Ready Reference - A selection of Web resources


	This selection of ready reference Web Sites, picked by the staff of Lakewood Public Library, is far from a complete list of sites for the various subject areas. However, we have tried to select sites which we have found to be useful, accurate and authoritative. Ready Reference uses a subject index based on Dewey Decimal Classification, a numerical classification scheme for breaking down fields of knowledge. We have kept our listing fairly broad by using the primary subdivisions.

000 General Works UFOs, Computers, Encyclopedias/Facts, Directories 100 Philosophy & Psychology Occult, Astrology 200 Religion Mythology 300 Social sciences Economics, Law, Government, True Crime, Education, Costume, Etiquette, Folklore 400 Language Grammar, English & Foreign Language Dictionaries 500 Natural sciences & Mathematics Physics, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Botany, Zoology 600 Technology & Applied Sciences Medicine, Diet & Fitness, Automobiles, Gardening, Cooking, Pets, Business, Home Improvement 700 Arts & Recreation Architecture, Landscaping, Art, Antiques & Collectibles, Crafts, Photography, Music, Entertainment, Sports 800 Literature Writing Guides 900 Geography & History Biography, Genealogy, Baby Names, Travel © Lakewood Public Library. All rights reserved. The Dewey Decimal Classification is © 1996-2001 OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Incorporated. DDC, Dewey Decimal Classification, and Dewey are registered trademarks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Used with Permission. Lakewood Public Library Lakewood, Ohio, USA		TSNN Trade Show News Network Do you need information on an Agricultural Machinery show in Argentina, or an Aerospace and Aviation Technology show in Anaheim? If so, this is the site for you. Find information on a vast number of trade shows from all over the world. For show details, free registration is necessary. NASA This site has the style and content one would expect from the people who brought you the space program. It includes breaking news, information about the organization, planetary exploration, life on Mars, space photography and links to NASA centers around the U.S. BioTech Life Science Dictionary The dictionary contains 8300+ terms mainly from biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, cell biology and genetics, but also from ecology, limnology, pharmacology, toxicology and medicine. ATSDR - ToxFAQs™: Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets Summaries about hazardous substances developed by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Division of Toxicology. The information provided is cogent and useful. Substances are given a physical description and many of the questions asked relate to personal health and the environment. New England Journal of Medicine The official site of the famous medical journal. No full text articles unfortunately, but it does supply detailed abstracts of most articles. You can search by title, topic or author from 1990 to the present. AMA Atlas of the Body A collection of medical and anatomy illustrations from the American Medical Association. AMA Physician Select This site is compiled and published by the American Medical Association. It is a searchable database containing information on over 650,000 doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine. Contact information is provided as well as gender, medical schooling and year of graduation, residency training, primary medical specialty and secondary practice specialty. You will also find the type of practice the physician concerned operates from, whether he/she has the American Medical Association Recognition Award and whether he/she is board certified. The Merck Manual of Medical Information - Second Home Edition The authoritative medical reference geared down for the lay reader. There is a comprehensive contents page and term searching. FamilyDoctor.org - Health Information for the Whole Family Great information in non-technical language. Handy search-by-symptom troubleshooter and body mass index calculator. From the American Academy of Family Physicians. MedlinePlus Start here. This is the consumer-oriented source of information on medicine, health, drugs, and wellness launched by the National Library of Medicine. Where Medline is search-only and bibliographic, MedlinePlus is search or browse and full-text. MedlinePlus contains publications from government agencies and other medical authorities, the Health Illustrated Encyclopedia (adam.com) and the drug manual Advice for the Patient (U.S. Pharmacopeia). It also provides a slick segue to Medline for further research using predefined searches. For advanced research (11 million article references published in more than 4300 journals), use PubMed, the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE search engine. Or, scope out your topic using the NLM Gateway. Healthfinder This is another U.S. government site which provides access to health information from U.S. government agencies and other organizations which partner with government agencies to provide information to the public. Overall, it lacks the depth of MedlinePlus but its strength is its links to support and research organizations. Medical Reference For Non-Medical Librarians We don't usually include lists of links or books in this collection, but this Web/bibliography is too cool to leave out in the cold. Health Science librarians present annotated links to consumer health information—reference books and Web sites for general health topics, diseases, and drugs. There is a section on evaluating medical Web sites that includes "safe starting points." Accredited Medical Schools of the U.S. and Canada - Association of American Medical Colleges Find here an alphabetical listing, by state or province, of accredited medical schools in the U.S. and Canada. It provides links to the Web sites of the various medical schools and is, thus, most useful as a general guide rather than as an objective assessment