PRINT REFERENCE SOURCES ONLINE

WORLD BOOK:

This site provides access not only to the on-line encyclopedia itself, but also features geographical information, student activities, and trivia questions. Unlike most encyclopedia-based sites (most notably Britannica), registration is free and use is unrestricted.
www.worldbook.com


WIKIPEDIA:

Probably the most wide-ranging of online encyclopedias, this was also one of the most controversial, for a time. Contributions of information by users were not screened as thoroughly as they might have been, and a fair percentage of inaccuracies got through the radar. Happily, Wickipedia seems to have “cleaned up its act,” as it were, and is earning more widespread acceptance.
www.wikipedia.com


GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS:

This perennial source, originally published by the Guinness Breweries to settle bar bets, has a somewhat busy but useful website, with a search engine for world records by category. Want to know who’s got the biggest ball of string in the world? It’s right here.
www.guinnessworldrecords.com


INFORMATION PLEASE:

Infoplease bills itself as “the world’s largest free reference website,” and it just well may be. In addition to information from the famous Information Please Almanac, it features an atlas, encyclopedia, dictionary, and thesaurus. If this gets any better, it could make reference departments obsolete (Gasp!).
www.infoplease.com

THE SPORTING NEWS ALMANAC:

Although the emphasis here is on baseball, football, hockey, and basketball, the Sporting News’s almanac site provides sources for records in all sports, and is updated daily
www.sportingnews.com/archives/almanac/