: jro s e n @ b ir d .lib r a r y .a r iz o n a .e d u ; C a r l E. S n ow is netw ork a c c e s s lib r a r ia n a t P u r d u e University, e -m a il: c sn o w @ p u r d u e.ed u http://www.ipl.org/ref/ mailto:jrosen@bird.library.arizona.edu mailto:csnow@purdue.edu Ja n u a r y 1 9 9 7 / 15 “Slang Dictionaries,” and are presented with a list o f W eb links in the larger frame in the cen­ ter of the screen. For example, choosing “Bi­ ographies” brings up a frame that includes links to such resources as B r it a n n ic a ’s Lives, the E n­ c y c lo p e d ia o f W om en ’s History, and N otable C i t iz e n s o f P l a n e t E a r th . A c c e s s : http:// w w w .ozem ail.com .au/~acceye/htm l/htm l_ frame.html. • G alaxy’s EINET R e fe re n ce At EINET’s reference page, categories of reference materi­ als are arranged top to bottom on the page in alphabetical order so that it is easy to find links to categories such as “Acronyms,” “Flags,” or “Quotations.” Each of these categories leads, in turn, to a much larger collection o f links. For example, clicking on “Quotations” will lead the user to a page with links to more than 75 different sources for quotations including fa­ miliar tools like Bartletts Q uotations, but the page also includes such gems as “Dan Quayle Quotes,” and useful sources such as “Labor Quotes” or “Abraham Lincoln Q uotes.” In ad­ dition, there are links to many very important sources for business information. A ccess: http:/ /www.einet.net/galaxy/Reference.html. • T h e E n g l i s h S e r v e r a t C a r n e g i e M ellon University. Carnegie Mellon Univer­ sity offers a reference collection that is orga­ nized alphabetically by the name of the source but no categories are provided. This is not a huge all-inclusive site but a very good smaller collection nonetheless. The sources seem to be somewhat focused toward reference librarians with links to many library-related sites such as ALA, Library Aids, and the archives of various library-related listservs such as GOVDOCS-L and PACS-L. A ccess: http://english-www.hss.cmu. edu/reference/. • Quick R eferen ce— The U n iversity o f T e x a s at A ustin The University o f Texas at Austin has a great collection called Quick Ref­ erence, which is organized very well under ma­ jor categories such as “Business Reference” or “Major Reference Works.” Selecting one of these larger categories leads to a page with major subheadings listed at the top above a long al­ phabetical listing o f links to individual re­ sources. A ccess: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ Libs/PCL/Reference. html. • Ready R eferen ce U sing th e In tern et. Ellen Berne’s page from the Winsor School in Boston is a very comprehensive list o f links to many reference sources. The author states that “only full-text resources/data suitable for ready- reference are included here.” This very long page is arranged in one long alphabetical list and each link has a short description. Items are listed under their common names; for example, under the word “budget,” we find links to the 1996 and 1997 federal budgets and related materials. This Web page is somewhat slow to display because everything has been put on one page instead of offering subject topics or categories linking to multiple pages. Berne has provided S ee and See Also references to other s ite s fo r so m e h e a d in g s. A c c e s s : http:// k 12.oit.umass.edu/rref.html. In divid u al reference sites B u s in e s s a n d c o m m e r c e • EDGAR, th e E le ctro n ic Data G ath er­ ing, A nalysis, an d R etrieval S ystem EDGAR consists of electronic filings by corporations to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). EDGAR’S primary purpose is to increase the fairness o f the securities market by acceler­ ating the dissemination of time-sensitive cor­ porate information filed with the agency for the benefit o f investors. A ccess: http://www. sec.gov/edgarhp.htm. • H o o v e r’s OnLine. As a major supplier of business information for investing purposes, Hoover’s Online includes company capsules, stock quotes, links to company W eb sites, and An image from the Internet Public Library Ready Reference Collection’s Web site. job sites to the general public. It also includes, for paying subscribers only, specific company profiles, personal portfolio information, and other interesting investing news. A ccess: http: //www.hoovers.com/. • S e c u rity APL S to ck T ic k e r S ym b o l S earch . Looking for a company’s stock sym­ bol? Security APL searches its database by cor­ poration name for stock, bond, money market http://www.ozemail.com.au/~acceye/html/html_ http://www.einet.net/galaxy/Reference.html http://english-www.hss.cmu http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ http://www 1 6 / C&RL News fund, and mutual fund ticker symbols. Also available is the company’s 52-week, high and low, current trade information as well as other market information. Access: http://www.secapl. com/secapl/quoteserver/search.html. D ictio n a rie s a n d lite ra ry sites • The LOGOS P ro n o u n cin g Dictionary. The LOGOS dictionary from