Libraries purchase hundreds of excellent reference books that individuals could find useful in their personal collections. Each book has a specific purpose and any amalgamation of Web sites, let alone any single site, will not directly duplicate the vast major- ity. Nonetheless, we’ve discovered an ample number of treasures to help answer many of the questions that the most used traditional reference books are continually called on to satisfy.
It is surprising how many reference books written to fill a niche fail, by degrees, to remain current or comprehensive. For example, look at the 12 linear feet of books that cover the subject of movies/films in a library’s reference collection, costing an average of $60 per book—none of which can supply a filmography of Alicia Silverstone or Jason Biggs or a summary of Memento. But the Internet Movie Database efficiently supplies the answers.
Now that we have discovered Web-based approximations for many of the recommended and heavily used resources, let’s com- plement our Web Library’s Reference Department with some additional sites. These resources are noteworthy standalones.
Each resource does one or two things well, but limits its coverage to a specific domain, unlike the one-stop sites exemplified by Bartleby. None of the sites except the Thomas Register, an excellent resource for locating manufacturers, require registration, and all are free.
Art
Artcyclopedia
http://www.artcyclopedia.com
By far one of the preeminent sites for art on the Web because it does so many things so well, Artcyclopedia is a portal to painting, sculpture, installation art, folk art, video/digital/Web-based art, photography, architecture, and the decorative arts on the Internet.
Offering several easily navigated indexes, you can look for infor- mation by artist name, nationality, subject treated, artistic move- ment, medium, title of work, or museum name. There is also a separate index for women artists.
Artcyclopedia links to 1,200 art sites. Separate indexes allow you to browse by museum. If planning a trip to Scotland, you can do some reconnaissance by connecting to the Royal Museum’s Web pages via Artcyclopedia. The “Art Headlines” link conveys the visi- tor to third party sites such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Atlantic Monthly Online, etc. Apart from the Art Headlines link, you will find that many artist name searches also lead to links for articles that are premium (pay) content; you can ignore or pursue these at your discretion. Whether you desire art news, biographical information on any of 7,500 artists, or to see images of 100,000 works of art, Artcyclopedia is a primary point of departure for research as well as pleasure. For a thorough review please see Péter Jacsó’s comments at http://www.galegroup.com/
servlet/HTMLFileServlet?imprint=9999®ion=7&fileName=
reference/archive/200101/artcycl.html.
See also:
Paris Pages’ Musee du Louvre
http://www.paris.org/Musees/Louvre Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org Web Museum
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm Smithsonian Museums http://www.si.edu/museums
Book and Magazine Information Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
Anybody with a credit card knows about Amazon.com and its chief competitor BarnesAndNoble.com. And if you know how to buy books and whatever else from these Web sites, you have probably realized that they can get you anything in print as long as somebody in their network of affiliates has it. That’s why it can often be used in lieu of R.R. Bowker’s standard Books in Print (hundreds of dollars) or its Web equivalent http://www.booksin print.com (thousands of dollars). For comprehensiveness, read- ers should remember to use the Library of Congress’ online cata- log at http://catalog.loc.gov; it contains approximately 12 million items. Librarians find it particularly useful for locating MARC records.
Bookfinder.com
http://www.bookfinder.com
Anirvan Chatterjee began a network agent software class in the fall of 1996 at the University of California (Berkeley). His finished
project was the forerunner of this metasearch engine for locating books in print or out-of-print, rare or signed. Bookfinder costs noth- ing to use and your search almost invariably leads to numerous hits collected from the largest book dealers, such as Amazon to the small independents (it searches 40,000 booksellers). A couple of years ago I used several search engines to locate a copy of Mary D.
Lake’s Miss Geneva’s Lantern. The copy I found cost $15. I recently used Bookfinder to scour the Web and located a new copy at half.com for $2.99—in seconds. I also want to obtain a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbirdsigned by Harper Lee. Ebay’s auctions had a couple of offerings, but Bookfinder retrieved 25 vendors. See Michelle Slatalla’s “Online Shopper” column in May 4, 2000’s New York Times(East Coast edition page G4) for more information.
PubList
http://www.publist.com
Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory is a standard ready reference title in most libraries; it retails from $600 to $800 depending on format and proves extremely useful for all types of information involving journals, newspapers, and magazines. Value-conscious people, however, turn to PubList. PubList provides a good deal of the same information without charge (although registration is required).
According to its “About Us” page:
PubList.com is the only Internet-based reference for over 150,000 domestic and international print and electronic pub- lications including magazines, journals, e-journals, newslet- ters, and monographs. PubList.com provides quick and easy access to detailed publication information, including titles, formats, publisher addresses, editor contacts, circulation data, and ISSN numbers. PubList.com is privately funded and based in Rockland, Massachusetts.10
Visitors may search for specific periodicals or browse by subject area. A typical PubList record for a periodical title provides an ISSN, frequency information, address, publisher, and editor.
