Acronyms
Acronym Finder - The Acronym Finder is a world wide web searchable database of more than 410,000 abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and military acronyms and abbreviations.
Almanacs
50 States and Capitals - Use to locate information about states.
Computer Almanac - This is a collection of numbers relevant to computers, along with references. It serves as a "Computer Almanac." These are useful for including in articles and speeches. This list is updated periodically whenever I find something interesting.
Information Please - Online almanac.
Associations
Minnesota Associations & Organizations - An online directory of Minnesota organizations, labor unions, chambers of commerce, etc.
Biography
Biographical Dictionary – this dictionary covers more than 28,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day.
Distinguished Women of Past and Present - site has biographies of women who contributed to our culture in many different ways.
Calculators & Converter Tools
Calculators
Calculators Online Center - over 18,000 calculators covering every walk of life.
Conversion of Units - Conversion of any weight or measurement.
Cost of Living - compares purchasing power of major U.S. cities.
Calculators
Currency Converter - Converts US dollars to other currencies ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. All conversion rates may be varied according to financial markets.
Metric Conversion (UCB)
Worth of a Dollar
Conversion Factors
Online Conversion - Convert just about anything to anything else.
Unit Converter - Converts just about every possible measurement, every possible way. Just a few of the possibilities are: acceleration, area, luminance, mass, pressure, velocity, voltage, and volume.
Calendars, Time & Holidays
Perpetual Calendar - Enter month and year for display of calendar month. Includes a daily almanac.
10,000 Year Calendar - You can view a month or year calendar for any year 1 to 10000 A.D.
Timeanddate.com - Site has the current time and date for 512 cities, worldwide, and Greenwich Mean Time. World times can also be displayed for each continent, or sorted by country or by time zone. An annual or monthly calendar (1 to 3999 A.D.) can be displayed, showing the phases of the moon, and holidays for select countries. Also display the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds that exist between 2 dates.
Today's Calendar and Clock Page - Gateway to dozens of websites providing comprehensive information on all things relating to calendars, dates, holidays, and time.
Careers
Occupational Outlook Handbook - The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. Revised every two years, the Handbook describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects in a wide range of occupations.
Census Data & Demographics
American Factfinder - This vast site provides users with the capability to browse, search, and map data from many Census Bureau sources including the 2000 Census, the 2003 American Community Survey, and the latest Economic Census.
Population Reference Bureau Country Statistics and Reports - PRB's country pages provide quick access to essential information on population, health, and the environment for over 200 countries.
International Data Base - The International Data Base (IDB) is a computerized data bank containing statistical tables of demographic, and socio-economic data for 227 countries and areas of the world.
Statistical Abstract of the United States - The National Data Book contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data are also included. The Abstract is also your Guide to Sources of other data from the Census Bureau, other Federal agencies, and private organizations.
Countries
Library of Congress Country Studies - The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.
World Factbook - The U.S. government's complete geographical handbook, featuring 268 full-color maps and flags of all nations and geographical entities. Each country profile tracks such demographics as population, ethnicity and literacy rates, as well as political, geographical and economic data.
Flags of the World - The Internet's largest site devoted to vexillology (the study of flags). Here you can read more than 27,000 pages about flags and view more than 50,000 images of flags.
Dictionaries & Thesauri
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language - Site contains over 51,000 entries with more than 80,000 hypertext cross-references.
Merriam-Webster Online - Based on the print version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate ® Dictionary, Tenth Edition . More than 160,000 entries. Each word is accompanied by definition, pronunciation, usage, grammatical function, and a brief etymology. (Off campus access limited to current Normandale students and staff only)
One Look Dictionary Search - Search more than 595 general and specialized English dictionaries simultaneously, or select specific dictionaries.
Phrase Finder - Search for phrases, idioms, sayings, and clichés.
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus - Contains 35,000 synonyms and over 250,000 cross-references in an easy-to-use format, this thesaurus features succinct word definitions and an innovative hyperlinked category index.
Thesaurus Online - (Off campus access limited to current Normandale students and staff only)
Encyclopedias & Gazetteers
Columbia Encyclopedia - 6th ed., 2001. Containing nearly 51,000 entries (marshalling six and one-half million words on a vast range of topics), and with more than 80,000 hypertext cross-references, the current Sixth Edition is among the most complete and up-to-date encyclopedias ever produced.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online - Full text of the 32-volume Encyclopedia Britannica and more. (Off campus access limited to current Normandale students and staff only)
Encyclopedia of World History - 6th ed., 2001. Renowned historian Peter N. Stearns's comprehensive chronology of more than 20,000 entries that span the millenia from prehistoric times to the year 2000.
Britannica.com - Free version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and Thesaurus.
Columbia Gazetteer of North America - 2000. With 50,000 entries, this most comprehensive encyclopedia of geographical places and features will prove invaluable to anyone for whom places hold fascination and who require accurate data about them. It covers every incorporated place and county in the United States , along with several thousand unincorporated places, special-purpose sites, and physical features, as well as Canada , Mexico and the Caribbean .
English Language Usage
American Heritage Book of English Usage - 1996. With a detailed look at grammar, style, diction, word formation, gender, social groups and scientific forms, this valuable reference work is ideal for students, writers, academicians and anybody concerned about proper writing style.
