Library: General Reference Resources: Guide Home

Free Web Resources

Dictionaries

Acronym Finder
Find the meanings for abbreviations and acronyms.
Dictionary.com
Searches many different dictionaries to provide you with several definitions.
IdioMeanings
Online English idiom dictionary
Idioms & Phrases
The Free Dictionary's idioms dictionary is the largest collection of English idioms and slang in the world. It contains more than 60,000 entries from several of the most trusted names in publishing.
Merriam-Webster Online
Includes a dictionary and thesaurus. Includes an audio glossary.
Lexico
A multi-language dictionary, thesaurus, and content translator.
Rhymer.com
Free online rhyming dictionary

Thesaurus, Thesauri, Thesauruses

Thesaurus.com
Browse within a certain headword or a certain category and search for synonyms and antonyms.
Merriam-Webster Online
Includes a dictionary and thesaurus. Includes an audio glossary.

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia.com
Includes more than 50,000 articles on a wide variety of topics.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Allows you to search the Encyclopaedia in addition to news, magazines, and the Internet's best sites.
Symbols.com
A unique online encyclopedia that contains everything about symbols, signs, flags and glyphs arranged by categories such as culture, country, religion, and more.

DOE
U.S. Department of Energy
DOT
U.S. Department of Transportation
FBI Uniform Crime Reports
Provides statistics on crime in the United States.
FedStats
Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology: Government statistics information
USA.gov
A great first place to look for government information.
GPO Federal Digital System
Free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
IRS
Tax forms, records, and information
NCJRS: National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Provides information, publications, and statistics on criminal justice agencies and issues.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
US census data and information. Includes Statistical Abstracts of the United States.

Conversion of Units
This tool will automatically convert units of temperature, length, weight, volume, and power.
Currency Converter
Current currency conversion plus historical exchange rates.
Nova Roma
Convert a standard number to a Roman numeral, and convert a Roman numeral to a standard number.

Bing Translator
Translate blocks of text and websites from French, German, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Korean, and other languages to English.
Google Translate
Translate text between over 60 languages. Google Translate includes the option to detect the language based on the text provided.

Superpages
Directory information includes maps, daily deals, and shopping search.
WhitePages.com
Find people, contact info, and businesses
ZIP Code Look-Up
Look up zip codes from the United States Postal Service

Official Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
The place from which all time zones are measured.
Time.gov
Official U.S. time
Time and Date.com
Provides monthly and yearly calendars along with the correct time for cities worldwide.

Infoplease Almanac
Includes information from several almanacs, an encyclopedia, a dictionary, and an atlas.
The Old Farmer's Almanac
Almanac published since 1792: Historic events and birth dates, conversion and translation resources

News

Newspapers