Italy is a dictio­ nary site consisting of around 30 languages and more than 3 .5 million words. LOGOS is unique because it is updated and added to by entries submitted by Internet users. Adding to the unique nature of this dictionary are the audible sound files demonstrating pronunciation o f certain words. Access: http://www.logos.it/query.html. • W e b s te r’s D ic tio n a ry (S e a r c h a b le ). D espite the lack o f graphical adornm ent, W ebster’s is a very comprehensive dictionary. It not only provides definitions, but also a pro­ nunciation key, spelling correction suggestions, and a direct link to a thesaurus entry for the selected word. Access: http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu: 5103/prog/webster/. • B a r tle tt’s B o o k o f F a m ilia r Q u o ta ­ tio n s. Colum bia uses the 1901 edition o f Bartlett’s to provide a W eb site o f familiar quo­ tations from passages, phrases, and proverbs with a straightforward search interface. Also included is a list o f author’s nam es w hose quotes are used. While you are in the area stop by and browse the Bartleby Library col­ lection. Access: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ bartleby/bartlett/. • EC H O : E u r o D i c a u t o m T h e E u ro- Dicautom is a translating dictionary. Type in a word in one language and have it translated into another language. A product of the Euro­ pean Union, this dictionary translates between European languages. A ccess: http://www.uni frankfurt.de/~felix/ eurodictautom. html. C a le n d a r s • C a le n d a r C o n v e rte r . Calendar C on­ verter is a unique Internet service that allows users to convert a date from standard format to Julian day number, day o f the week, Gregorian calendar, Julian calendar, Jewish calendar, or French republican calendar. This is most defi­ nitely a o n e-o f-a-k in d site. A cc es s: http:// www.genealogy.org/~scottlee/calconvert.cgi/. • Local Tim es A round th e W orld. Local Times provides a listing o f the standard local times for the countries and islands o f the world. Daylight savings time, however, is not consid­ ered. A useful site for individuals with friends in foreign countries and travelers. A ccess: http: //www.aus.net/times/. • C alen d ar C re a to r. Calendar Creator is a Web page that prepares a year-long calendar for a selected country and year. This program is very easy to use and, although it is located in Norway, the creators have used Java (TM) tech­ nology to provide quick and easy access to this site. A cces s: http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/ ~steffent/applets/calendar/. D i r e c t o r ie s • Zip+4 C odes Q ueries (U.S. P o st Of­ fice). Ever need to find a ZIP code? Here is a handy online way to find them. The U.S. Postal Service maintains this site that is always up to date and even displays the nine-digit ZIP code. Best of all, there are no lines to stand in! A c­ cess: http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/. • B i g f o o t G lo b a l E -M a il D i r e c t o r y . Bigfoot provides a central search interface for locating e-mail addresses. With more than 100 million white page listings, and 8 million e- mail addresses, this an excellent resource to begin searching for people. Access: http://www. bigfoot.com/. • T ele p h o n e D ire cto rie s o n th e W eb. This useful site contains links to online tele­ phone, fax, and business directories from around the world. Included are directories for 800 numbers, the yellow pages, and the white pages. It is a simple responsive interface that brings all of the resources together in one cen­ tral location. Access: http://www.contractjobs. com/tel/. G en ea lo g y • Cyndi’s List o f G enealogy Sites o n th e I n t e r n e t . A collection of nearly 10,000 links that have been categorized and cross-referenced in more than 50 categories, Cyndi’s site is by far one of the richest resources for genealogy studies. It responds rapidly and is easy to use. Access: http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/sites.htm. • R and G enealogy Club. The Rand G e­ nealogy Club is a treasure trove o f informa­ tion. Not only does it have a searchable index o f surnames, but it points to many other gene­ alogy resources on the Internet. The club has won several awards for its content and layout. This page uses an econom y o f graphics that makes it pleasant to view and makes it load quickly. Access: http://www.rand.org/personal/ Genea/. http://www.secapl http://www.logos.it/query.html http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ http://www.uni- http://www.genealogy.org/~scottlee/calconvert.cgi/ http://www.aus.net/times/ http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/ http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/ http://www http://www.contractjobs http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/sites.htm http://www.rand.org/personal/ Ja n u a r y 1 9 9 7 / 1 7 • GENDEX— W WW G en ealo gical In d e x . GENDEX is a jew el in the rough. It provides keyword access to thousands o f genealogical records. It is graphically plain, but it is