Online Facts: Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Almanacs

  • Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-Present. This directory can be searched by name, state or position, allowing the user to generate lists of holders of a particular political office from a particular state from 1774 to the present. Biographical entries vary in length, but can be quite detailed. Additional links are presented for bibliography and research collections related to each biographical subject.
  • Biography.com contains over 20,000 brief biographies, both historical and contemporary, from the Cambridge Encyclopedia Database, the Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography and other sources.
  • is a comprehensive index to nearly 12 million biographical sketches in more than 2700 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world.

--For biographical journal articles use this source in conjunction with: Biography Index Mugar Reference X Z 5301 F46

  • is the Encyclopedia Britannica via the World Wide Web
  •  This comprehensive work includes the first nine volumes of the print edition as well as the three indexes (proper names, subjects, and technical terms) and the glossary. The Encyclopaedia contains over 10 million words and thousands of articles on all aspects of Islam as well as figures, line drawings, genealogical tables, and maps. All images are searchable. The search engine allows for wildcard, Boolean, and proximity searching in both Arabic transcription and English.
    See Also:
    • The Encyclopaedia of Islam in 10 print volumes, Mugar Reference X DS 37 .E523

  • is an online version of the 34 volume print Dictionary of Art (1996). Comprising more than 45,000 signed articles on the visual arts, it is kept current with quarterly updates and additions. This site also incorporates links to over 130,000 images, searchable by artist, title, dates, location or by keyword.
  • is an encyclopedic treatment of all subfields of music; in-depth articles on forms, eras, people; includes works lists, links to listening; incorporates and updates earlier content of Grove's Jazz, Opera, and Musical Instruments Dictionaries. This edition: 2001, frequently updated.=
  • Infoplease This Web site brings together the Information Please Almanac, the Columbia Encyclopedia and a number of more specialized almanacs.

  • incorporates the completed elements of the Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition.
  • The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy on CD/ROM includes the complete text of the print edition: over 2,000 entries varying in length from 500 to 15,000 words. The CD/ROM offers additional search capabilities and allows access by entry and by keyword. Researchers can search by theme, philosophical tradition, region, philosopher, etc. Each entry begins with a short overview and concludes with references for further reading. Bibliographies are annotated. Cross references in the text are linked to other sections of the Encyclopedia. Available at Mugar workstation 17.

    See Also:
    • The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, in 10 print volumes, Mugar Reference X B 51 R6 1998

  • Symbols.Com is an encyclopedia containing "more than 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600 articles their histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly discussed. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti."
  • WWWebster Dictionary is an online version of the 10th edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

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