encyclopedias and online dictionaries

Encyclopedias and Online Dictionaries

Public Content Control: Wikipedia

Winter 2008 Learning in Retirement - The Evolution of the Web 2


Wikipedia

• Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization.

• Wikipedia's name is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia.

• Wikipedia's articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world and the vast majority of them can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet.

• Steadily rising in popularity since its inception, it currently ranks among the top ten most-visited websites worldwide.


• 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.

• There are more than 75,000 active contributors working on some 8,700,000 articles in more than 250 languages.

• As of today, there are 2,057,630 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.

• (See also: Wikipedia:Statistics).


• 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 background can write Wikipedia articles.

• With rare exceptions, articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit this page link.

• Anyone is welcome to add information, cross-references or citations, as long as they do so within Wikipedia's editing policies and to an appropriate standard.


• When "You" was awarded Time Person of the Year 2006, praising the accelerating success of on-line collaboration and interaction by millions of users around the world, Wikipedia was the first particular "Web 2.0" service mentioned, followed by YouTube and MySpace.

• In addition to being an encyclopedic reference, Wikipedia has also received major media attention as an online source of breaking news as it is constantly updated, having some 6.8 million registered users worldwide, although only a small part is consistently active.


Its Not All Rosy

Due to Wikipedia's open nature, critics have questioned its reliability and accuracy.The site has been criticized for its susceptibility to vandalism and the addition of false or unverified information, uneven quality, systemic bias and inconsistencies, and for favoring consensus over credentials in its editorial process.


• Wikipedia's content policies and sub-projects set up by contributors seek to address these concerns.

• Scholarly work suggests that vandalism is generally short-lived and that Wikipedia is generally as accurate as other encyclopedias.

• Most schools won't let their students use Wikipedia as an internet source.

Online Dictionaries and Thesauri

• A collection of dictionariesCovering over 15 languages

• AltaVista Babel Fish TranslationOnline translations of text or complete web pages.

• ArtLexA dictionary of visual art.

• Bibliomania - Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

(from 1894 edition) • Dictionary.com

Offers various online dictionary and language services.


• Grove Dictionary of Art Online

A subscription service (available to UK education via a CHEST agreement)

• lexicool.com, directory of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.

• Merriam-Webster OnlineAccess to Webster's American English dictionary and thesaurus

• OneLook DictionariesSearch or browse general and subject-specific glossaries and dictionaries

• The On-line Medical DictionaryProvided by CancerWEB


• Encarta DictionaryFrom Microsoft.

• English-French dictionaryFrom the ARTFL Project

• English-Spanish Library and Information Studies Dictionary

This is a compilation of the terminology, both general and specific, that students and professionals generally encounter when reading library and information literature. 89,215 entries.

• Glossary AgentAccess to glossaries in insurance, finance, law and healthcare


• Oxford English Dictionary Online

The online version of the OED . ( Access is via http://athens.oed.com/ for education sites that have taken up the CHEST OED agreement. )

• Roget's Thesaurus (version 1.02)From the ARTFL Project at the University of Chicago .

• Swedish-English DictionaryFrom Lexin (Swedish National Agency for Education).

• Thesaurus of Geographic NamesFrom the Getty Information Institute.

• Travlang's Translating DictionariesA service from the US company travlang .


• Wordsmyth Educational Dictionary-Thesaurus,An American English resource

• Xerox Lanuage Identifer • yourDictionary.com

(formerly Web of On-line Dictionaries) links to many dictionaries, thesauri and other language resources.

• Reference Works• Acronym Database

A source of general acronyms and abbreviations, based in Ireland. • Acronym Finder

For computer, technology, telecommunications and military acronyms. • Acronym Search

A source of general acronyms and abbreviations. • AllRefer.com

Educational resource provides a comprehensive collection of reference, encyclopedia, health, gazetteer, country studies, and educational databases. Includes more than 150,000 articles on topics covered under health, history, science, people, places, arts, sports, plants, animals, technology, philosophy, religion, literature, and more.

• an image of the globe to see which parts are in daylight and also discover local time


• AllRefer ReferenceBrowse articles in all areas of topics within Earth & Environment, History, Literature & Arts, Health & Medicine, People, Philosophy & Religion, Places, Plants & Animals, Science & Technology, Social Science, Law, Sports, Everyday Life, and more. Includes Country Studies and North America Gazetteer.

• Bartleby.com(Reference section) - online versions of reference works (including 1918 edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body)

• Bartlett's Familiar QuotationsSearch this database of quotations based on the original collection by John Bartlett

• Britannica.comIncludes Encyclopædia Britannica

• Calculation of the Ecclesiastical CalendarDates for Orthodox and Western Easter

• The Catholic EncyclopediaAn online version (not yet complete) of the 1913 printed edition

• Classic 164 Currency ConverterA service from OANDA.com

• De Imperatoribus RomanisAn online encyclopedia of the rulers of ancient Rome

• 1911 Encyclopedia BritannicaAccess to the articles from the 1911 edition


• Encyclopedia.comA first-stop internet encyclopedia

• Encyclopedia of Astronomy and AstrophysicsA subscription service from the Nature Publishing Group (available to UK education via a CHEST agreement) .

• Encyclopedia of Life Sciences - a subscription service from the Nature Publishing Group (available to UK education via a CHEST agreement)

• Encyclopedia MythicaAn encyclopedia on world-wide mythology, folklore and magic

• International Dialing CodesA table listing of telephone country codes and international prefixes

• Internet FAQ ArchivesA compilation of Usenet Frequently Asked Questions postings

• The Internet Grammar of EnglishAn online course in English grammar from University College London

• Measuring Units Conversion TablesFor conversion from/to metric and imperial and US measurement systems.

• The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy A widely used general medical text (April 1999 edition)


• Oxford Reference Online: the Core Collection Cross-searchable resource including dictionaries, thesauri, language reference works, subject dictionaries and general reference works, from Oxford University Press. (Available to UK education at subsidised rates.)

• Tododiccionarios.comA directory of reference works in English or Spanish

• The PC Technology GuideA guide to the technology underlying the personal computer's major components and peripherals

• Perpetual CalendarA perpetual (Gregorian) calendar for the Western World

• Place Name Servers on the InternetLinks to resources world-wide

• Portals to the WorldLinks to information about the countries of the world, from the Library of Congress

• Postcode FinderLets you find postcodes in the UK, from Royal Mail.

• The Quotations PageA US service with a search facility

• Refdesk.comA US service offering a single source for facts via the Internet


• Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyAn ongoing dynamic online resource from Stanford University

• UN Atlas of the OceansAn internet portal providing information relevant to the sustainable development of the oceans

• Universal Currency ConverterConvert currencies from one to another using a simple form

• V.E.R.A.The Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms lets you search for computer-related acronyms and other terms.

• xreferAn online reference engine incorporating encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and more.

• WebopediaA dictionary and reference site for computer and Internet technology information.

• whatis.comA reference site for a range of information about computing and the Internet

• timeanddate.comDisplays local time in key locations world-wide

• World Factbook(published by the CIA) The information for each country includes: total area, boundaries, climate, disputes, population, political system and economy.

• WORLDTIME - rotate


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