Helpful Websites
Art
Artcyclopedia The Fine Art Search Engine. Find information on art and artists.
ArtLex Art Dictionary Contains definitions for over 3,600 art-related terms, as well as images, quotations and more.
Articles
Articles Base Free online article search. You can also upload articles to this site.
Directory of Open Access Journals Search the DOAJ for free articles from full text, vetted scholarly journals of all subjects.
Illinois Newspaper Project A project from the University of Illinois, to preserve newspapers through microfilm. Browse the catalog or explore holdings by county.
MagPortal Online article search from magazines.
Books
AALBC.com The African American Literature Book Club, with author information, book reviews, and more.
AudioFile The Magazine for people who love audiobooks!
Barnes and Noble Review Find current reviews from Barnes and Noble.
BiblioTravel - For books that take you away. Search for books set in specific locales!
BookBrowse.com More than 20,000 book reviews, reader reviews, critic’s reviews, book excerpts & more.
BookFinder Searching for an out of print book? Call us at the library first! If we can’t get it though, try Book Finder. This website provides information on finding rare and out of print books for purchase.
BookSpot.com Book reviews, book awards, poetry, literary criticism, authors & more.
Comic Book Resources Find daily Comic Book news, previews, reviews, and message boards for the comic book community.
Entertainment Weekly Books Get the latest news and reviews on books from Entertainment Weekly right here.
Fresh Fiction Books and Authors for today’s readers of Mystery, Thrillers, Romance, Suspense, Fantasy, and Science Fiction.
KDL What’s Next An amazingly useful database of series books, you can use this site to find out the order of books in a series or make a list of all the series written by any particular author.
The Online Books Page Find online books at this digital library compiled by the University of Pennsylvania.
The Reader’s Robot A Reader’s Advisory Service from Thompson Nicola Regional District Library System in Canada.
Reading Group Choices Another great site for book clubs.
ReadingGroupGuides.com An online community for reading groups.
Reading Rants! Out of the ordinary teen booklists!
Shmoop Online source of study guides for literature, poetry, essays and more.
Stop, You’re Killing Me! Find information about the latest Mysteries here.
Red Room Where the Writers are. Find out all about your favorite authors, or browse books by title or genre.
Business and Economy Information
Better Business Bureau Find business information and reviews at this site.
Business Plans Handbook Reference composed of real business plans for companies in North America.
Business Rankings from the Library of Congress Many helpful sources are available here to start with your business research.
Carnegie Library’s Business Plans and Profiles Index This website includes sample business plans and profiles for small business types. From the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Current Industrial Reports From the U.S. Census, this site includes current information about industrial activity.
Doing Business Browse this site for the largest free source of legal business information for the countries of the world.
Economic Census The Economic Census provides an overview of American business from the national to the local level.
EDGAR Filings and Forms If you have a company in the US, you’ll occasionally need to file these forms online.
Encyclopedia of American Industries Browse this site for an overview of the major American industries.
Global 500 Fortune Magazine’s annual listing of the largest 500 companies in the world, ranked by revenue.
Hoover’s Browse free company information from Hoover’s, including business reports and profiles.
Liber8 The Research Library of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, this site includes extensive international economic statistics, articles and more.
Market Research Browse this site for information on major industries in the United States, including consumer goods, technology, and service industries.
North American Industry Classification System Look up NAICS codes on this helpful government site.
SCORE Counselors to America’s small businesses. Get free in-person or online business mentoring from experienced professionals.
Small Business Administration Programs and services to help your small business succeed, including a small business planner, information about financial assistance, and more.
ThomasNet® Information on Machining, Metal Stamping, Gaskets, Fasteners and other industrial products and services.
United States Patent and Trademark Office Find patents and trademarks, or learn how to register your own at this government site.
Venture Capital and Private Equity from the Harvard Business School Starting place for research on the venture capital and private equity industry.
Yahoo! Finance Visit this site to check your stocks, create online portfolios, and read about the latest industry information.
Consumer Information
Consumer Action Website Use this site to help you solve common consumer problems.
Consumer Search Almost a free version of Consumer Reports (which the library also subscribes to online), this site provides reviews of many products for consumers.
Edmunds A great online source for finding information on used and new cars.
FoodSafety.gov Be aware of the latest food safety issues.
Fuel Economy Learn about fuel saving tips, find your MPG, and more at this site.
Household Products Database This government site provides health and safety information on common household products.
Illinois Attorney General Consumer Complaint Page
Kelley Blue Book for cars, online! Find pricing information and reviews for new and used cars.