a pow­ erhouse o f information that should prove use­ ful to anyone researching family genealogy. W hen the filter programs are com pleted it will b e even better. A cces s: http://www.gendex. com/gendex/. • A m e ric a n A n ce stry . American Ances­ try is a small but important resource that in­ cludes records o f early Americans, as well as a collection o f marriage records. Access: http:// w ww.ancestry.com/. L e g a l r e s o u r c e s • V illa n o v a C e n te r f o r I n f o r m a t i o n Law a n d P olicy . Villanova brings together a central resource for law and government. The nicely organized center brings W eb sites for federal agencies and courts, as well as many state government sites, together in one loca­ tion. This searchable site provides information on court cases and some full text o f state stat­ utes as well as links to the federal W eb locator. A ccess: http://vmag.law.vill.edu. • D e cisio n s o f th e U. S. S u p re m e C ou rt. A service provided by Cornell University, this basic tool for legal researchers on the Internet is a collection o f Supreme Court decisions which includes selected historical decisions and com ­ prehensive coverage o f cases from 1990 to the present. A ccess: http://www.law.cornell.edu/ supct/supct. tab le. htm l. • L a w C ra w le r. Law Craw ler is a g reat source devoted to cataloging legal resources on the Internet. This central legal site provides a search engine and many categories o f infor­ mation including L aw Review, legal associations, and state government information. LawCrawler uses screen space very efficiently although, with advertising graphics, the downloading may be bit slow. A ccess: http://www.lawcrawler.com/ index.html. M a p s a n d tra v e l in fo rm a tio n • CARTOGRAPHIC M ATERIALS. T h e University o f W aterloo has developed one o f the finest collections o f networked information for cartographers. It is a highly structured re­ source that lends itself to browsing by catego­ ries but lacks a keyword search engine. Among the many resources found in the site are links to specific map collections and how-to infor­ m a tio n fo r ca r to g r a p h e r s . A c c e s s : http:// www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/discipline/Cartography/ cart.html. • P e rry -C a sta ñ e d a L ib ra ry Map C ollec­ tio n . The Perry-Castañeda collection at the Uni­ versity o f Texas at Austin is the classic map collection on the W eb with more than 230,000 maps covering every area o f the world. Its W eb page organization is user friendly, putting links to the maps right on the top page. Certainly, this is a must se e map site. A ccess: http:// www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/ M ap_collection.html. • M apQ uest. D on ’t try to use this resource with the Lynx text browsing software, you just have to have a graphical brow ser to use this map site. MapQuest is a great resource for find­ ing streets anywhere in the U.S. You can even figure out distances and plan motor trips with this resource. D on’t cancel your AAA m em ber­ ship, but this can b e a useful resource for trav­ elers. A ccess: http://www.mapquest.com/. • G azetteer o f th e U.S. (U.S. C en su s Bu­ re a u ). The Census Bureau has an excellent but overworked service that lets users call up maps and census data based on zip code, city, or state. It’s a good resource, but users need to be patient, because the system is sluggish. A ccess: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer. • T ra v e lo city . Travelocity is the W eb in­ terface to the American Airlines’ SABR system for booking airline reservations. B ecom e a do- it-yourself travel agent by actually booking your o w n r e s e r v a t io n s . A c c e s s : h ttp :/ / w w w . travelocity.com/. M e d i c a l • AMA P h y s ic ia n Select. The American Medical Association (AMA) presents an online doctor referral system, including m ore than 650,000 doctors. Search by a physician’s name or search for a specialist and limit by city, state, or zip code. Unfortunately, the AMA has used plug-ins that spice the page up graphically, but can slow downloading. Even so, this is a very useful site. B e prepared to agree with the AMA user policy in order to use the site. A ccess: http: //www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm. • T H E M E R C K MANUAL O F DIAGNO­ SIS A N D THERAPY. The M erck M a n u a l is a w ell-know n diagnostic handbook. First-time users are asked to register b efore using the manual, but it is free o f charge. The manual does not have a search engine but the index is clear and should b e useful to anyone. A ccess: http://www.merck.com/. ■ http://www.gendex http://www.ancestry.com/ http://vmag.law.vill.edu http://www.law.cornell.edu/ http://www.lawcrawler.com/ http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/discipline/Cartography/ http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/ http://www.mapquest.com/ http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer http://www http://www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm http://www.merck.com/ 1 8 / C&RL News