Columbia Guide to Standard American English - 1993. A vigorous assessment of how our language is best written and spoken and how we can use it most effectively, this guide is the ideal handbook of language etiquette: friendly, sensible, reliable, and fun to read. Its 6,500 entries contain thousands of examples, both descriptive and prescriptive, and feature 4,300 hyperlinked cross-references.
Elements of Style by William Strunk, 1918. Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer. Intended for use in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature, it gives in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.
Government & Law
Robert's Rules of Order - In 1876 General Henry M. Robert set out to bring the rules of the American Congress to members of ordinary societies with the publication of Pocket Manual of Rules of Order. It sold half a million copies before this revision of 1915 and made Robert's name synonymous with the orderly rule of reason in deliberative societies.
Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States - Illustrated and annotated edition of all Inaugural addresses from George Washington to George W. Bush.
Minnesota State Government
Minnesota North Star - Official website for the state of Minnesota. Gateway to all state agency websites.
Minnesota State Legislature - Full text of bills, laws, statutes, including House and Senate legislative activity and membership directories.
State and County QuickFacts - Quick, easy access to facts about people, business, and geography.
Minnesota Tax Forms and Publications - Official site for Minnesota tax forms, instructions, and publications.
U.S. Federal Government
FedWorld - The FedWorld.gov web site is a gateway to government information.
FirstGov - On FirstGov.gov, you can search millions of web pages from federal and state governments, the District of Columbia , U.S. territories, tribal governments, and foreign nations. Most of these pages are not available on commercial websites.
GPO Access - GPO Access is a service of the U.S. Government Printing Office that provides free electronic access to a wealth of important information products produced by the Federal Government. The information provided on this site is the official, published version and the information retrieved from GPO Access can be used without restriction, unless specifically noted.
Federal IRS Tax Forms - This site is the official source of IRS tax products.
U. S. House of Representatives - Membership directory, legislation, committee information and more.
U. S. Senate - Membership directory, legislation, committee information and more.
The White House - Official site.
Law
FindLaw - Search for federal and state laws, Supreme court cases, and U.S. Code.
Thomas: Federal Legislative Information on the Internet - Access Congressional Record, bills, Public Laws, Committee Reports and much more.
Health Sciences
Medical Encyclopedia - The Adam Health Illustrated Encyclopedia includes over 4,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries. It also contains an extensive library of medical photographs and illustrations.
RxList: The Internet Drug Index - A searchable database of statistics, uses and warnings associated with prescription drugs. Also contains information on brand names and manufacturers. The site is by HealthCentral, a company that provides Internet services to health-related institutions.
MEDLINEplus - MEDLINEplus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. It brings together, by health topic, authoritative information from the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. Designed for both health professionals and consumers, this service provides extensive information about specific diseases and conditions.
Merck Manuals - Site gives access to the full-text of the Merck Manual of Geriatrics , selected chapters from the Merck Manual of Medical Information (Home Edition ), and The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy .
AMA Physician Select - This American Medical Association site provides addresses, specialties, education and other background information on licensed physicians in the U.S. and its possessions. Search by physician name or medical specialty.
Maps
Map Collections - 1500 – 2004.The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection.
Perry-Casteñada Library Map Collection.
Quotations
Bartlett 's Familiar Quotations - 10th ed. This tenth edition of 1919 contains over 11,000 searchable quotations and was the first new edition of John Bartlett's corpus to be published after his death in 1905—the new editor, however, choosing more to supplement than revise the work of the first name in quotations.
Columbia World of Quotations - 1996. The 65,000 essential quotations that constitute this authoritative collection represent the research of 154 experts. Entries from more than 5,000 authors and speakers are multiply classified into 6,500 subjects.
Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service. The 2,100 entries in this eminently researched collection form the constellation of collected wisdom in American political debate. In fulfilling decades of requests from Members of Congress for citation of quotations, the Library of Congress compiled the most frequently asked questions of the legislature for the edification of every citizen.
Sciences
Anatomy of the Human Body by Henry Gray, 1918. The Bartleby.com edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body features 1,247 vibrant engravings—many in color—from the classic 1918 publication, as well as a subject index with 13,000 entries ranging from the Antrum of Highmore to the Zonule of Zinn.
Plants Database - The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. Search for classification, endangered status, distribution, and characteristics information.
Roots of Botanical Names - Here are over 1000 root word of botanical names from a- to zyg-.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) - Taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world (United States Dept. of Agriculture).
Speeches
American Rhetoric: Online Speech Bank - Index to and growing database of 5000+ full text, audio and video (streaming) versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events, and a declaration or two. Includes 100 of the most significant American political speeches of the 20th century, e.g. MLK's “I have a dream”, JFK's Inaugural Address, FDR's Pearl Harbor Address, and ER's “The struggle for human rights.”
Statistics
FedStats - The gateway to statistics from over 100 federal U. S. agencies.
Statistical Abstract of the United States - The National Data Book contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data are also included. The Abstract is also your Guide to Sources of other data from the Census Bureau, other Federal agencies, and private organizations.
Statistical Agencies (International) - Start with the US Census Bureau to visit dozens of national data collecting agencies.
International Data Bank (IDB) - The International Data Base (IDB) is a computerized data bank containing statistical tables of demographic and socioeconomic data for 227 countries and areas of the world.
U. S. Census Bureau.
Weather
National Weather Service (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) - “ The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community. "
