Number 10 July 1, 2001	A publication of Project Eagle, St. Petersburg College

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Selected E-Sources for Online Learners

"If it's not on the Internet today, it will be tomorrow."
(Joyce Burkhart, Project Eagle, 1999)
"If it's not free on the Internet today, it will be tomorrow."
(Joyce Burkhart, Project Eagle, 2001)

In spite of the demise of untold dot.coms in the past year, the number of Web sites offering information, most of it free, for students and inquiring minds of all kinds continues to grow. This issue looks at some of the best e-sources of their kind - a no-cost or, at most, low-cost (indicated in green) goldmine for all.

Reference Materials

Britannica.com. The most venerable of encyclopedias turned over its contents to the world more than a year ago. In addition to what's always been in those big brown volumes, the site offers a dictionary, a thesaurus, selected Web links, and much more.
Encyclopedia.com. This site offers a free online equivalent to the content in the once-popular, one-volume Columbia Encyclopedia. Fast, brief and easy.
First Things First. Designed primarily to deliver up-to-the-minute news from many online sources, from finance and politics to sports, entertainment and weather, this sub-site of Refdesk.com includes links to sources that put their information exclusively in streaming video.
Infoplease.com. Produced by the publishers of the Information Please Almanac, this site offers links to dozens of online almanacs of all kinds, plus an atlas, short biographies and more.
The Internet Public Library Reference Center. The ultimate library in a box, this venerable Web site links to reference resources on every branch of human knowledge. The Reference Resources sub-category simply has it all for the academic researcher.
Perry Castañeda Library Map Collection. This University of Texas resource links to online maps of all types, times and places. The best, if not the only, site of its kind.
YourDictionary.com. This is the most comprehensive place to find English and foreign language dictionaries, specialty dictionaries, a language translator, and language learning tips.

Books, Periodicals, Newspapers and General Online Information

Ebrary. A new online library of twelve university presses' copyrighted books, plus journals, magazines and more that can be searched for free, then downloaded or printed for 15-25¢ a page.
E-Global Library. An enhanced version of the virtual library developed for Jones International University, this Web site, staffed by more than 30 professional librarians, offers a fee-based alternative for any institution with a growing e-program. A library - with librarians - in a box.
FindArticles.com. This promising source is an archive of published articles since 1998 that can be searched, read and printed for free. It covers more than 300 magazines and journals.
Google. This award-winning search engine can find almost anything on the Web, including articles, using simple keyword searches. The first, and usually only, place to go for any search.
Newspapers - USA and Worldwide. This Refdesk.com sub-site is the ultimate source for finding newspaper articles from around the world - all free.
Northern Light. This sophisticated search service offers links to free online sources, as well as other online information, usually from magazines and journals, for a low, per-article, fee.
The On-Line Books Page. This long-time labor of love from the University of Pennsylvania now boasts a collection of links to the full text of more than 13,000 books online. It is updated daily.
Questia. This commercial site offers students everything needed to write research papers, including 40,000+ full-text books and journal articles, research and writing aids, and a bibliography compiler. Users can subscribe by week ($9.95), month ($19.95), or year ($149.95).

Online Aids for College and Career Planning

Back to College. Resources for Re-entry Students. Thomas Edison State College (NJ) has created a comprehensive site with resources of every kind for undergraduate and graduate programs, including a student loan comparison tool, sites with free online training, and more.
College and University Rankings. There are many lists of rankings on the Internet, and this site, done at the University of Illinois, links to just about all of them.
Collegeboard.com. This is the official site by the creators of the SAT, CLEP and more. It offers all the information a prospective user might need, including schedules of upcoming tests.
College Grad Job Hunter. This Web site calls itself the #1 entry-level job site, with job postings and advice for applying, interviewing, and starting a new job. It also includes an online job fair.
CollegeNet.com. This comprehensive site allows users to search for the colleges of their choice, financial aid, scholarships, books, and more.
FAFSA on the Web. Everything to apply for federal student aid is here.
Mapping Your Future. Sponsored by agencies that participate in the Federal Family Education Loan Program, this site offers advice in planning a career, selecting a school, and paying for education costs.
Monster.com. One of the best known sources for job hunters, this one allows job searching worldwide, resume posting, company researching, and more.
Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2000-01. This nationally respected source of career information describes what various occupations are, their working conditions, training and education needed, earnings, and prospects for employment. Most of it is in pdf format.
The SmartStudentT Guide to Financial Aid. Finding money for college is this site's purpose, with links to scholarships, loans, military aid, and more.

Online Aids for Writing and Web Research

Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial. The University of California, Berkeley, has created a multi-part tutorial that covers basic Web use, search strategies, and site evaluation. The Berkeley library also has an excellent form-based site for Web searching, Search the Internet: A Graduated Approach in 5 Steps.
Guide to Grammar and Writing. Hosted by Capital Community College, Hartford (CN), this site offers advice on grammar and composition, including essay and research paper writing. The college also maintains a related site, A Guide for Writing Research Papers Based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation.
Knowledge Homework Central. No more nor less than a comprehensive list of links to Web information on more than 100 academic subjects, this site is maintained by Bigchalk.com.
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant. Maintained by an English professor at Boise State University (IN), this award winner is a step-by-step guide to writing an essay of any kind.
Researchpaper.com. This commercial effort claims to offer the Web's largest collection of topics, ideas and assistance for school-related research projects. It even has a study-break chat room.
FAFSA on the Web. Everything to apply for federal student aid is here.
Ten C's for Evaluating Internet Sources. Short, sweet and simple, this page from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire provides a list of evaluation criteria that is hard to beat.
WebTeacher. The National Cable Television Association has assembled a collection of tutorials on many aspects of Web use, including basic and advanced Web page creation.

Other Online Aids for E-Learners

Brainfuse.com Created by Trustforte Educational Services, Brainfuse provides instant, unlimited access to tutors for $40 per month. Students and teachers communicate by drawing on a virtual blackboard, typing instant messages, and/or speaking through online audio.
HowToStudy.com. This commercial site provides links to Internet locations that offer study tips and guides, memory training, stress management, and more.
Math for Morons Like Us. Part of an interesting collection of educator- and student-generated sites of all types sponsored by the ThinkQuest organization. Math help can be also be found at Discovery School's Webmath.
World Lecture Hall. This well-known product from the University of Texas links to pages created by faculty worldwide who are using the Web to deliver course materials.

The contents of BEEP were developed under a grant from the U. S. Department of Education (DOE). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the DOE, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.