MotorTrend
Motor Trend magazine is an industry-leading automotive publication, featuring trademark authoritative and unique editorial content. Find thousands of in-depth new and used car reviews, a continually updated car pricing guide, up-to-the-minute news and a prestigious automotive blog run by top Motor Trend editors and contributors. In addition, both new and archived content from Motor Trend’s print magazine is available online.
Recalls.gov Find out about the latest product recalls.
Current Events
FactCheck.org A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, FactCheck.org aims to check the facts in popular news stories.
NPR National Public Radio : find news & analysis, music and the arts at this website.
Reuters This website includes world, US, and financial news.
Salon.com Breaking news, opinion, politics, entertainment, sports and much more.
Slate Magazine News, Politics, Arts, Business, and Technology are just a few of the topics covered here.
eBooks
Baen Books – This science fiction and fantasy publisher offers titles that can be saved to a PC or sent directly to a Kindle.
Feedbooks.com – Books are available in ePub, PDF, and Kindle format.
Google E-Bookstore
The free section is filled with thousands of free, scanned copies of books, available in Kindle-friendly PDF formats.
Hathi Trust Digital Library – Titles by subject matter for online use viewing.
Internet Archive
Millions of primarily rare, out-of-print works in multiple languages and formats (including Kindle), especially useful for academic work.
Manybooks.net – More than 29,000 eBooks available for Kindle, Nook, iPad and most other eReaders.
Online Books Library – Index includes more than a million works in various formats.
Open Library
20 million user-contributed items in multiple editions and formats (including Kindle).
Project Gutenberg
33,000 free e-books, including all of the classics, available in Kindle, HTML and simple text formats
Smashwords Contains a large library of self-published titles in all fiction and non-fiction categories – offers some free eBook titles.
Education
Academic Earth View free video lectures from the world’s top scholars. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley, MIT, and Princeton are all contributors.
Education Portal Free online college courses and more.
ERIC ERIC is a government database indexing information in the fields of education. Find articles, search subject headings, and more.
Peterson’s Search for Colleges and Universities, Graduate Schools, Online Degrees, and Private Schools at this popular website for education seekers.
Food and Cooking
Food on the Table A meal planning website with recipes, it also links you up to local grocery stores so that you can plan your meals around what is on sale.
Supercook Search for recipes containing ingredients that you already have at home!
For Jobseekers
Career Onestop Explore careers, do a job search, or brush up on resume and interview strategies.
Free Resume Builder Use this site to build a resume that works for you.
Illinois Worknet Center Find jobs, connect to support services, research industries and more on this site.
Indeed One simple job search shows many open positions within a particular area. You can also create a profile or track salaries of specific careers.
LinkUp Job Search Engine Search job openings taken directly from company websites.
Simply Hired According to them, “The biggest, smartest job search engine on the web.”
USAjobs.gov USA government jobs.
Work 4 Illinois Illinois government jobs.
Genealogy
Ellis Island Search the Ellis Island Foundation website for Ellis Island and Port of New York records.
FamilySearch.org Free family history and genealogy records, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Relatively Curious about Genealogy A great blog for researchers of family history.
Social Security Death Index Interactive Search A free search from RootsWeb, this is a good place for genealogists to start.
General Reference
Abbreviations and acronyms dictionary Find definitions for over 4 million abbreviations and acronyms.
ALA Best Free Reference Websites A link to the best free sites for reference of all kinds, from the American Library Association.
AnyWho Search white and yellow pages, or do a reverse telephone lookup at this site.
Bartleby Use this site for online reference versions of dictionaries, thesauri, and more.
The CIA World Factbook The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. View maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.
Computing Dictionary Use this free online computing dictionary to look up computer-related terms.
Dictionary.com Need to look up a word? Dictionary.com is a free online dictionary that uses definitions from reputable reference sources. There’s a thesaurus here, too!
Fact Monster An online reference source, Fact Monster includes an online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help.
Foundation Center The website for the Foundation Center. Find funders, foundation information, including information from the 990 tax forms, access reports on giving and more, here.
Guinness World Records Browse the online version of the Guiness Book of World Records.
HowStuffWorks Learn how everything works at this fun, encyclopedia-like website.
Internet Public Library The Internet Public Library is an index to the Internet, with sites that are recommended by librarians. Browse websites by subject or check out the reference section.
Librarians’ Internet Index Similar to the Internet Public Library, the Librarians’ Internet Index is a pathfinder of websites across the Internet, selected by librarians and organized by subject.