Enhancements include a free table of contents alert service as well as article ordering (for a fee).
Business Hoover’s Online
http://www.hoovers.com
Hoover’s public and private company capsules include names, contacts, sales, employment, and ticker symbol information.
Hoover’s also offers links to external business information includ- ing company news and commentary, stock quotes, Securities and Exchange Commission, and individual corporate home pages.
See also:
Thomas Register (locates manufacturers of specific products in North America)
http://www.thomasregister.com
Securities and Exchange Commission (information on public companies)
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
North American Industry Classification System/Standard Industrial Classification Codes
http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
Dictionary of Occupational Titles (U. S. Department of Labor) http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm
Calculation and Conversion Tools Universal Currency Converter
http://www.xe.com/ucc
OnlineConversion.com—Convert Just About Anything to Anything Else
http://www.onlineconversion.com
Robert Fogt, a software developer, provides this page. Supported by a banner ad, this site offers users free conversion of 28 different variables including distance/length, area, torque, finance, speed, time, pressure, density, and energy. With 2,000 links pointing in, OnlineConversion.com earns a “bookmark” or “favorite” status in everyone’s ready reference folder.
College Information
The Princeton Review: Best 331 College Rankings http://www.review.com/college/rankings.cfm
According to the “Wooster Survey”* of 532 college freshman, 90 percent of high school students rank the Web as the fourth most important research tool in choosing a college (behind campus vis- its and the influence of parents and guidance counselors). The same students chose the Princeton Review’s site as the primary site search for colleges.
*College of Wooster. http://www.wooster.edu/news/
guiderankings.html
Countries of the World
United States Department of State Background Notes http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn
Many libraries have the $55 annual subscription to the State Department’s excellent Background Notesissued in print. The Web site offers identical information and adds numerous features that make it infinitely more appealing, and it is free.
When librarians discuss a Web site’s credibility, the terms
“authority,” “currency,” and “objectivity” are always repeated. The Background Notes site gets high marks on all these criteria. The
notes are frequently revised and contain detailed information on 188 countries. All the standard data such as population, political establishment, economy, geography, trade, defense, and history are clearly laid out; then the site offers links to maps, biographies, and “major reports” (e.g., human rights statements, commercial guides, religious freedom reports).
Although the Europa Yearbookis my favorite source for country information, I doubt individuals would pay $700 for the luxury of bookshelf access. The Background Notes site is an outstanding alternative.
Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
The World Factbooklists for about $50 at your local bookstore, and it’s packed with information, so it’s worth the price. But since the information is provided by the C.I.A., United States citizens can download a zipped copy of the most recent data for free at http://
www.cia.gov/cia/download.html. The full text can also be con- sulted on the Web if you choose to use it “on the fly.” In addition to country profiles, the Factbook is replete with maps, flags, and appendices covering international organizations and interna- tional environmental agreements.
See also:
Lonely Planet
http://www.lonelyplanet.com Directory Information InfoSpace
http://www.infospace.com
Directory portal for e-mail names, telephone numbers, and
“snailmail” addresses of businesses and people. It includes reverse lookup and various links to news, classified ads, shopping, and entertainment sites.
Switchboard.com
http://www.switchboard.com
Find people, businesses, products, and maps. A reverse tele- phone lookup is available.
WhoWhere
http://www.whowhere.lycos.com
Directory assistance for e-mail addresses, toll-free telephone numbers, and other phone numbers including access to interna- tional phone directories.
Zip Code Lookup (United States Postal Service) http://www.usps.com/zip4/welcome.htm
See also:
AnyWho: Internet Directory Assistance http://www.anywho.com/index.html
Especially good for reverse lookups.
Facts
Fast Facts: Almanacs/Factbooks/Statistical Reports & Related Reference Tools
http://www.freepint.com/gary/handbook.htm
Gary Price’s lists are well known, and this is one of his best.
Although very lengthy, it represents a great deal of effort and links to facts from various subject areas. Among the links you will find baseball statistics, presidential pardons, literacy rates, and product recalls as well as crash test information and a computer almanac.
Health Resources MEDLINEplus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus
Free, reliable, authoritative, up-to-date health information from the world’s largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine
in Bethesda, Maryland. When asked a reference question about the complications of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I used the MEDLINEplus Encyclopedia to provide a considerably detailed answer. The article I excerpted was signed by an orthopedic surgeon and I could even cross-reference the surgeon with the MEDLINEplus directory to further verify my response.
• MEDLINEplus Directory of Dentists and Doctors http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/directories.html
• MEDLINEplus Drug Information
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.
html
• MEDLINEplus Medical Encyclopedia
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html
• MEDLINEplus Medical Dictionaries
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/dictionaries.html
• MEDLINEplus Health Topics
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthtopics.html See also:
American Medical Association Online Doctor Finder http://www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm
Columbia Home Medical Guide (Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons)
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/texts/guide
Legal Information FindLaw
http://www.findlaw.com
Acquired in 2001 by legal publishing giant West Group, FindLaw is still a free metasite providing links to comprehensive
state, federal, and international legal information, including cases, codes, law reviews, law firms, United States Supreme Court opin- ions, and law schools.
