Finding what you want online can be incredibly frustrating. Many sites are biased, deceptive, or just plain wrong. This collection of websites are ones that we at the library have reviewed and found to be of good quality and highly useful.

However, online material can change quickly. You should always take the time to evaluate the website you plan to use, even if you've used it before, and even if it's linked from a reliable source. It's a good habit to make!

Jump to Category: General - Online Books - Criminal Justice & Legal - English/Writing/Literature - Science & Medicince

General

ipl2: Merger of Internet Public Library (IPL) & Librarians' Index to the Internet (L:II)
http://www.ipl.org/
Organized, annotated collection of websites on a vast array of topics, run by librarians and continually updated. Can be either browsed or searched. Many useful FAQs under "Special Collections".

Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
Gives examples and explanations of acceptable and plagiarized uses of sources.

Online Books

For more recent e-books that the library has purchased, look in the Library Catalog or our Online Books page. 

Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
The first, and biggest, collection of free online books. All are available in plain “vanilla” ASCII text, which pretty much all computers should be able to read. The bulk of their material is from before 1923.

The Online Books Page
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
This isn’t a collection of online books, but instead are searchable listings to online books found elsewhere (including Gutenberg). The criteria require books to be available for free, in their entirety, not require registration, and be in any “stable, well-maintained format” such as HTML, PDF, or plain text.

Perseus Digital Library
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/home
This began as a collection of materials from and about Ancient Greece and Rome. While that is still its strong point, the library has expanded into other areas, including Early Modern English Literature and 19th century (1800s) United States History.

Baen Free Library
http://www.baen.com/library/
Baen, a major science fiction and fantasy publisher, had decided to experiment, in 2000, with putting some of their books online for free. Many years later, the Free Library is still going strong.

Criminal Justice & Legal

Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School
http://www.law.cornell.edu/
Award-winning website for legal information. Sections include: Constitutions and Codes; Court Opinions; and two Topical Libraries, on ethics and social security. The “Law about…” section – click on “All Topics” to get the full list – has areas ranging from adoption to contracts to elections, each with a well-written overview and menu of sources from federal, state, and other resources.
Note: Annotation refers to the previous edition; not yet updated for current site.

Reddy's Forensic Page
http://www.forensicpage.com/
A huge collection of, unfortunately not annotated, links relating to forensic science. Sections include: fingerprints, arson, forensic nursing, and DNA, as well as broader categories such as scientific working groups, forensic science laboratories, and ethics and forensic science.

English/Writing/Literature

Guide to Grammar and Writing
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Extremely useful site on all aspects of writing - from parts of speech to organizing a paper.

Literary History
http://www.literaryhistory.com/index.htm
Signed articles and pages for more than 200 American and British writers. Uses the Modern Language Assocation (MLA) standards to chose what gets included.

The Mississippi Writers Page
http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/
Information about writers connected with Mississippi - for example, William Faulkner. An excellent example of a quality online resource.
 

Science & Medicine

Science NetLinks - Resources for Teaching Science
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/
"Providing a wealth of resources for K-12 science educators, Science NetLinks is your guide to meaningful standards-based Internet experiences for students."

LAST UPDATED - September 9, 2010