Dictionaries and encyclopedias

French language encyclopedia similar in scope to Encyclopedia Britannica. Content from more than 7,000 authors.

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In the library and at home with your BPL card.

The Oxford Digital Reference Shelf includes electronic editions of Oxford's award-winning scholarly reference titles in the arts, literature and language, history, and culture. Access the following titles in full text:

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In the library and at home with your BPL card.

Oxford English Dictionary Online

Authoritive definitions for more than 500,000 words. Traces the historical usage and meaning of terms, with more than 2.5 million quotations.

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In the library and at home with your BPL card.

Acronym Finder

Search for acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms, with more than 750,000 definitions.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

America's biggest English dictionary. Includes an integrated thesaurus, the etymology of each word, and audio files to help with pronunciation.

Pseudodictionary, Alternative Dictionary

For words you will not find in Oxford's, Webster's or Roget's. The words on this site are made-up words that "regular" people use every day.

RhymeZone Rhyming Dictionary

Find rhyming words, synonyms, anonyms, homophones, and more. Great for writing poetry, song lyrics, greeting cards, and witticisms.

Specialty Dictionaries, YourDictionary.com

Hundreds of dictionaries, thesauri and glossaries available on many different specialty subjects.

WordNet Thesaurus for the English Language

A thesaurus where English nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are organized into synonym sets, with antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, and meronyms.

Babel Fish Translation Dictionary, Yahoo!

Translate short passages to and from one language into another.

Chinese Word Lists

Directory of many different Chinese, Chinese-English and character dictionaries. Mostly for Mandarin, but also includes Japanese and Korean resources.

Glossaries By Language, Language Automation

Directory of hundreds of single- and dual-language glossaries online, many on specialized topics.

Language Dictionaries and Grammar Guides, YourDictionary.com

Access more than 400 dictionaries, thesauri and grammar resources in more than 130 languages.

Canadian Encyclopedia

Canada's premier encyclopedia, includes interactive maps, graphs, quizzes and student guides. Check out 100 Canadian Originals biographies and 100 Greatest Events in Canadian History, and much more.

Facts About Canada from the Atlas of Canada provides Canadian geographical information such as the longest rivers, highest mountains, biggest glaciers, coastline lengths, and number of islands.

Infoplease Almanac

An almanac, encyclopedia, atlas, dictionary and more providing factual information on current and historical events. Includes timelines, quizzes and slideshows.

The 1911 Edition, Encyclopedia Britannica

Still considered by many to be among the best encyclopedias of all time, the 11th edition of this classic had many of it's articles written by the leading experts of the time, such as Henry Ford, and thus represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th Century.

The Old Farmer's Almanac

Check today's weather or get a 2-month long range forecast, view historical weather patterns, or learn the best day to start that diet.

Today-in-History

See which historical births, deaths and events happened on a particular day of the year.

Wikipedia

The world's biggest user-created encyclopedia. Use with caution, but an amazing resource and excellent starting point. Check the references used and suggested further links at the bottom of each article.

All About Birds, Cornell University

The web's most comprehensive resource about birds of North America, created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Find birds by their common name or taxonomic order. Gives their physical description, habitat, behaviour, conservation status, cool facts, and more.Photographs, video and sound clips, and maps are included for each bird.

AmphibiaWeb,

Provides access to information on amphibian declines, conservation, natural history, and taxonomy. Currently covers some 6,600 species from around the world and includes maps, sound and video files where available.

Artcyclopedia, Fine Art on the Internet

Seach for artists by name, nationality, subject, medium, or movement, or search for artworks or galleries/museums. Results point to where these artists/works can be viewed online.

Astronautica, Encyclopedia

Chronology of every spaceflight by all nations, an A-Z subject guide, descriptions and specifications of spacecraft, and biographies of astronauts and cosmonauts.

Canada in the Making

The history of Canada through the words of those who lived it. Integrates narrative text with primary source documents, and is searchable by by document or by themes - constitutional history, aboriginal treaties, pioneers and immigrants. In French and English.

Canada Year Book

Covering Canada's first 100 years 1867 - 1967, this premiere annual publication charts Canada's history and development with pictures, graphs, statistical tables and sound clips about the land, people, economy, and government of Canada.

Catholic Encyclopedia

Provides full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. Also includes Popes Through the Ages, with detailed biographies of all 266 popes of the Roman Catholic Church from 32 AD to the present.

Chemistry WebBook, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Find the chemical and physical properties on more than 30,000 mostly organic compounds. Searchable by common and trademarked names, and properties.

Music in Canada, Encyclopedia of

Some 3,000 articles covering all aspects of music in Canada from this prestigious publication are available in French and English.

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