Reference

Bellingham Middle/High School
Media Center

Worcester Public Library

Use this email form to submit a 'ready reference' question. A ‘ready reference’ question is one that can be answered with a brief, factual answer. (We are not able to do detailed research via email, but we can make suggestions for resources.) Great resource for teacher/class who need a quick answer to a question.

MassAnswers is a 24/7 quick chat reference service staffed by professional reference librarians from across Massachusetts and the United States. Ask questions and get answers anytime, day or night, right here on the Internet.

Almanacs

Information Please - The world's largest free reference site. Here you can find facts on thousands of subjects including sports, entertainment, technology ...
Fact Monster From Information Please - Includes searchable information related to sports, entertainment, geography, history, biography ...
Old Farmer's Almanac - Long range weather forecasting, high & low tide dates, moon phases/dates, monthly sky watch, etc.

Biographies

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774 - present

Biographies of the American Revolution

Biography.com

Biography-Center.com

The Biography Channel - Based on the television series Biography, this site provides biographies of 20,000 people from the past as well as the present. Also presents opportunities to play biographical games, and to keep current with biographies available in bookstores and on the television series.

Biography Resource Center

Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography - Broken down by Branch of Science, Gender/Minority Status, Historical Periods, Nationality, Prize Winners and an Alphabetical Index.

From Revolution to Reconstruction

National Women's Hall of Fame

Notable African-Americans

Presidents of the United States

Virtual Middle school Library Biographies - African Americans, Arab Americans, Artists, Asian Americans, Authors, General Biographies, Government and History, Hispanics, Mathematicians, Miscellaneous, Musicians, Scientists and Women. GREAT SITE/LINKS

Calculators

Calculators - Basic, scientific, square root, circle, prime number, percent, trigonometry, etc.

Citing Sources

Citation Machine - Follow instructions on left hand menu
Citation Maker - Very easy to use! Just fill in the information.

Copyright

The Exceptions for Instructors eTool - A free, online tool designed for educators. Easy to use, just answer the questions as they pertain to the document you are questionable about. The end result is either a no (it is not copyright infringement) or yes (you cannot use because of copyright laws).
The Fair Use Evaluator - Fair use for educational purposes can be hard to define. This tool may help you make an informed decision. It is NOT legally binding, but it will steer you in the right direction.

Dictionaries

Dictionary.com
Dictionary of Difficult Words
French-English Dictionary
Merriam Webster Dictionary
Onelook.com: Very cool site!! It's a search engine: just type your word in the box and OneLook will "search over 900 online dictionaries". Even better, you can do a reverse search "where you put in the definition and find words that match."
Spell Checker

Encyclopedias

Britannica Online
Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
Encarta Concise Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Encyclopedia Smithsonian helps answer frequently asked questions about the Smithsonian with links to resources on subjects from Art to Zoology.
Groliers

English/Grammar

Common Errors in Language (Words) - Awesome site! Common words that are misspelled/used incorrectly, definitions, etc.
Grammar Bytes! - Definitions with examples, interactive exercises, handouts and tips & rules.
Schoolhouse Rock - The lyrics to the songs we grew up with ...

General Reference

Contemporary Literary Criticism - Contemporary Literary Criticism-Select is an extensive collection of more than 11,000 critical essays on contemporary authors.
Facts on Files - Issues and Controversies - In depth investigations of today's top issues.
Government Online Ask a question in real time!! Connect to a librarian with specialized expertise in finding government information at the local, state, and federal levels. you can communicate via chat on weekdays, or email for a response within 48 hours.
InfoTrac Junior Edition - Newspapers, Magazines, Encyclopedias, Maps, Reference.
Kids Info Bits Great reference: Animals, Plants, People, Geography, Science & Math, Stories & Literature, History & Social Studies,Transportation, Inventions & Technology,Health, Arts & Entertainment, Sports.
Newsbank - Search both local and regional newspapers by subject and/or date; full text articles
Reference Desk.com - The single best source for facts
Thomson/Gale - Thomson-Gale provides online access to indexing and abstracts for 1500 academic, business, health and general interest magazines, journals and reference materials. Full text is included for over 500 titles. It includes Business and Company Resource Center, Discovering Collection, Expanded Academic ASAP, Health and Wellness Resource Center Health Reference Center Academic and Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.

History

History and Politics Outloud - Searchable archive of historically significant audio materials for teachers.
Eyewitness to History - "Your ringside seat to history - from the Ancient World to the present. History through the eyes of those who lived it"

Miscellaneous

MCAS Practice - Practice questions for the MCAS.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism: What it is and how to avoid it
Plagiarism Checker
Plagiarism Checker - University of Maryland

Translators

Google Translator
PollyGlotto - Need a phrase translated? Let Polly Glotto read it to you in 11 different languages. Just select a language pair under Translate, type in your phrase, and hit return. Want to hear how a foreign phrase sounds? Select a language under Speak, and type away.
Web Translator
YourDictionary.com - multilingual

Work Cited