Online Reference Sites

There's never been a better reference source than the Internet, nor one more poorly organised. Finding what you want requires either that:

  • You know the exact web address for the site that has the information you require, or
  • You know the web address of a general reference website, such as a search engine, that might lead you to sites with the information you require and you know how to use the reference site effectively.

You'll get a lot more out of the Internet if you expand your knowledge of general websites and improve your proficiency in using them. In this section, I'll provide links to a few resources that might help you to achieve these twin goals.

Sites to Visit

  • This page of web searching tips provides links to a range of articles about the effective use of search engines. Additional information is available in this Basic Tutorial on Searching the Web.
  • So, which is the best search engine? Well, as any good economist will tell you, the answer is (always) ... it depends. Each search engine adopts a unique approach and, most importantly, indexes a different set of webpages. That said, many websurfers feel that Google is the best general purpose search engine. If you're after a product or service in Australia though, try Looksmart or Yahoo. For 'human-edited' directories of websites, try DMOZ or the recently created Zeal.
  • Often it's hard to create a search string that produces just the results you want. If you make the search string too specific you risk getting few results; make the search string too broad and you'll drown in a sea of superfluous sites. A search engine that clusters the results it produces, such as Vivisimo, can sometimes help - maybe one or two of the clusters it creates will contain exactly what you're after.
  • Billing itself "The Best Single Source for Facts on the Net", Refdesk provides links to thousands of other websites, all sensibly organised on a single, very long, web page. The Internet Public Library is another, good, general reference source, providing, for example links to over 20 thousand books.
  • Want the latest News. You could try the website of any of the major news providers (The ABC, CNN, or The BBC), or you could turn to sites which link to the headline and other news from a variety of sites. For example, take a look at Moreover, HeadlineScanner, Google News or HeadlineAddict. Alternatively, you can find links to thousands of newspapers at The Paperboy.
  • Information about the countries of the world can be found at The Economist website, the WorldAtlas website, and at this UN site where you can also compare a number of countries across several dimensions.
  • If you're looking for copies of scientific or journal articles, try Citeseer (read the intro page and then click on the Main Page link) or the Scirus search engine.
  • Finally, if you're interested in how the web is being used and by what sort of people, go to Nielsen Netratings.