Reference Sources

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Dictionaries & Thesauri

Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition
Oxford Language Dictionaries (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish)
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition
Merriam Webster Online Dictionary & Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, 3rd. edition

Encyclopedias & Almanacs

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (Academic Edition)
Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition
Wikipedia
Information Please Almanac
World Almanac
World Book Online Reference Center

Country Information

Europa World Online

BBC News Country Profiles

Background Notes -- U.S. Dept. of State

CIA World Fact Book

Country Studies -- Library of Congress

International Crisis Group

Portals to the World -- Library of Congress

Countries and Their Cultures. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, c2001.
Main Reference GN307 .C68 2001 vols. 1 - 4

Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall, c1991-1996.
Main Reference GN550 .E53 1991 vols. 1 - 10

The Statesman's Year-book. New York: St. Martin's Press [etc.]
Main Reference JA51.S7

Statistical and historical overview of the countries of the world; published annually.

Political Handbook of the World. New York: Center for Comparative Political Research, State University of New York at Binghamton and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Main Reference JF37.P61

Overviews of every country's government and politics, including history, political parties, events, controversies, recent elections, and foreign policy initiatives; published annually.

Citation Guides & Style Manuals

Chicago Manual of Style Online

Citing Sources Within Your Paper and Assembling a List of Works Cited

Examples from MLA, Turabian, APA and Chicago manuals provided by Duke University.

Citing References in Your Paper

Examples from APA, APSA, CBE, MLA, Chicago/Turabian provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications (Univ. of Memphis)

Landmark's Son of Citation Machine (Maintained by The Landmark Project)

Provides fill-in-the-blank forms to generate standard MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian formatted reference citations for research papers.

Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement
Citation Styles, Style Guides and Avoiding Plagiarism (UC Berkeley Library)
Strunk & White, The Elements of Style (1918)
A Brief Citation Guide for Internet Sources in History and the Humanities

MLA handbook for writers of research papers / Joseph Gibaldi. 6th ed. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
Location: Main Ref Desk LB2369 .G53 2003
(also Main Reference, Art Reference and Sci Ref Desk)

A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago style for students and researchers. 7th ed. / Kate L. Turabian, rev. by Wayne C. Booth, Gergory G. Holcolmb, and Joseph M. Williams. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Location: Main Ref Desk LB2369 .T8 2007

The Chicago manual of style. 15th ed. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Location: Main Ref Desk Z253 .U69 2003
(also Main Reference, Art Reference, Con Reference, and Sci Ref Desk)

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, c2001.
Location: Main Reference BF76.7 .P83 2001.

Electronic styles : a handbook for citing electronic information / Xia Li and Nancy B. Crane. 2nd ed. Medford, N.J. : Information Today, 1996.
Location: Main Ref Desk PN171.F56 L5 1996

The Columbia guide to online style / Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor. New York : Columbia University Press, c1998.
Location: Main Ref Desk PN171.F56 W35 1998

A Pocket Style Manual / Hacker, Diana. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.
Location: Main Ref Desk PE1408 .H26 2004

For information about why proper citation is important see the Oberlin College Honor Code.

Biographical Sources

American National Biography

Provides portraits of more than 17,400 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI)

Indexes current reference sources and retrospective works that cover individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world.

Biography Reference Bank

Covers over 500,000 people and includes over 36,000 images.

Literary Reference Center

Information about authors living and deceased (includes excerpts of literary criticism).

Literature Resource Center

Information about authors living and deceased (includes excerpts of literary criticism).

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

More than 50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2001.

Directories

Phone numbers, addresses, etc.

AT&T AnyWho:

includes Yellow Pages, White Pages, Reverse Look-Up, Toll Free Directory, Area Codes

Switchboard:

People, businesses, email addresses, and a web site directory

Infobel World:

International Telephone Directories

ZIP Code Directory

Associations & Organizations

Encyclopedia of Associations (U.S. and International)

Directory of Development Organizations

International Organizations in Europa World Online

NGO Directory from the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI)

NGO Database: organizations that have Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC)

NGO Research Guide by Duke University Libraries

Maps

A to Z Maps

David Rumsey Map Collection

National Geographic Map Machine

Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps - Ohio (1867 - 1970)
Useful for local historians to locate and identify buildings and neighborhoods, urban historians to study the growth of towns and cities, and environmentalists concerned about impact of new developments.

Statistics

Databases & Gateways

LexisNexis Statistical

Provides some searchable tables and references to publications in all subjects; includes data from U.S., international, and private organizations.

Statistical Resources on the Web

University of Michigan) Provides access to U.S. and international statistics in all subject areas.

FEDSTATS

The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies.

GEOSTAT

Geospatial and Statistical Data Center at the University of Virginia.

U.S. — All Subjects

Historical Statistics of the United States
Access to data on social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade.

Statistical Abstract of the United States

Current and historical editions of this available.