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OuterNotes: General Reference Works and Word Resources
--Jennie S. Bev LibrarySpot.com: Broad, Deep and Slightly Offbeat http://www.LibrarySpot.com StartSpot Mediaworks of Illinois describes its Library Spot as "an informational portal designed to make finding topical information on the Internet an easy and enjoyable experience." Your facility and felicity may vary, but there's no doubting the easy navigation to links to, and useful staff-written analyses of, the usual (e.g., encyclopedias, almanacs, government information and style guides) and some slightly more arcane Web based resources dealing with dead celebrities, obituary databases, image libraries, zip code analyzers and expert databases. Articles like "How Did the Graveyard Shift Get its name?", "What Are Celebrities Reading?" and "Where Can I Browse Op-ed columns?" turn a increase a good reference site's already broad appeal. --Jody Yerges Refdesk.com: A Fine Portal To All Things Factual http://refdesk.com/ Billing itself as the "Best Source for Facts on the Net," Refdesk.com boasts a deep but well-organized and simple-to-use lists of Web resources. They've got alphabetized links to the best news, weather, and business sites, from Letterman's Top Ten List to London Times headlines to an interesting facts daily e-mail list. You'll find all your reference resources like almanacs, on-line dictionaries, and encyclopedias, as well as links to search engines, maps, columns, and a comprehensive list of subject categories. --Jody Yerges ProfNet Makes Finding Online Expertise a Breeze http://www.profnet.com Searching for expert opinions? This co-production of PR NewsWire and several veteran journalists and journalism scholars is a broad search option that delivers a queries to over 12,000 expert members worldwide. If you know what information to look for, you can try the narrow search of 4,200 experts (queries can be cloaked to prevent others tapping your ideas). Journalists with specific interests in healthcare, technology or business can subscribe to the weekly e-mail tipsheet. Although this service is free for journalists, experts/information officers need to pay a small annual fee, which is nothing compared with the worldwide publicity received. --Jennie S. Bev Wordsmyth Forges a Definitive Dictionary... http://www.wordsmyth.net/ Have you (or somebody famous you know), ever needed to know the exact definition of "is"? Having been stuck late at night for a synonym or antonym, I've found that Wordsmyth (run by educational resources provider The Wordsmyth Collaboratory) delivers on its promise of "linguistic assistance or English language illumination." The dictionary-thesaurus emphasizes comprehensive word usage information; hyperlinked synonyms and related words are provided along with pertinent examples. Simple and juiced-up advanced search modes area available, along with the monthly "Wordsmyth Watch" e-mail newsletter. --Micheal O'Brien ...And Wordsmith.org Serves and Scrambles Tasty Terms http://www.wordsmith.org/ If words are your livelihood or hobby, you need to take a visit to two areas of Wordsmith.org: A Word A Day (AWAD) and the Internet Anagram Server. AWAD is a free mailing list that e-mails a vocabulary word, its definition, an audio pronunciation clip, and other interesting tidbits. "Cataract" and "bovarism" are just two examples of recent subjects; there's also an entertaining archive. The Internet Anagram Server supplies you with anagrams to any word or phrase you enter into the form. "Microsoft = comfort is" and "writer = err wit" are just a couple of examples of the anagrams in the database, and you can also submit your own for inclusion in the Anagram Hall of Fame. --Debbie Cissell Chemical Warfare Officer Turns Word Master http://www.wilton.net/etyma1.htm This Web site is full of surprises -- and the fact that it was developed by a former U.S. Army Chemical Warfare Officer is just the first. Dave Wilton, now the Senior Strategic Manager of Mountain View-based OpenTV Corp., traces the roots of hundreds of terms in a way that's invaluable for researchers, writers and journalists. America, barbecue, blurb, booby, quiz, scapegoat, honeymoon, hunky-dory and Klu Klux Klan are just a few of the terms he deconstructs. Blurb, for example, comes from Miss Linda Blurb, a fictional character created by American humorist Gelett Burgess in 1907; curfew comes from the French couvre feu, or "cover fire." Mr. Wilton also includes sections on historical influences and tips to avoid etymological errors; as an example of superficial resemblance, he included the differences between "scotch" in butterscotch, which comes from the Middle English "scocchen" -- not the Old French "coche" or Latin "cocca." Those wishing to delve deeper will find a bulletin board, reference list and links to other etymological Web sites. --Jennie S. Bev The Acronym Database: It's Got Size, But No Definitions http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/index.html The Net has spawned a slew of new acronyms that even cyber-savvy writers have trouble deciphering, and the World Wide Web Acronym and Abbreviation Server is a good place to get a quick read on the latest condensations. With 17,000 listings (including many that are still not accepted or industry standard) it's broad, but it's not deep. The listings provide little more than full spellings, although there is a form for visitors to suggest their own definitions. There's one added feature that's as much recreation as resource: You can enter a particular word and find all of its uses in abbreviations. --Debbie Cissell Aphorismsgalore.com Serves Up Pithy Wisdom http://www.aphorismsgalore.com/ Aphorisms Galore is a free interactive service that gives access to an abundance of witty sayings to spice up your conversations and/or communications. You'll find a wide range of aphorisms, ranging from Chris Carter's, "The truth is out there," to Clare Luce Booth's, "No good deed goes unpunished." Aphorisms Galore also gives the source and origin of the quotes. You can browse category or author listings or search the database for just the right pearl of wisdom. Aphorism junkies can sign up for a daily or weekly newsletter, or contribute their own sage sayings. --Debbie Cissell The Quotations Page Offers Notable Quotes... http://www.quotationspage.com/ Op-ed writers are notorious quoters, and the Quotations Page will insure access to all the pithy wisdom you'll ever need to back up your points. The search engine allows you to search for a quote by entering a phrase or an author's complete or partial name, and a Random Quotations Page, Quotes of the Day newsletter and your chance to upload your own notable quotation offers additional inspiration and amusement. --Debbie Cissell ...As Bartleby.com Lets You "Sound Out" Your Favorite Writer http://www.bartleby.com/ Bartleby.com (named for Herman Melville's famously reticent scrivener) lets you check into the works of poets and famous writers as well as reference works like The American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, Gray's Anatomy and Strunk's Elements of Style. You can search by author, subject, and title, but perhaps the best feature is the audio pronunciation database that insures you'll never mispronounce or misspell a memorable quote. --Jody Yerges OuterNotes is produced using the OuterForce Platform, which allows publishers to easily recruit and manage remote and freelance content creation and export it into their publishing platform of choice. For more information, see http://www.outerforce.com. Copyright 2000 by OuterNotes. All rights reserved. OuterNotes is a trademark of OuterForce Systems, Inc. Return to Main Archive Page |