General reference tools:

Background information and definitions from
encyclopedias, dictionaries, and more

The reference tools listed on this page are general (not subject-specific). If you are looking for reference tools
geared toward a particular subject, please visit the resources by subject guide for that topic.

General encyclopedias

• Encyclopedia Americana
• Columbia Encyclopedia

English language dictionaries & thesauri

• Cambridge Dictionary of American English
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus
• Oxford English Dictionary
• Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms
• Roget's II: The New Thesaurus
• More Engl. language ref. tools from Oxford Ref. Premium

Translation dictionaries (between English and other languages)

• Cambridge French-English/ English French Dict.
• American Heritage Spanish-English/ English-Spanish Dict.
• More translation dictionaries from Oxford Ref. Premium

Atlases/ Maps

• World Map Search from Oxford Ref. Premium
• Grolier Atlas
• MSN Encarta Atlas
• Google Maps

Quotations/ Speeches

• Columbia World of Quotations
• Vital Speeches of the Day
• More quotation ref. tools from Oxford Ref. Premium

More general reference tools

• Oxford Reference Premium Collection
• Librarians' Internet Index: reference links
• Search for reference books in print format: library catalog