Online reference tools

• General and multi-purpose reference tools
• English dictionaries and thesauri
• Foreign language dictionaries and translation services
• Encyclopaedias and subject dictionaries
• Telephone directories
• Travel information
• Maps
• Other reference works
• Online reference collections

General and multi-purpose reference tools

• Answers.com. Returns information from multiple reference works, or Google results if nothing is found.
• Bartleby.com Reference. Provides a number of standard reference works (e.g. Columbia Encyclopedia, Roget's Thesaurus and several dictionaries of quotations) which can be browsed, or searched either individually or together.
• iTools. Online search of a large number of reference resources individually but from a single page; also links to the resources.

English dictionaries and thesauri

• Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Searchable online versions of the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, and several other Cambridge dictionaries.
• Merriam-Webster Online - dictionary and thesaurus
• Wordsmyth Educational Dictionary-Thesaurus
• Dict Development Group
• Dictionary.com
• Dictionary of Phrase and Fable from the 1894 edition of the work by Brewer.
• Quoteland Search form for finding or identifying quotations, and various quotation-related resources.
• Library Spot: Quotations. Links to various quotation resources
• Internet Acronym Server From Cork.
• Rhymezone. Rhyming dictionary and thesaurus.

Foreign language dictionaries and translation services

Multilingual

• freedict.com dictionaries for 16 languages
• LOGOS Multilingual Tanslation Portal
• IATE Inter Active Terminology for Europe - multilingual dictionary of official and technical terms.
• Babel Fish Translation - will attempt to translate typed or pasted text, or web documents.
• XEROX Language identifier - does not give definitions but will attempt to identify the language of text you enter.
• ACRONYMA - multi-lingual acronym dictiona.ry

French

• French-English dictionary Ca. 75,000 words, from the ARTFL Project

German

• LEO Dictionary - German-English, English-German; over 180,000 entries.
• English-German, German-English dictionary from Chemnitz; about 115,000 entries.

Encyclopaedias and subject dictionaries

General

• OneLook Dictionaries. Search over 300 dictionaries in a range of fields.
• Encyclopedia.com from Electric Library. Over 17,000 articles from The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 3rd ed.

Astronomy and astrophysics

• Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics - comprehensive reference which includes a database of 2,500 specially commissioned, peer-reviewed and continually updated articles.

Biography

• Biography.com. Search 25,000 personalities.
• The Notable Citizens of Planet Earth Biographical dictionary - information on over 25,000 people from ancient times to the present.

Biology and biotechnology

• Biotech Life Science Dictionary

Computing

• The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing from Imperial College, London.
• Webopaedia. Hyperlinked dictionary of PC- and Internet-related terms.

Law

• Duhaime's Law Dictionary, from the World-Wide Legal Information Association.
• A to Z guide to legal phrases, from the Plain English Campaign

Medicine

• Merck Manual - Home Edition
• Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
• The On-Line Medical Dictionary

Mythology

• Encyclopaedia mythica; an encyclopaedia on mythology, folklore and mysticism.

Telephone directories

• Keele online internal telephone directory. A name search displays email address as well as phone number.
• BT Directory Enquiries UK telephone numbers: people, businesses and other organisations.
• Infobel. Access to white, yellow and business directories for more than 184 countries.
• EYP. The Electronic Yellow Pages. Search by location and either business type or company name.
• UK Telephone Code Locator

Travel information

• Stoke-on-Trent journey planner will give times of buses to and from Keele and throught the local area, also printable timetables.
• National Rail Enquiries Journey Planner - U.K. railway timetables in the form of an interactive journey planner.
• TheTrainLine. Find out times, availability and conditions, book tickets and reserve seats for any train operator in mainland UK.
• Transport Direct - government-funded site providing information for door-to-door travel for both public transport and car journeys around Britain
• traveline - a service providing impartial journey planning information about public transport services throughout England, Wales and Scotland
• GoByCoach.com. National Express coach information and booking service.
• Subway navigator. Allows you to find routes in subway systems in various cities around the world.
• UK Hotel & Guest House Directory
• Hotel Net. International hotel finder service.

Maps

• Maporama. Maps and itineraries worldwide, including UK street maps, with links to local information.
• Multimap. Street maps and travel directions for the UK and Europe, detailed maps of the world, aerial photos of London other cities, and other information.
• The Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection European mirror site.

Other reference works

To find contact details for an individual or company please use the Searching the Internet page.

• Gazetteer of British Place Names
• Infonation - statistical data for UN member states
• CIA World Factbook
• WebElements - web periodic table from Sheffield University.
• Math2.org

Reference collections

• The Internet Public Library Ready Reference Collection from the University of Michigan.
• refdesk.com FastFacts section.
• yourDictionary.com Extensive collection of dictionaries for many languages, including obscure ones.
• lexicool.com Directory of bilingual and muiltilingual dictionaries, listed both by language and by subject.