area. Addresses are provided for those who require application materials for any of the schools mentioned. The site also provides general information on admissions, the MCAT, and comparing schools. Quackwatch So you strayed from our quality, authoritative medical sites and were lured into a Web site with promises of health, beauty and miracle remedies. Try to validate your data at this important debunking service. Drug Information Portal Acts as a gateway to information on more than 12,000 drugs. From the National Library of Medicine. Search by trade or generic name. Includes drugs in clinical trials. Spell checker helps out! Drug Information by RxList Database of about 5,000 product names, searchable by brand name and generic name. The overview of each drug includes description, actions/clinical pharmacology, indications and usage, contraindications, warnings, precautions, drug interactions, adverse reactions, over dosage, dosage and administration. Includes the ability to search Taber's Medical Encyclopedia. Healthtouch® Drug Information More than 7000 prescription and over the counter drugs in a searchable database. The information provided includes the generic name of the drug in question, common uses, usage, cautions, side effects, advice before taking the medication, what to do in case of overdose, and additional information. A separate section for Natural Medicine (Vitamins and supplements) Dr. Koop - Drug Interactions Guide A dandy site for checking possible drug interactions. Look up two or more prescription or non-prescription drugs and find out if there are documented interactions between them or with foods or supplements. There's also a nifty Pill Identification Wizard. drkoop.com is not affiliated with the former Surgeon General. Linus Pauling Institute's Micronutrient Information Center "...up-to-date, scientifically accurate information regarding the roles of specific vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals...and other nutrients" A Modern Herbal This charming site is a hypertext version of the book A Modern Herbal which was written in 1931 by Mrs. M. Grieve. It discusses nearly 800 varieties of medicinal, culinary and cosmetic herbs in detail. A common name index can be accessed, or one can do a word search for a particular herb. There are also indexes of recipes and poisons. Read the Editor's intro link for an interesting introduction to this fascinating site. Another site that covers 500 herbs for medicinal use is An Illustrated Herbal, based largely on Nicholas Culpeper's Herbal. Hint: the main arrangement is alphabetical; to search by by keyword use the triangle-with-eye icon at the bottom. Lab Tests Online Contains a library of clinical lab tests (analytes) with "background for understanding why a test might be given and how to interpret its results." Explains the kind of sample, or specimen, required to perform the test. Menus of tests, conditions and general screening categories. From a "collaboration of professional societies representing the lab community." Mental Health and Psychology Resources This annotated and rated portal for online resources began in 1992. Part of Dr. John Grohol's Psych Central, where you will also find news, support forums, information on meds and quizzes - some serious screening tests, some just fun. PsychNet-UK Mental Disorders Information Sheets Information contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the manual of specific diagnostic criteria that professionals use to make a diagnosis of mental illness. Internet Mental Health This is a another significant resource in the field of mental health. It includes diagnosis and treatment of many mental disorders, descriptions of psychiatric medications and numerous links to other Internet sites of interest. The Phobia List Plain and simple. A listing of over 500 phobia names and what they mean. There is also a reverse listing by subject. How about "counterphobia" - the preference by a phobic for fearful situations. Kelley Blue Book One of the oldest names in the world of automotive pricing. Here, one can find pricing information for new cars, used car retail and trade-in values, as well as motorcycles, trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles over the course of the past twenty years. The new car section has excellent photographs as well as lots of pertinent information for the potential buyer. There are also links to the history of the Blue Book and to other good automotive sites. Highly recommended. NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) Online Appraisal Guides Pricing for new, used and classic cars, marine, aircraft, motorcycles, power sports vehicles, recreational vehicles and manufactured homes. Edmund's Automobile Buying Guide A wealth of information for the new and used car or truck buyer - prices, reviews, recall information and much more. The Gold Book Collector car values from Manheim Auctions. Covers various models from 1886-1997. Car And Driver Buyers Guide Another useful buying guide for new and used vehicles. Less detailed than Edmund's but it will give you standard information on foreign and domestic vehicles. It includes pick-ups and minivans. Food and Nutrition Information Center Well, before you fully utilize the recipe links below you may want to get your culinary guilt trip out of the way! You can find all the dietary guideline information here. