PRINCE OF WALES LIBRARY: REFERENCE DESK

The REFERENCE DESK contains electronic versions of resources found in the Reference Section of a Library.

Almanacs and Statistics	Atlases and Maps
Biography	Community Resources
Specialized Dictionaries	Encyclopedias
English Dictionaries & Reference	General
Homework Help	News Indexes

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Xrefer Quick Reference Search Engine
This useful search engine searches standard references in Art, Music, Biography, Business, Finance, Law, Health, History, Language, Literature, Philosophy, Quotations, Science.

Almanacs and Statistical Resources:
- Baseball Almanac
- CIA World Fact Book
  A comprehensive almanac providing information on geography, people (demographics), government, economy, communications, transportation, the military, and transnational issues.
- AlternaTime
  A comprehensive list of timelines organized by subject area.
- BC Stats
  Statistical information for British Columbia.
- BBC Country Profiles
  Includes current news events as well as statistical and historical information.
- Canadian Economy Online
  An excellent resource from the government of Canada for information and statistics on the Canadian economy.
- Graphs: Create a Graph
  Use this Graph Creator to prepare Pie Charts, Area Graphs, Line Graphs, and Bar Graphs for the statistics that you have collected.
- Guinness World Records
- Human Development Indicators
  The United Nations Human Development Index uses health, education, and other demographic information to rank countries.
- Infonation
  This United Nations site provides statistical data on the countries of the world. It allows you to compare geography, economy, population and social indicators for up to seven countries.
- Information Please
  Brief information on many topics.
- Library of Congress Country Studies
  Comprehensive information about countries including history.
- NationMaster.com
  This database uses reputable sources such as Statistical Yearbook, United Nations World Statistics and CIA World Factbook. You can generate statistical comparisons for a wide variety of demographic information.
- Population Pyramids Excellent diagrams by country of population pyramids
- Statistical Resources on the Web
- Statistics Canada
  - Canada e-Book
    The electronic version of the Canada Year Book, this site is organized by four themes: the Land, the People, the Economy, and the State.
  - Canadian Social Trends
    Quarterly publication of Canadian statistical information.
  - Census at School
    Information on Census taking.
  - The Daily
    Daily updates from Statistics Canada.
  - E-STAT
    (The full Statistics Canada Database)
    Please check with the teacher-librarians for the remote (home) login and password.
  - Statistics Canada Resources for Teachers and Students
  - Statistics Canada: Finding and Using Statistics
  - Statistics Canada: Historical Statistics
- USA Historical Census Data
- World Time Zones
Atlases and Maps
- About.com Blank and Outline Maps
- About.com Blank and Outline Map Index
- Atlapedia Online
- Atlas of Canada
- Atlas of the World
  This About.com resource links you to all types of maps and atlases including outline maps.
- Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
  National Atlas of Canada and related Geographical Resources.
- Canadian Arctic
  This is an excellent resource developed by the University of Guelph. There are large-scale and very detailed maps of northern Canada. Once you are in a detailed map, click on place names in the left navigation bar for a closer look and information about the area.
  Canadian Atlas Online
- This site is a Canadian Geographic site. There are searchable and interactive maps.
- Canadian Geographic: Mapping
  Use this tool to create your own Canadian maps around a variety of topics.
- Embassy World: All the Worlds Maps
  This is an index to maps for each country located in various online sources.
- Google Maps
  April 2005 - Beta version. Satellite maps. This site enables you to zoom in areas, even on individual buildings.
- Landsat.org
  This site provides satellite images over time. Select an area and see if you are able to detect differences. Clik on the link below the image to get a closer look.
- Mapquest
  If you are not looking for an American map, select maps and then select a country. This tool is useful in finding locations within cities.
- National Geographic Altas Xpeditions
  Maps made for printing and copying.
- National Geographic Map Machine
- Outline Maps
  Excellent outline maps from Education Place. Some maps are in PDF format.
- World Time Zones
Biography
- Biography in Context
  This database is accessed through the library catalogue. User Name and Password are required.
- A and E Biography
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
  - An extensive online reference for Canadian historical figures.
- Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography
  Brief biographies of scientists.
- A Million Lives: The Biography Resources
  An index to biographies on the web, this site gives a brief introduction to the personality and recommends four good web sites.
- Who 2
  Biographies of famous people. There is a brief biography and four good links for each person.
Community Services

BC Health Guide
Information about BC Health Services. Includes a drug guide.
BCNurseLine
Go to the web site for phone numbers and information about this 24 hour consultation service.
Kids Help Phone
Help is available twenty four hours a day from Kids Help Phone. Phone 1-800-668-6868 any time. Visit the web site for resources useful to teens.
Red Book
This site contains information on community services available in Vancouver.

