ST. STEPHEN'S SCHOOL - WEB RESEARCH CENTER
(updated and expanded, October 2006)
 

General Research Advice

  • A good place to start is often by using general reference sources, such as encyclopedias. (For instance, try the print encyclopedias World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica, or use Encyclopedia Britannica or the science encyclopedia through Virtual Library. Other online encyclopedias are in the ENCYCLOPEDIAS section.
  • When using the Internet, be sure to use worthwhile sites. Click here for a guide on How To Search the Web , and see the sections GENERAL REFERENCE SITES and also SEARCH ENGINES AND OTHER REFERENCE TOOLS.
  • If you find a useful site during your research that you would like to share with others, tell the librarian, and it can be added to the appropriate lists here.
  • Researching a topic on the Net is not easy; if you need help, the library staff is here to assist you.
  • Remember that different search engines are organized differently and the search strategies that you need may vary. Read their instructions and use their Help menus. Often it is better to use a category or subject menu on a search engine than to use a keyword search.

 Site List- Contents:

 
ALMANACS
 
Fact Monster www.factmonster.com
Almanac with the student user in mind.
 
Infoplease www.infoplease.com/almanacs.html
Very good almanac with standard statistical general information.
 
Kids’ Almanac www.yahooligans.com/content/ka/index.html
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CITATION GUIDES
 
Duke University Guide www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/within.htm
Excellent help for how to do internal citations.
 
Easy Bibliography Guide www.easybib.com
One of the most user-friendly, helpful bibliography guides available.
 
Long Island University Guide www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm
Offers not only very good help with MLA-style bibliographies and internal citation, but also gives the choice of other bibliography/citation styles, such as Turabian and APA.
 
Noodle Tools www.noodletools.com
You can only get one citation done for you for free per use, but it’s very well done; go to Free Tools and then "Quick Cite".
 
Online Guide to Citation www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite5.html
Gives help with both bibliography and internal citation.
DICTIONARIES
 
Cambridge Dictionaries http://dictionary.cambridge.org
Gives you access to a high-quality standard dictionary, and also to specific dictionaries such as a Dictionary of American English, Dictionary of Idioms, and Dictionnaire Cambridge (in French)
 
Merriam-Webster Dictionary www.m-w.com/dictionary
Another well-known standard dictionary.
 
One Look Dictionaries www.onelook.com
Links to many dictionaries from one site.
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
 
Concise Columbia Encyclopedia www.encyclopedia.com
 
Encarta Concise Encyclopedia http://encarta.msn.com/default.asp
 
Encyclopedia Britannica www.vlibrary.org
Note: to get into Virtual Library’s "Encyclopedias" section, enter the main site by using the User Name: learning and the Password: tool , then choose "Encyclopedias" from the green bar.
 
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology www.vlibrary.org
See note for Encyclopedia Britannica
FRENCH SITES
 
Yahoo www.yahoo.fr
The Yahoo search directory, in its French version.
 
BonWeb www.bonweb.com
Connections to French search engines, plus sections on news, culture, etc.
 
Club Internet Encyclopédie www.club-internet.fr/encyclopedie
 
Encyclopédie Encarta www.encarta.msn.fr
 
Encyclopédie Hachette www.encyclopedie-hachette.com
 
Figaro www.france-amerique.com
The international online edition of the famous newspaper.
 
La France www.geocities.com/Paris/7357/francolinks2.htm
Information on news, literature, sports, culture, humour, etc. from France
 
Le Monde www.lemonde.fr
Le Monde newspaper online.
 
Le Musée du Louvre www.louvre.fr
 
Web Encyclopédie www.webencyclo.com
GENERAL REFERENCE SITES
 
BUBL Index www.bubl.ac.uk/link
10,000 links grouped by subject, using the same Dewey Decimal organization as our library.
 
The Economist www.economist.co.uk
The Economist magazine, current issue plus a searchable index to the last five years’ worth of articles. Log in on the narrow bar under the red Economist.com box on the main screen: the e-mail address is: library@ststephens.rome-com and the password is: yates
 
Virtual Salt www.virtualsalt.com/search.htm
Very helpful collection of links to search engines and directories, bookstores, news sites, graphics, reference sources, and more.
 
Webring http://webring.com
Specializes on topics that people are passionate about. Some sites are commercial.
 
World Wide Web Virtual Library www.vlib.org
Note: This is not the Virtual Library that we have a subscription to; go to the ENCYCLOPEDIAS section for that one.
Large index, organized by subject, with helpful links for research.
GRAMMAR, USAGE, AND WRITING STYLE
 
Dictionary.com Guide http://dictionary.reference.com/writing
A guide to grammar, usage, and style.
 
Elements of Style http://coba.shsu.edu/help/strunk
The classic still valuable guide by William Strunk.
 
Library Spot www.libraryspot.com/grammarstyle.htm
An excellent collection of basic grammar and writing guides with their online links.
ITALIAN SITES
 
Antologia della Letteratura Italiana www.crs4.it/HTML/Literature.html
Excellent anthology of Italian texts in literature and philosophy. (All in Italian)
 
Arianna http://arianna.libero.it (search engine)
 
Italy/Italian-related sites www.colorado.edu/FRIT/itsite.html
News, literature, archaeology, food, miscellaneous topics (Italian and English)
 
Sapere www.sapere.it
Very good general encyclopedia, subject categories, and dictionaries. (All in Italian)
 
Shinyseek www.shinyseek.it (search engine)

Il Trovatore www.iltrovatore.it (search engine)
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
 
Find Articles www.findarticles.com
Access to magazine articles by subject categories.
 