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Enter a keyword and see your favorite food items broken down into their various minerals, vitamins, amino acids and so on. If you need to know what a particular food is composed of, this should be your first stop on the Web. Another great USDA site is Nutrition.gov with its My Pyramid Tracker. Sign up, then enter your daily food intake and get an assessment. Assess your physical activity too! NutritionData Based on the USDA database with supplementary data. An easy-to-use searchable database provides nutritional analyses in the food label format you're used to seeing on products. Gives a summary of what's good/bad about a particular food. Handy listing of all your favorite fast foods and an interesting tally of the most looked-up foods. Trans fat amount is lacking in most entries. Recipe Archive A great place to stop if you get hungry on your Internet travels! Access hundreds of interesting recipes from appetizers and desserts to pasta and shellfish. This collection of recipes is an archive of the rec.food.recipes newsgroup (and a few others). Allrecipes.com This is a recipe exchange. Its 23 cooking categories plus special diet sections are searchable and extensive -- more than 2,000 cookie recipes alone. Nutrition information is provided and users rate recipes. MyRecipeBox free membership allows you to store your own collection on the site. Interesting features are the Top Ten list, various print format options, serving scaling calculator, shopping list creator. Epicurious.com With a searchable database of 13,000 recipes, online editions of BonAppetit and Gourmet magazines, cocktail recipes, wine guide, food dictionary, dining etiquette -- there are almost too many features of this excellent site to list. Check it our for yourself. RecipeSource: Your Source for Recipes on the Internet Formerly SOAR Searchable On-line Archive of Recipes. This might be the ultimate recipe archive on the Web. There are more than 70,000 individual recipes ranging from main dishes and ethnic foods to baked goods and desserts. This is a fabulous, mouth watering collection searchable by keyword or topic. Cook's Thesaurus Can I use yogurt instead of sour cream? What can I do if I don't have allspice? Use this encyclopedia of ingredients. The concise list of food substitutions at North Dakota State Univ. Extension Service also points to more. Bartending Drink Recipes From the venerable American Bartenders School. 300 of the most requested recipes for drinks and cocktails, alphabetically arranged. From the old-timers (Collins, Manhattans, Alexanders) to the wide array of modern cocktails with funny names and funny mixtures (Vulcan Mind Probe, Screaming Orgasm). Another source for the mostly traditional drinks comes from the Esquire: Drinking Database. Plants Database A USDA compilation of standardized information about plants of the U.S. and territories. Includes distributional data (to county level!), characteristics, images, crop information, plus Web llinks and references. The FAQ and Help features are recommended. Has special sections of plant facts/guides, invasives, endangered, culturally significant. PlantFacts This service from OSU includes more than 20,000 pages of Extension fact sheets from 46 universities and government institutions across the US and Canada. You can also search the Plant Dictionary of nearly 4,000 plants and 1100 pests/diseases to retrieve an image and horticultural description. Flowerweb A large database of flowers and garden plants. Searchable in several languages. Floridata This "photographic encyclopedia of landscape plants" is browsable and searchable by scientific or common name. A Florida site -- take care with climate information. Merck Verterinary Manual Authoritative medical reference, the 1998 8th edition. Divided into a couple dozen topic categories. Illustrated and searchable. Better Homes and Gardens Home Improvement Encyclopedia This site has the kind of quality one would expect from Better Homes and Gardens for inside, outside, home systems and do-it-yourself basics. Includes a glossary, tool dictionary, and calculators for materials and energy. Handyman USA Helpful site with a wide range of household repairs and projects. Searchable. How To Clean Anything Well, maybe not anything, but 1,000 tips ranging from stain removal to home remedies from cleaning professionals. This to That (Glue Advice) Very simply: what glue to use to attach one thing to another. Bed & Breakfast Finder Locate bed & breakfasts in the U.S. and worldwide from more than 20,000 listings. If you need to search further, try Pamela Lanier's Bed and Breakfast Guide, with 45,000 properties listed. eHow.com This incredibly useful gem provides simple and effective tutorials for many of life's little problems. If you want to learn how to iron a shirt correctly, how to burp a baby, or to pick an amusing, unpretentious little wine, this site will give you step-by-step directions. General categories include: automotive, careers, computers, home electronics, finance, food & entertaining, hobbies & games, home & garden, personal care, pets, sports & fitness, travel. A quirky and clever piece of work. Registration is necessary, but free. Also try: SoYouWanna and Weeno (where you can share your expertise). How Stuff Works Here is a really useful site. The 'stuff' referred to is articles on engines and motors, electronics, basic technologies, computers and the Internet, and much more. The articles are clearly and concisely written and copiously illustrated. This is a really excellent site. It is extremely attractive and is easy to navigate. Be sure to check it out. CareGuide CareGuide is a good starting place to research issues related to eldercare: from powers of attorney to behaviors in dementia to home care agencies. Searchable. Includes a useful glossary of terms. ThomasNet® For industrial buyers and suppliers. ThomasNet.com combines all the capabilities of the ThomasRegister - national and regional. Search manufacturing companies, products and services, CAD drawings, brands and more. Provides company information and catalogs. For the U.K. use Kelly's Directory. See also ProcessRegister.com (Process Industry Supplier Registry), a database of "suppliers of products and services used in the process, energy and greater manufacturing industries." U.S. Chamber of Commerce Provides a Directory Search function for locating Chambers of Commerce in the U.S. and American Chambers of Commerce Abroad. Chamberfind.com Search for U.S. or World Chambers of Commerce. This guide is from a team "comprised of Chamber professionals with vast experience working with Chambers in the United States and throughout the world."