Online Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Atlases, Almanacs & More

Altapedia Online Atlas
This is an online atlas. Click on the world map for the region you are interested in. They provide small maps.

Britannica Online
The free version of Encyclopedia Britannica and the version you need to subscribe to are both located here. The free version has briefer articles.

Columbia Encyclopedia
This site has many resources. It has the Columbia Encyclopedia, Roget's Thesaurus, Bartlett's Quotations, American Heritage Dictionary, Gray's Anatomy, the Farmer's Cookbook, World Factbook and many others. Look for the search window at the top of the page, and click the arrow for the drop down menu to select your reference of choice. It is also possible to search all the reference materials at the same time. * NOTE: There is a window to type searches in for the site, and one for Amazon.com who would like to sell you things. Use the correct window.

Dictionary.com
This is a simple online dictionary. Enter your search term at the top right of the page.

Dictionary for the Chemistry Elements
Definitions for all of the chemistry elements.

Encyclopedia.com
Each article from the encyclopedia is enhanced with links to newspaper and magazine articles as well as pictures and maps - all provided by HighBeam Research.

Fact Monster.com
This site has a collection of information including an encyclopedia, dictionary, almanac, atlas and much more.

How Stuff Works
HowStuffWorks is the leading source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works. Founded by North Carolina State University Professor Marshall Brain in 1998, the site has since grown to be an award-winning online resource for millions of people of all ages.

Infoplease Almanac
This is an online almanac from Infoplease. It contains a variety of information arranged by section, or with an alphabetical index.

Infoplease World Atlas & Map Library
This is a very detailed online atlas. The more you click on the map, the more detail you will get.

Kids Konnect Encyclopedia & Reference
This site is described by the author: I've had four main goals while creating this site: First, to create a site that allowed children to safely and effectively utilize the Internet. Second, to make sure I covered the curriculm areas taught in school. Third, to make sure there were lots of fun sites for kids to visit. Finally, to keep the site free so that all children could use it.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus online. There is also a Spanish-English Dictionary.

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
This site includes not only an encyclopedia, but a dictionary and atlas as well.

National Geographic Map Machine
This is a detailed online atlas. You get road map information, satellite imagry (when available) and physical land characteristics.

Online 1911 Encyclopedia and the English Cambridge Encyclopedia
The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia is written by dozens of experts in various fields of study and is composed of over 48,000 quality entries and more than 90,000 'see also' references. Included are over 25,500 biographical entries. This publication originally formed the basic entries for the Cambridge Encyclopedia for Cambridge University Press and also for Penguin Books. The content of the encyclopedia in print has often been said to be one of the world's best single volume encyclopedias.

Science Dictionary
This site has a variety of links for exploring many topics in science.

Symbols.com
Online Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms. Symbols.com contains more than 1,600 articles about 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. You can start exploring this world of symbols by several means: * Use the Graphic Index to search for the meaning or history of a sign. * Use the Word Index to find a sign with a certain meaning. * Check out a random sign if you feel adventurous.

World Almanac for Kids
This is an online almanac. Use the Google search bar at the top right of the page to search the site.

World Atlas.com
This site has maps, country information and more.

Xpeditions National Geographic
This is an online atlas. Click on the world map for the region you are interested in. They provide basic maps without a great deal of detail.