Reference

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A note on finding information on the Internet:
In a corollary to Murphy's Law, the more specific the information you need, the more difficult it is to find it. Try three different ways to find your information:

Use a search engine

Use an index

Use a site that specializes

#1: Search Engines

These index material on the WWW, allowing you to search it as if it were a database. Try more than one! Always experiment with the different ways to limit or broaden the search. For example, putting a phrase in quotes will make many of these search for it as a unit, rather than just for the individual words of which it is composed, and this often helps you get fewer off-target results. Be wary of paid-for results, often called "featured" or "sponsored" results.

Two of the best search engines:

Google A great approach--this search engines weights results by many factors, including how many sites link TO the indexed site. For many reasons, Google is today's most-used search engine.

Twitter: No, I'm not kidding. Use Twitter to find out about "trending" topics, as they are called, or anything in the news; use the search space at the top.

Specialized search engines These are just a few examples:

CitySearch Events and more for selected U.S. cities.

Fark An offbeat "news aggregator" site (like Google News but with a personality).

Health Information Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn about the workings of search engines at Search Engine Watch.

New sites are appearing constantly, so keep your eyes open and experiment.

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#2: WWW Indices

These range from the all-inclusive, with Yahoo being the best-known example, though too non-selective to be the best, to specialized indices that cover any subject you can imagine. Find those that focus on your area of interest and explore! You'll find some of my favorites around the site. Some of the more general indices:

bullet About.com
bullet IPL The Internet Public Library
bullet IPL Ready Reference Collection: Reference
bullet Repositories of Primary Sources For researchers--a list of all archives, etc., with WWW presences.

Virtual libraries from real librarians Anyone can put together a list of links. That's what a bookmark file is, after all. But it takes a librarian to select and organize it in a useful way. This sub-page contains links to some great library Web sites.

Resources for Children, Parents, and Teachers:

There are many. Here are a selected few.

bullet Global SchoolNet Foundation Home Page A resource center for educational projects using the Internet.
bullet Education World (tm) - Education Site Awards and Reviews
bullet Educational Hotlists From the Franklin Institute
bullet Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site Reviews and thematic and whole language suggestions--for teachers.
bullet Kids Web - A World Wide Web Digital Library for Schoolkids
bullet Great Websites for Kids Sponsored by the ALA.
bullet Kid's Domain Software

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# 3 More Focused Destinations

OneLook Dictionary

The CIA World Factbook
An almanac-like resource that lists just about every country in the world. Or try the Library of Congress / Country Studies, which is similar.

Snopes.com Check here before you pass on that scary-sounding email. It may be a hoax or a rumor.

Crank.net A great resource for unusual, crackpot, and just plain wrong ideas.

iLoveLanguages Information about many languages.

Psych Central: Dr. Grohol's Mental Health Page
Carefully selected mental health information resources.

The Center for World Indigenous Studies
Information about, by, and for the indigenous peoples of the world.

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Computer-related resources

bulletA WWW FAQ
Everything you might want to know about the WWW.
bullet whatis.com A handy dictionary of all things Internet.
bulletnet.wars by Wendy Grossman A complete WWW version of an NYU Press book. Recent Internet history--good reading!
bullet Stroud's Consummate Winsock Apps
Windows Internet shareware: html editors, browsers, etc. Or try TUCOWS: The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software
bullet Games Domain
Reviews, patches, FAQ files, shareware games, demos, etc., etc.,
bullet Webmaster Reference Library
For more advanced HTMLers.
bullet HTML Reference Guide
bullet Roger Black--Web Sites That Work Some opinionated advice.
bullet Electronic Frontier Foundation
The organization working to preserve freedom of speech on the Internet.

I hope you have found this page and this site useful. Please visit The Purple Crayon Bookstores page to find some recommended bookstores and to learn how to support this site while doing your usual online shopping. Thank you.

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