eReference collection
A selected collection of ready reference resources on the Internet.
- Almanacs
- Atlases
- Biographies
- Dictionaries and thesauri
- Encyclopaedias
- Find Books Online
- Government Directories
- History
- Legislation
- Quotations
- Time & Currency
- Translation tools
Almanacs
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- CIA
World Fact Book
Comprehensive information on the geography, people, government, economy, communications, defence and global issues for all countries, including area reference maps.
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Atlases
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- Infoplease
Atlas
www.infoplease.com/atlas/ - Google Maps
maps.google.com.au - Whereis
www.whereis.com
Biographies
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- Biographical
dictionary
Information on more than 28,000 notable men and women. Search by name, birth years, death years, positions held, profession, literary and artistic works, achievements and other key words.
www.s9.com - Biography
Compiled by InfoPlease.com
www.infoplease.com/people.html - Australian Biography
www.australianbiography.gov.au - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
adbonline.anu.edu.au
Dictionaries and thesauri
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- Dictionary.com
www.dictionary.com - Thesaurus.com
thesaurus.com/ - Acronym
Finder
70,000 acronyms/abbreviations and their meanings.
www.acronymfinder.com - Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
www.bartleby.com/81/ - Hutchinson
Dictionary of Difficult Words
Over 13,900 difficult words.
www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/difficultwords/ - Rogets'
Thesaurus (3rd ed)
www.bartleby.com/110/ - Translating
dictionaries
Offers on-line translating dictionaries for many languages.
dictionaries.travlang.com - yourDictionary.com
A comprehensive range of dictionaries and thesauri online.
www.yourdictionary.com
Encyclopaedias
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- Britannica
Online
Allows users to search and read the full text of Encyclopaedia Britannica. A search will produce results from the Encyclopaedia, as well as Britannica's directory of web sites and selected articles from magazines like Newsweek.
www.britannica.com - Encyberpedia
An annotated listing of subject-oriented encyclopaedias available on the Web. Good coverage but often with US focus.
www.encyberpedia.com/cyberlinks/links/index.html - Wikipedia
One of the most popular freely-accessible encyclopaedias on the web.
www.wikipedia.org
Find Books Online
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- WorldCat
WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. Search libraries worldwide for books, music CDs, videos, audiobooks, etc.
worldcat.org - Trove
Provides access to the collections of the National Library of Australia and other Australian institutions. Search for books, journals, archives, maps, Australian newspapers, and much more.
trove.nla.gov.au - Copac
Copac is a freely available library catalogue, giving access to the merged online catalogues of many major UK and Irish academic and National libraries, as well as increasing numbers of specialist libraries.
www.copac.ac.uk - Amazon
One of the most popular booksellers online.
www.amazon.com - Google Books
Search for words and phrases in books then view previews, full text, snippets and find out where to obtain a copy of the book. Not all books may be reviewed or viewed in full text due to copyright permissions.
books.google.com.au - BibliOZ.com:
Your booksearch wizard
www.biblioz.com
Government Directories
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- Australian
directories
Links to organisations (mostly universities and government) that have an electronic directory service. Useful for finding addresses and emails.
www.mrp.net/phone.html - Australian
Government Directory
www.agd.com.au - Queensland
Government Executive Directory
Provides a guide to Queensland Government at an executive level, including contact details for key personnel.
www.qgd.qld.gov.au - Education
Resource Organizations Directory
Produced by the US Dept of Education to identify and link to US organisations that provide information and assistance on a broad range of education-related topics.
wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/Programs/EROD/
History
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- History
of Education - Selected Moments of the 20th Century
Created and maintained by Daniel Schugurensky of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, this site offers a nice collection of short pieces and/ or links to more information on a number of notable events in education during the 20th century (focusing on the US). The site is organized by decade, and most of the noted events link to a short description with links to the sources used and related resources. A modest but interesting site for anyone in the history of education. [MD]
www.oise.utoronto.ca/research/edu20/moments
Legislation
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- AustLII
(Database of the Australasian Legal Information Institute)
Includes cases, legislation and news referring to Commonwealth and Australian state law. Links to sites for New Zealand, South Pacific, UK and Ireland (BAILII), and World law.
www.austlii.edu.au - Education
Standards Act 2001 (New Zealand Ministry of Education)
legislation.knowledge-basket.co.nz/gpacts/public/text/2001/an/088.html - Queensland
Bills Online
Compiled by the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel.
www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bills.htm - Queensland
Legislation Online
Compiled by the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel.
www.legislation.qld.gov.au/OQPChome.htm - Queensland Hansard
Provides transcripts of Parliamentary debates, ministerial conferences and evidence given before parliamentary committees and commissions of inquiry.
www.parliament.qld.gov.au/hansard/index.htm - Queensland
Government Gazettes
Gazettes are published and released every friday (except Good Friday and the friday closest to Christmas) in hardcopy only. On the Tuesday after this release data the electronic file is available for free download. Most recent four weeks available electronically.
www.bookshop.qld.gov.au/home.aspx - SCALEplus
The legal information databases of the Australian Attorney General's Department including Commonwealth, state and territory legislation and case law plus historical data. Material in SCALEplus is being moved to ComLaw with an expected completion date of June 2010.
scaleplus.law.gov.au - ComLaw
www.comlaw.gov.au
Quotations
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- Bartlett's
familiar quotations
www.bartleby.com/100/
Time & Currency
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- Currency
converter
A multi-lingual Foreign Exchange Calculator which provides exchange rates for over 164 currencies.
www.oanda.com/converter/classic - World
Time Server
Provides accurate current local times throughout the world. Makes real time adjustments for Daylight Savings Time. A great resource for determining any time anywhere.
www.worldtimeserver.com
Translation tools
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- Babel
Fish
au.babelfish.yahoo.com - Foreignword.com
www.foreignword.com