REFERENCE DATABASES

The Library subscribes to several online reference databases. They are available to members of the Kalamazoo College community.
These resources are not free to the general public.

Reference Databases are not Periodical Indexes - they will not tell you what articles have been published in periodicals.

* (FS) indicates FirstSearch database resource.
* (FT) indicates Full Text subscription reference database.

Almanacs | Biography | Catalogs | Dictionaries | Directories | Encyclopedias | Government

Image Databases | Online Texts | Quotations | Reference | Religious Texts | Miscellaneous

ALMANACS

InfoPlease free site
World Almanac < about > (FT) (FS)

BIOGRAPHY

CATALOGS

KPL Catalog - Kalamazoo Public Library Catalog
MeLCat < about > - Combined catalog of Michigan participating libraries
WestCat - Western Michigan University Library Catalog [How to Get to Western's Campus]
WorldCat < about > - Use for ILL / Union Catalog of US Libraries

DICTIONARIES

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language 4th ed. from Bartleby.com, free site, has pronounciations in sound files.
Oxford English Dictionary < about > (FT)
Roget's Thesaraus, 3rd edition from Bartelby.com, free site

DIRECTORIES

Books in Print < about > (FS)
Business Organizations < about > (FS)
Disclosure Corporate Snapshots < about > Business (FS)
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory < about >
Worldscope Global < about > Companies (FS)

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

ADAM Medical Encyclopedia from the National Institutes of Health, free site
African American Studies Center (Oxford) < about >
Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (African American Studies Center) < about >
Beacham's Guide to the Endangered Species of North America (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Biology (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Columbia Encyclopedia (FT) free site, from Bartleby.com, a general encyclopedia
Countries and their Cultures (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895 (African American Studies Center) < about >
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopaedia of Islam Online < about > (FT)
Encyclopaedia Judaica (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia of Life < about > project by biologist Edward O Wilson, free site
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia of Population (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about> (FT)
Encyclopedia of Religion (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia of Small Business (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Encyclopedia Mythica mythology, folklore, and religion - free site
Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
Grove Dictionary of Art < about > (FT)
New Grove Dictionary of Jazz < about > (FT)
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians < about > (FT)
New Grove Dictionary of Opera < about > (FT)
Oxford Companion to Western Art < about > (FT)
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy < about > (FT)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy < about > Free full text encyclopedia
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)
World of Earth Science (Gale Virtual Reference Library) < about > (FT)

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Government Printing Office Monthly Catalog < about > US Government Documents (FS)
CIA World Fact Book free US Government site
Statistical Abstract of the United States free US Government site
US Federal Register free US Government site

IMAGE DATABASES

ARTstor < about > Artwork Image Database | How to Access ARTstor from Off Campus
Ad*Access < about > Free database of Advertising Images
French National Organisation of Art Museums < about > Free database of art Images from French Museums
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog < about > Free database with some free images
SILS Art Image Browser < about > Free Database of Images from the University of Michigan
National Portrait Gallery < about > Free database
NYPL Digital Gallery < about > Free database of Images from the New York Public Library
Visual Collections: Images of Art, History, and Culture < about > Mix of free and licensed image collections compiled by David Rumsey

ONLINE TEXTS

Bartelby.com < about > Free database of ebooks, with an emphasis on literature and reference
Google Book Search < about > mix of online books and book excerpts
Internet Archive Online Texts < about > free access to a variety of texts, many older works in the public domain
netLibrary < about > (FT) Collection of Books in Full Text
Project Gutenberg < about > Free database of ebooks in the Public Domain

QUOTATIONS

Quotations (FT) free site, from Bartelby.com, includes these works:

• Bartlett, John. 1919. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed.
• The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996.
• Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations. 1988.
• Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.

REFERENCE

Bartleby.com Reference Collection free site, dictionaries, encyclopedias, works on literature and English usage, and more
Gale Virtual Reference Library < about > (FT)
LexisNexis Reference Search < about > (FT)
· Biographical Information Politicians, business executives & more
· Country Profiles Concise facts & statistics about countries
· Polls & Surveys From the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
· Quotations Over 10,000 quotes from the famous & not-so-famous
· State Profiles Concise facts & statistics about each state
· World Almanac Quick facts on any subject

RELIGIOUS TEXTS

Bible, King James Version, from University of Virginia
Bible, Revised Standard Version, from University of Virginia
The Judaica Press Complete Tanach with Rashi from Chabad.org
The Koran from the University of Virginia

MISCELLANEOUS

Book Review Digest < about > (FS)
Dissertation Abstracts < about > (FS)
Perseus Digital Library < about > Free Database, Classics and the Ancient World

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