Music and Film IMDB
http://www.imdb.com
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on 260,000 films and television shows covering 1892 to the present. It catalogs information on stars, producers, directors, film locations, and casts. It also offers 20,000 photos. You can search for informa- tion on old films as well as movies not yet released. When you locate a page on a movie that interests you, you’ll find links to reviews, news articles, and downloadable trailers. Amazon.com bought IMDB in 1998, so be prepared for merchandising links, also.
A search on 2002’s Panic Room links to Roger Ebert in the Chicago-Sun Times, Salon.com, Rolling Stone, the BBCi, the New York Times, and 60 additional reviews. Similarly, the page for 1922’s Nosferatulinks to 30 reviews (including Ebert and the BBCi).
I once read a community theater playbill in which the musical director stated he had worked with Roger Daltrey, lead singer with The Who. After a performance, the gentleman explained to me that he had, in fact, acted in a Warner Brothers video called Pirate Tales. Unfortunately, the fellow had never seen the final cut. Using the Internet Movie Database I verified that he was listed in the cast and that Daltrey was also in the program. Then using the handy link from IMDB to its owner Amazon.com, I found a copy available for purchase. But, in the event that the better part of this actor’s efforts had ended up on the cutting room floor, I went to the database for holdings of the public libraries in state of Connecticut. And—lo and behold—I found that half a dozen libraries owned Pirate Tales, including the Hartford Public Library.
The following day I offered the maestro all this 411; he was grate- ful and I got a few kudos.
See also:
All Movie Guide
http://www.allmovie.com All Music Guide
http://allmusic.com
What the IMDB does for films, the All Music Guide does for music. The dozen or so books in a typical library’s reference col- lection covering jazz, blues, and rock and roll will fall short in terms of currency and comprehensiveness when compared to the All Music Guide. (For classical music see the All Classical Guide.) Besides making it easy to find discographies, reviews, and biogra- phies of composers, performers, and bands in all contemporary musical genres, the All Music Guide provides links to tour infor- mation and covers all genres. It also offers a music glossary cover- ing music theory and instruments.
See also:
All Classical Guide http://allclassical.com Realty
Domania.com
http://www.domania.com
If you are interested in home prices for a specific ZIP Code, use this free database. Just for registering you can look up the selling prices of specific street addresses. Saves you a drive to the town hall, too.
Realtor.com
http://www.realtor.com
Although highly commercial since it serves as a selling vehicle for the National Association of Realtors, Realtor.com can help con- sumers compare prices, find homes, look for mortgages, and gain information about moving services, lenders, and more. Other parts
of the Web site cover apartments, senior housing, storage facilities, and insurance.
Special Interests Find a Grave
http://www.findagrave.com
Apparently a lot of people have found “Find a Grave.” Google gives it a 7 out of 10 for popularity, and it has over 5,000 other Web sites pointing in to it. According to one reviewer, “A fascinating site for sure. In the famous section, you can find a celeb’s burial site (or where the ashes were spread), and very often the cause of death.
Great for research or morbid curiosity.” According to another, “If you’re not listed here, you never really lived.” Over 10,000 celebri- ties’ graves are listed and 3.4 million records are searchable. Be prepared for banner ads and pop-up ads.
See also:
Cemetery Transcription Library http://www.interment.net
Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet http://www.cyndislist.com
Adflip
http://www.adflip.com
People studying consumerism as represented in the popular media will find this resource interesting. Adflip allows searching and browsing of six decades of print ads. By keyword searching you could get a quick course on the evolution of the camera, or see how Coca-Cola has been marketed, or trace the advertising campaign of Chevrolet’s Corvette from 1955 to 2001. You can also browse by year. Why not check out what products were being
advertised during the year of your birth? Breck Shampoo was apparently a big seller in 1950s.
See also:
American Advertising Museum http://www.admuseum.org
AdAccess
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess
Translation Tools AltaVista’s Babelfish
http://babelfish.altavista.com
Free Translation.com http://freetranslation.com
Although neither site is comprehensive in terms of languages covered, both are very good for loose translations of words and phrases. FreeTranslation.com can translate up to four or five pages of pasted text, while Babelfish can only translate approximately 150 words at a time. Use these to get an understanding of docu- ments and Web pages in foreign languages
United States Census Data and Demographics CensusScope
http://www.censusscope.org/index.html
Originating at the Social Science Data Analysis Network at the University of Michigan, CensusScope serves those investigating U.S. demographic trends. Designed for generalists and specialists, CensusScope includes charts, maps, statistics, and rankings for states, counties, metropolitan areas, cities, and towns. Graphic rich; data is exportable.