Magazine Portal www.magportal.com
Access to magazine articles by subjects and by title of publication.
 
Northern Light www.northernlight.com
See the "RivalEye" blue section, on the right side of the main screen, for coverage of current issues.
MAPS
 
International Maps http://libraryspot.com/maps
U.S. and world maps of various types.
 
MapQuest www.mapquest.com
Specific street maps available from exact addresses.
 
National Geographic Maps www.nationalgeographic.com/maps
Excellent quality maps of various types.
NEWS AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
 
ABYZ News Links www.abyznewslinks.com
Newspapers from all over the world.
 
BBC News (British) http://news.bbc.co.uk
 
CNN (International edition) http://edition.cnn.com
 
CNN (U.S. edition) www.cnn.com
 
Corriere della Sera www.corriere.it
 
Financial Times www.ft.com
 
International Herald Tribune www.iht.com
 
New York Times www.nytimes.com
You need to be a member to access articles, but membership is free. Note that NOT all articles are available free, even to members.
 
News Search Engines www.searchenginewatch.com/links/news.html
Excellent for locating the search engine you need for current events issues.
 
Online Newspapers www.onlinenewspapers.com
Very good collection of international newspapers.
SATIRE
 
The Brain Trust www.thebraintrust.co.uk
British satire on world events.
 
The Door Magazine www.thedoormagazine.com
Satire on all religions.
 
Funny Times http://funnytimes.com
U.S. humour, excellent cartoons.
 
The Onion www.theonion.com
U.S. satirical online newspaper.
QUOTATIONS
 
Bartlett’s Quotations www.bartleby.com/66
One of the classic collections of quotations.
 
Famous Quotations www.famous-quotations.com
 
Quotations http://quotations.about.com
Very good links.
 
Quotations Page www.quotationspage.com
 
Quoteland www.quoteland.com
Very user-friendly.
SEARCH ENGINES AND OTHER REFERENCE TOOLS
 
  • Mega/Meta Search Engines (access many engines at once)
Ask Jeeves www.ask.com
 
Dogpile www.dogpile.com
 
Excite www.excite.com
 
Mamma www.mamma.com
 
Metacrawler www.metacrawler.com
 
Sherlock Hound www.sherlockhound.com
 
Vivisimo www.vivisimo.com
This meta-search engine does something original and helpful: all your search results are placed into clusters by sub-topic. Try it and see.
 
  • Search Engine Lists
Beaucoup www.beaucoup.com
Access to many directories, search engines, and some sites through topic.
 
NISS Listings www.niss.ac.uk/lis/search-engines.html
Alphabetical lists of links to search engines of all types.
 
  • Search Engine Information
Reference Desk www.refdesk.com/newsrch.html
Has search engine tutorials, also lists of search engine links by type and by name.
 
Search Engine Watch www.searchenginewatch.com/links/major.html
Gives a comparison of and information about the major search engines.
SPECIALIZED SUBJECT SITES
 
Business Week magazine www.busnessweek.com
 
Encyclopedia Mythica www.pantheon.org/mythica
An encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and legend, including Greek, Roman, Asian, aboriginal, and more.
 
Health Information A to Z www.healthatoz.com
Very good information; membership required, but it’s free.
 
National Center for BioTech Information www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Human Genome Project info, and more.
 
NASA SeaWiFS Project http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS.html
Global Ocean Monitoring Mission, and images of Earth from space.
 
Ocean Planet Smithsonian Exhibit http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/ocean_planet_overview.html
 
Periodic Table www.chemicool.com
 
Scientific American magazine www.sciam.com
STUDENT INFORMATION SITES
 
Advanced Placement (A.P.) Program http://apcentral.collegeboard.com
A.P. information; site has free membership.
 
College & University Information: Fiske Guide www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/cofiske.htm
Access to profiles of U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities.
 
Colleges and Universities: Peterson’s Guide www.petersons.com
 
International Baccalaureate (I.B.) Program www.ibo.org
I.B. program guide, information, requirements
 
Scholastic Aptitude Test (S.A.T.) http://apps.collegeboard.com/satprep/index.jsp
SAT registration, practice questions, information
THESAURUSES
 
Merriam-Webster Thesaurus www.m-w.com/thesaurus.htm
 
Roget’s Thesaurus http://thesaurus.reference.com
WEBSITE EVALUATION
 
Checklist for Website Evaluation www.infopeople.org/howto/bkmk/select.html
 
Evaluation Criteria http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
Clear information, well-structured site.
 
Questions for Evaluating Sites http://jhss.wrdsb.on.ca/library/html/evaluate/evalinfo.htm
Questions to help you judge the quality of online information.
 
Tips for Evaluating Sites www.uflib.ufl.edu/hss/ref/tips.html
 
Website Evaluation www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/hott.html
Attractive helpful site.