Metacritic Find reviews for Movies, TV, Video games, Music, and more at this review site.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac Browse the Old Farmer’s Almanac online.
Print What You Like Save paper by printing only what you want from any website.
The Quotations Page Your Source for famous quotes.
Recycling Centers Find a local recycling center for electronics, cars and other items.
RhymeZone Writing a poem that rhymes? Use this online rhyming dictionary to help find suggestions for hard-to-rhyme words.
timeanddate.com A very simple, very helpful site- this contains information on holidays, daylight savings time changes, and all timezones across the world.
Top 5 Citation Applications Instructify’s list of the top 5 citation applications for students, along with the links to the sites for these useful tools.
USPS – ZIP Code Lookup Looking for a zip code? Find it here at this easy to use site, provided by the United States Postal Service.
Voice of the Shuttle a great resource for those doing research in the humanities, Voice of the Shuttle was created by the University of California at Santa Barbara.
WolframAlpha Experience a new way to search with WolframAlpha, the “world’s first knowledge engine”. Searching the web on WolframAlpha is quite different than what you might be used to with Google. Give it a try and see what you think!
WordReference.com A helpful language translator.
Zabasearch Free online people search.
Geography
50states.com Find quick reference information on all of the United States.
Atlapedia Online Atlapedia contains full color maps and factual information on the many countries of the world.
Background Notes Background Notes is a great reference source for information on countries of the world, including geography, governments, politics, and demographic information.
Earth Resource System Provides basic information about the United States and U.S. cities.
Earth Trends Environmental Information This site includes the latest news and information about our environment. Includes many different types of maps, country profiles, and more.
Geography and Map Reading Room (Library of Congress) Visit this site to learn more about geography and view digitized versions of rare maps.
National Geographic Visit the website of the popular periodical and see maps, read about world culture, science, and more.
NationMaster View world statistics, country comparisons, flags, maps, and more.
USGS – U.S. Geological Survey A multi-disciplinary science organization that focuses on biology, geography, and geology.
Health
AMA Doctor Finder Find a doctor at this site from the American Medical Association.
American Hospital Directory Find ratings of hospitals across the U.S.
CDC Travelers Health Learn the most recent health news for travelers.
healthfinder.gov Your guide to reliable health information, free from the US government.
Illinois Health and Wellness Learn about Illinois assistance for health and wellness.
Illinois Physician Profile Search Look up contact information for Illinois doctors from this database.
MayoClinic Medical information and tools for healthy living from the Mayo Clinic.
MedlinePlus Free Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Merck & Co., Inc. Browse the online versions of the Merck Manual and other similar manuals, published by the Merck pharmaceutical products company.
PubMed More free health information, in a different format, from the National Library of Medicine.
RxList The Internet Drug Index for prescription drugs and medications. Search for medications.
History and Biography
American Presidency Project Find presidential speeches, proclamations, conferences, and more at this extensive site about our Presidents.
American Presidents Browse this website for background information about the Presidents of the United States.
American Rhetoric: Online Speech Bank This website contains full length speeches for many historical events. Many are available in both text and audio formats.
Biography.com Biography, Videos and Interviews of people worldwide. Find pictures or search by name.
Chronicling America View historic American newspapers through this Library of Congress site.
dMarie Time Capsule Visit this site for a rundown of what happened in history on a particular date.
Encyclopedia of Chicago The online version of the amazing local history text.
Hanover Historical Texts Project A project of Hanover College in Indiana, the Hanover Historical Texts Project includes links to many primary sources.
Mail Order Homes Website This site provides a look at the homes that are thought to be mail order homes along the Old Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Browse or search through the listings of homes based on city, the company that made the house, or by the model name and number.
Major Directories of History Web Sites From the University of Washington, this site lists helpful history-focused sources, including information on where to find primary source material.
This Day in History Find out today’s history. From the History Channel.
Images and Photographs
American Memory from the Library of Congress This extensive history site includes collections of images, videos, music and other primary sources from the Library of Congress.
Chicago Public Library Digital Collections View images from the Chicago Public Library’s web archive.
ImageChef Customize Photos, Clip Art and more at this fun site.
NYPL Digital Gallery New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
Public Domain Pictures Browse this site for free, public domain pictures.
Legal and Governmental Information
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance This website is designed to track the federal dollars obligated to domestic assistance programs.
Census Bureau Home Page Check out the Census for information on US demographics, industries, and more.
Cook County Clerk’s Office Learn how to get a marriage, birth or death certificate, redeem your property taxes, and more at this useful local website.
FindLaw Find a Lawyer, or browse free legal information here.
