Reference Databases are good places to begin your research. The following
are available from IUP Libraries’ web page or freely available on the Internet.

General and Specialized Reference Databases

•  Britannica Online
  --Encyclopedia Britannica is the world's most comprehensive reference product, a distinction it has held since its first
  publication in 1768.Encyclopedia Britannica Online includes the complete encyclopedia, as well as Merriam-Webster's
  Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, Britannica Student Encyclopedia and the Britannica Book of the Year. You can also
  use Encyclopedia Britannica Online to search an Internet directory that includes more than 300,000 links to Web sites selected,
  rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors 

• Encyclopedia of Crime & Justice (Gale Virtual Reference Library Title)
  -- This uniquely interdisciplinary resource covers legal, sociological, psychological, historical, and economic aspects of crime
  and justice worldwide. Entries cover civil and criminal issues, from domestic violence to terrorism. Entries cite pertinent legal
  cases as well as publications for further information. Also includes a glossary of related terms.

• Encyclopedia of Small Business (Gale Virtual Reference Library Title)
  -- Designed to provide entrepreneurs with how-to information that they can apply to their own business. Contains 600 detailed
  articles and overviews of all the key information needs of small business owners, including financing, financial planning, business
  plan creation, market analysis, sales strategy, tax planning, and human resource issues

•  Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
  Provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries. Searchable by subject or keywords within the entry. Click here for more info.

•   Geo-Data: The World Geographical Encyclopedia -- Entries describe the physical geography of every nation and dependency
  on Earth. Physical features, climate, and vegetation are discussed in detail using a consistent set of rubrics. Every entry features a
  physical relief map designed to illuminate the text of the entry. A World Rankings appendix includes dozens of tables ranking major
  features of the Earth, such as largest river by length and volume, tallest mountains by continent, and deepest oceans. Includes a
  glossary of geographical and geological terms.

• Oxford Reference Online [ORO] ON-CAMPUS ONLY or VPN
  -- Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers i
  nto a single cross-searchable resource.  The Premium Collection contains over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference
  works published by Oxford University Press plus added functionality and more detailed information across a broad subject range from titles
  in the world-renowned Oxford Companions Series, to enhance the coverage already provided. It is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable
  database of these books, giving subscribers unprecedented access to a comprehensive information resource.

• PsychiatryOnline.com  ON-CAMPUS ONLY or VPN
  -- American Psychiatric Association's  database of books and journals that features DSM-IV-TR® and The American Journal of
   Psychiatry.  This database provides the cornerstones of an unsurpassed collection of psychiatric references, including books and
   journals. 

• ReferenceSuite @ FACTS.com  ON-CAMPUS ONLY or VPN
  --delivers five databases.  FACTS.com brings together complete content from the Facts On File World News Digest since 1940 and
  selected content from six other core reference databases to answer questions about events, issues, statistics and people of the last
  60+ years.  FACTS.com also delivers in-depth features on "Historic Events" drawn from the 60-year Facts On File archive.  Full content
  of four of these databases--Issues and Controversies On File, Today's Science On File, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, and
  The World Almanac Encyclopedia--is also available here.

• ReferenceUSA
  --ReferenceUSA is an Internet-based service from the Library Division of infoUSA. This database contains detailed information on
  more than 14 million US businesses and  over 210 million residences. 

•  Wikipedia, is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. The name Wikipedia wiki (a type of collaborative website)
  and encyclopedia. Wikipedia's articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information. Wikipedia is
  written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one
   of the largest reference Web sites. As of today, there are 2,184,358 articles in English; every day hundreds of thousands of
  visitors from around the world make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands of new articles to enhance the knowledge
   held by the Wikipedia encyclopedia.  Visitors do not need specialised qualifications to contribute, since their primary role is to write
  articles that cover existing knowledge; this means that people of all ages and cultural and social backgrounds can write Wikipedia
   articles.  Use with caution. Most articles have references. Check discussion section for comments on accuracy.

Biographical Topics 

• Biography Resource Center
  -- a comprehensive database of biographical information on nearly 220,000 people from throughout history, around the world,
  and across all disciplines and subject areas.

• Dictionary of National Biography
  --the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography allows you to explore the lives of 50,000 people who have shaped the British
  past over the last 2,400 years - from the Greek explorer Pytheas to Princess Diana, and from the founding fathers of America to
  the Nawabs of Bengal. 50,000 biographies, 60 million words, 10,000 portrait illustrations

Freely Available Reference Sites 

• Virtual Reference Shelf: Selected Web Resources Compiled by the Library of Congress
  
  This site gathers a collection of links to Internet sites organized into about thirty subject divisions, including public and university library
   links organized by state, city, and county. If you don't find an answer among the links, use the "Ask a librarian" e-mail service for help
  from a division, specialized reference service, or reading room in the Library of Congress.
  http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/virtualref.html

• KnowPlay    These links to searchable reference sources are housed in an simple interface designed "for casual users" of the
  Internet. Users can scroll horizontally through the menu at the top to subject categories such as maps, finance, music, local information
  (weather, movie listings, etc.), reference (dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, quotations, etc.), and recipes. The unadorned design is
   easy on the eyes, while the pared-down number of options makes for an unintimidating online encounter.
  http://www.kplay.cc/reference.html

• Refdesk.com An enormous, searchable collection of links. "Facts-at-a-Glance" has links to ready reference sites with everything from
   college rankings to a zip code finder. "Current News/Weather/Business/Sports" includes links to newspapers, magazines, and headline
  news. "Refdesk Subject Categories" is an alphabetical directory of links by subject. "Top Reference Tools" links to encyclopedias and
  other sources of facts. Fun and help and advice sections round off the site.

• Reference - Bartleby.com This site has a combined database of more than twenty respected reference works and several anthologies
  and individual works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. In addition to out-of-copyright editions of classic works such as Bartlett's, Bulfinch,
  and the Cambridge History of English and American Literature the collection also includes recent editions of the Columbia Encyclopedia,
  The World Factbook, Roget's II: the New Thesaurus, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, and much more.

• Government Reference Sources U.S. federal government sources, organized by broad subject. From Oviatt Library at California
  State University, Northridge (CSUN).

• Ready Reference Collection (IPL)
  
  Excellent, annotated collection of ready reference resources available via the Internet. Maintained by the Internet Public Library.