Specialized Dictionaries
- ArtLex Art Dictionary
  Find definifitions and examples for art terms.
- Biology Dictionary
  Biology online.org. Enter the term in the search box.
- Biology Dictionary
  Dr. Paul's Biology Dictionary Browser. This dictionary includes some useful diagrams.
- Chemistry Dictionary
  Chemical Institute of Canada. Brief definitions for chemistry terms.
- Cook's Thesaurus
  Information on thousands of ingredients, foods, and kitchen tools.
  See also: Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs
- Duhaime's Law Dictionary
  A comprehensive source for Canadian law.
- Eric Weisstein's World of Astronomy
- Eric Weisstein's World of Chemistry
- Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics
- Eric Weisstein's World of Physics
- Glossarist: Geography Dictionaries and Glossaries
- A good selection of geography and earth science dictionaries.
- Glossarist: Science Dictionaries
  Dictionaries for all branches of science including earth science.
- Medterms Medical Dictionary
  Definitions vary from a few lines to a few paragraphs.
- Physics Dictionary
  Tensen's Dictionary. This dictionary has extensive cross-references.
- Note: The Vancouver Public Library has additional online dictionaries and resources. Select Electronic Resources. You need your VPL patron barcode to access these resources. The school library also has a collection of dictionaries that may be signed out.
Encyclopedias
- Canadian Encyclopedia
- Canadawiki
  Like Wikipedia. This Canadian version has all Canadian content. Editing rules are stricter than Wikipedia.
- Catholic Encyclopedia
  Read the information about the mandate of the encyclopedia.
- Encarta Online Encyclopedia
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Encyclopedia of Finance (Ameritrade)
- Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs
- Encyclopedia of the Orient
  Encyclopedia of North Africa and the Middle East
- Encyclopedia of Plants
- Encyclopedia of Psychology
- Encyclopedia Smithsonian
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Wikipedia
  Note: Wikipedia is a free-content encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to or edit. Be sure to verify your information elsewhere.
- Worldbook Encyclopedia
  Password required.
English Resources: Dictionaries etc.
- Bartlett's Quotations
- Bartelby Project
  This site contains many online texts as well as reference resources.
- Bartleby.com:Verse
  Look here for a wide selection of poems.
- Bibliomania Books online.
- Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
- Glossary of Literary Terms and Rhetorical Devices
- Glossary of Poetic Terms
- Merriam Webster English Dictionary
- Merriam Webster Thesaurus
- MLA Style Guide Online Select "MLA Style," then "frequently asked questions" from the first paragraph.
- National Library of Canada
- Online English Grammar
- Online Symbolism Dictionary for Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Roget's Thesaurus
- Simpson's Contemporary Quotations (Quotations from 1950 to 1988)
- Thesaurus.com
- The Word Detective
  Word meaning, origin, usage.
- Your Dictionary.com
  Extensive source for grammar and language questions. This is also a multilingual dictionary.
General Resources
- Canada 411 Phone Directory
- Canada Post: Postal Code Lookup
- Canadian Information by Subject
  The National Library of Canada provides a list of Canadian sites organized by subject.
- Collections Canada: Great Sites for Kids and Teens
  Look here for Canadian links in all subjects.
- Canadian Anthem
- Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols
  (Canadian and Provincial Flags and Symbols, Anthems, Links to Provincial Governements.)
- Convert-me.com
  This site provides converters, for weights, measures, speed, volume, temperature, and other measures.
- Currency Converter
- Encyclopedia Britannica Internet Guide
- Flags
  World Flag Database. Note the copyright information.
- Graphs: Create a Graph
  Use this Graph Creator to prepare Pie Charts, Area Graphs, Line Graphs, and Bar Graphs for the statistics that you have collected.
- How Stuff Works
  Look here to find out how almost anything works.
- Information Please
- Internet Public Library
  A very useful site with indexes of online resources arranged by category. (Journals, Newspapers, Reference, Sites by Subject)
- Internet Public Library: Youth Division
- Library of Congress
- Martindales's: The Reference Desk
  Contains a wide variety of reference resources.
- National Anthems of the World
- National Library of Canada
- Nobel Prize Archive
- Refdesk.com
  An enormous resouce, with a wide variety of topics. Select the Facts Subject Index for a list of the resources that are indexed.
- Refdesk.com: Science and Technology
  Science links arranged alphabetically.
- Research It Research It has been replace with "iTools" - tools to help you find information on the web.
  Dictionary, Thesaurus, Library, Finance.
- Time Zones
- Virtual Library
  The Virtual Library is an immense project that lists websites by topic.
- Virtual Library of Ecology and Biodiversity.
News Indexes

For more news resources visit the News Page.
- EBSCO
  News Index and Student Resource Centre. Requires User Name and Passowrd.
- Infomart Canadian News Index
  This index is only available on computers 2 through 14 in the school library. (13 licenses) This is a truly Canadian Index that covers national and regional news. It indexes newspapers, news wire services, radio and TV news programs.
- Infotrac Magazine and News Index
  This is a full text news service. You may use this index from home. Check in the library for the school password.
- Canadian Magazines
- Canadian Newspaper Index
- Canadian-based Publications Online
  Newspapers, magazines, ezines, journals.
- International Newspaper Index
- JournalismNet
  For Newspapers and Magazines from around the world, look here first. This site also includes access information for online archives.
- Vanderbilt Television News Archive
- Students are reminded that there are many online databases available remotely on the Vancouver Public Library web site. You will need your VPL barcode and password to access these databases.

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