Government Contacts A simple page with directions on contacting government departments and officials.
GPO Access Information on obtaining government documents.
Illinois Legal Aid
is a non-for profit organization (funded by the state and federal grants) to help low income residents, senior citizens, and disabled persons in Illinois solve their legal problems. This organization’s website contains articles and guides written by lawyers to help this segment of the population get information about their legal problems and the necessary steps and forms to fill out.
Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School Legal information organized by topic from Cornell Law School.
THOMAS Find Legislative information on the Internet, from the Library of Congress.
Write Your Representative Contact your Congressperson in the U.S.
Local Resources
West Suburban Access News Provides information and education which will be of assistance to persons with disabilities in suburban Cook County.
Movies
allmovie This website is like allmusic, but for movies. Browse movies by genre, or search by a specific title.
Common Sense Media A website for parents and educators, with reviews and ratings for family movies and media. You can sort media by age group to find media that is appropriate for children.
The Internet Movie Database Search for actors, specific movies, TV actors, and more at this site for movie lovers.
Moviefone Find the latest showtimes, or view trailers or movie information at this site.
Rotten Tomatoes Browse new Movie Reviews and Previews.
Music
allmusic Looking for a particular song? Or do you need to know every album that was released by a particular artist? Allmusic has it all. Search by song, album, artist, or try the classical works search.
American Musicological Society Sites for Musicologists Check out this extensive pathfinder for great links related to Music and Music History.
Internet Broadway Database The official source for Broadway information.
Lyric Opera of Chicago The website of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Musicals101.com – The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musicals Learn all about popular musical theatre at this extensive website.
Operabase Another great opera website.
OperaGlass Stanford’s opera website provides full libretti, synopses, discographies and histories of many operas.
OperaStuff Learn all about opera at this website.
Pitchfork A Chicago-based music site, Pitchfork has grown to be a nationally recognized leader for independent music reviews. Each summer, Pitchfork hosts a growing music festival in Chicago.
Ricci Adams’ Musictheory.net Free online music theory training lessons.
Smithsonian Jazz All about Jazz from the Smithsonian Institution. Learn with online Jazz classes!
Pets
Pet Captain This site aggregates information from multiple online pet resources to create a one-stop spot to access to quality pet information.
PetPlace.com This site provides over 10,000 veterinarian approved articles on pet health.
Veterinary Partner A client education website provided by the Veterinary Information Network. Find information on behavior and health topics from vets.
Philosophy and Religion
BibleGateway.com A searchable online Bible in over 50 versions and 35 languages.
Blue Letter Bible Search the Bible in many different versions.
Encyclopedia Mythica Browse this online encyclopedia for mythology, folklore, and religion.
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy A peer-reviewed online resource, hosted by the University of Tennessee.
Philosophy Research Base Search for Philosophy-related topics here.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Search this encyclopedia for philosophy-related topics from the folks at Stanford.
Virtual Religion Index Search this site for information on the world’s religions.
Real Estate
PropertyShark Find real estate maps, Foreclosures, property reports and comparables on this helpful website for househunters.
Redfin Online Real Estate brokerage. Find homes and brokers at this site.
Science
EurekAlert! Find the latest science news at this free site.
The National Science Digital Library Find free online articles and resources for students of science.
U.S. Science This government site provides an extensive pathfinder to science websites, organized by topic.
Webelements- Online Periodic Table Perfect for science students. Browse information by element.
World Wide Science A global science gateway, enabling federated searches of international scientific databases.
Technology
CNET Check out this site for reviews of technology-related products.
CNET Downloads Browse this site for the latest in free downloads and software reviews.
Teens
VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates VOYA is for teachers, librarians, and any other professionals who work with young adults. Read about current issues or find out about the latest materials for teens.
YALSA: Young Adult Library Services Association Visit this website to find great Teen booklists or to read about the latest award-winning Young Adult authors.
Travel
Virtual Tourist Find travel guides, hotel reviews, photos, and deals on tickets at this site.
Voting, Representatives, Elections and Government
Directory of Cook County Elected Officials This site provides an easily searchable interface for finding your local Cook County Representatives.
Illinois.gov The home page for the Illinois government.
Project Vote Smart Find information about American government, elections, candidates and voting, along with your local representatives.
USA.gov The home page for the USA government.
Vote411
This helpful site from the League of Women Voters assists with finding your polling place, registration information, and learning what’s on your ballot.
Voterinfonet.com The website of the Cook County Election Department, this site includes information on registering to vote, upcoming elections and representative information.
