General Reference

As there are a plethora of general resources out there, including useful web sites, we have selected for inclusion on this page a list of "Librarian Approved" resources and sites useful for general interest and research purposes. If you are aware of any that we have overlooked, please send in your suggestions via the Ask-A-Librarian email form.

 

 Online Research Videos

  •  ResearchChannel.org
    Created by a group of prestigious research institutions, this site has become a forum for sharing new and continuing research around the globe. The video programs appeal to a broad audience from the general public to specific tracks of medicine and technology. The site houses more than 3,500 full-length programs.

 Statistical Sources

  • Fedstats.gov
    FedStats provides easy access to statistics and information produced by more than 100 US Federal Government agencies. You can even find statistical information about Grant County.
  • Census.gov
    Provides electronic, searchable access to the 2000 Census data. Provides a link to the American FactFinder which is the "source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data".
  • DataPlace
    To find quick stats on people, places, and general populations, check out this web site. Offers maps, data charts, area overviews, fun facts, and rankings. Contains data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses (demographic, economic, housing, and social characteristics), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (home mortgage applications and loans), Section 8 Expiring Use database (neighborhood- and property-level data on federally assisted housing at risk of loss), and Consolidated Plan special tabulations (data on housing needs by household income level).
  • The World Factbook (CIA)
    A vast collection of country information from around the world, the CIA Factbook is a credible web source for statistical, geographic, political, and a plethora of other details on specific nations around the world. It is updated throughout the year.
  • CountryWatch
    A database that Zondervan subscribes to, CountryWatch provides up-to-date news and information on each of the recognized countries of the world in various formats - reports, reviews, maps, graphs, data, etc.
  • GeoHive: Global Statistics
    Features statistics on historical data, countries, regions, and cities, and a lot of other types of data that could be useful. Brings together this information from several places including the CIA World Factbook (see above), UN World Population Prospects, and other official governmental agencies.
  • Population Reference Bureau
    Collects, collates, and provides information on world population, health, and the environment. Sponsored by various governmental agencies, organizations, and individuals, it is an essential site for finding data on 136 population, health, and evnirontmental variables for mroe than 220 countries, 28 world regions and subregions and the world as a whole. Has a section called DataFinder, which presents the statistics in an easily digestible format, and has lesson plans, rsearch tools and presentation materials to help in using and organizing the data.
  • arXiv
    arXiv is an e-print service in the fields of physics, mathematics, non-linear science, computer science, quantitative biology and statistics. The contents of arXiv conform to Cornell University academic standards. arXiv is owned, operated and funded by Cornell University, a private not-for-profit educational institution. arXiv is also partially funded by the National Science Foundation.

Maps

  • Google Maps
    Search for directions or simply locate an address. All your online map needs - taken care of by Google.
  • Google Earth
    Combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

  • Nationalatlas.gov
    Offers several types of maps--printable, dynamic and interactive, suitable for your home/office wall, and layered ones--to learn about the United States and its various features, people, and places.

  • Topographic maps
    The library has a collection of maps from various sources--including some from National Geographic magazines and from local areas. We have several topographic maps (along with a topo map key to help you understand the symbols) from various areas around the U.S., including Grant County. These flat maps are located in the Reference Collection near the 220's (the low shelf area across from the quad of tables by the journals and magazines). See a librarian if you'd like help locating a particular map.

  • Atlases
    The library collects several types of atlases - road and driving atlases for travel, world political atlases, world religion atlases, etc. Many of them are together in the Atlas Stands near the low shelving area of the Reference collection - see the description in the Topographic section above. These atlases can be searched in the catalog - by title, subject, etc. If you need help locating one, ask a librarian for help.

Collections of Sites, aka Portals

  • Best Information on the Net
    A massive collection of Internet resources organized by major area of study, as well as by "Hot Paper Topics," and an alphabetical index. Because the site is hosted by St. Ambrose University Library, the links in the section below "Student Resources" and "Faculty resources" are not relevant to Taylor University students and faculty. However, the first three links on the page: Resources by Major, Hot Paper Topics, and Alphabetical Index are extremely useful for finding web access to good information.

  • INFOMINE
    This is an incredible virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level. It contains useful Internet resources such as databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers, and many other types of information. It has been constructed by librarians, and is, thus, pretty reliable. Divided up into broad subject categories: Bio, Ag., Med sciences; business & econ; cultural diversity; ejournals; government info; physical sciences, engineering, computer science, and math; social sciences & humanities; and visual & performing arts.

  • Virtual Reference Shelf (LoC)
    Hundreds of sites linked here, divided up by general topic area (Art, Business, Education, Statistics, etc.). Also includes general encyclopedias (online versions), consumer information, calculators, and other fun, easy-to-use tools.

  • Worldcat.org
    Search a worldwide library catalog for books, journals, and other materials. Worldcat.org will provide you with local libraries that hold the items, and it can show you how to cite particular items in a handful of citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

  • Intute
    This British portal to approved research and educational sites is extremely useful in a variety of disciplines.
  • Internet Scout Project
    Publishes new and newly discovered online high-quality resources of interest to researchers, educators. Searchable archive database. Produced by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
  • Drug Information Portal
    The NLM Drug Information Portal gives users a gateway to selected drug information from the National Library of Medicine and other key government agencies. The portal covers drugs from the time they are entered into clinical trials (Clinicaltrials.gov) through their entry in the market place (Drugs@FDA). The PubMed/Medline link provides medical literature describing research, and TOXLINE provides toxicology literature. Resources such as MedlinePlus provide easy to read summaries of the uses and efficacy of a drug. You may search by a drug's trade name or generic name. You can find embedded portions of names by using an asterisk at the beginning and/or end of a search term. For more information, see the Portal's About page.

Product descriptions on this page are incorporated from online reviews and site descriptions from various sources.

Ask-A-Librarian for more information

Created by Lana Gottschalk, Reference Librarian

Last revised May 1, 2008