It is the new millennium. Not that many years ago, if you had a paper to write for class, you had to spend hours at the library looking up information. For some people, that is still the best way to work, as libraries are usually much quieter than the chaos of some homes. However, if you would rather stay home, your computer can be your link to an entire planet full of data. The first section lists resources to help you with research and term paper projects, the second covers general resource books.

The nuts and bolts of college writing can really be seen at <http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/>. They cover style, structure, and mechanics of writing rather than just the step one, step two approach. It is very comprehensive, and keeps the student in mind.

researchpaper.com is a college student’s dream. Tabs on the side of your virtual binder take you to the topic you wish to write your research paper on. Although some functions appear to be under construction, this one is sure to be a hit.

A step-by-step approach to writing your complete paper can be found at geocities.com/Athens/Troy/8866/.

This site is written by a teacher who obviously wants to do more for students everywhere. It is low on graphics but high on content.

webster.commnet.edu/mla.htm <http://webster.commnet.edu/mla.htm> This site even has a page, which lists various forms of media from which you can gather information for your term or research paper. With on-screen examples of how your pages should look when completed, this is an excellent tutorial.

dictionary.com has an online dictionary, which takes only seconds to retrieve the meaning of almost any word in the English language. With just one click, you can switch to the thesaurus and find alternative words to choose from. They also feature links to a web dictionary, online translator, and dictionaries for German, Greek, Spanish, and many more languages. You will also find word games and puzzles for your enjoyment.

They also own thesaurus.com, which includes a new antonym lookup feature.

The search engine at onelook.com searches 629 online dictionaries around the world. It supports French, Italian, German and several other languages. It is possible to get a search engine box from them to put on your own website.

Free online medical, computer dictionary can be found on voycabulary.com. It also provides standard dictionary and thesaurus functions.

According to encyclopedia.com’s webmaster, “More than 14,000 articles from The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition <http://www.encyclopedia.com/about.html> have been assembled to provide free, quick and useful information on almost any topic.” The information stored there is extensively cross-referenced, and the pages look just like pages from a book. It is a very useful and free resource.

There are even sites who’s only purpose is to categorize other research sites to make them easy to find.

Spireproject.com is one such site. Statistics, libraries, news databases, and government resources are some of the database links they provide.

A large list of virtual libraries can be found at dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries/.

Do you need a good quote for your paper? Try quotationspage.com.

“Research is the process of going up alleys to see if they are blind.” Marston Bates

I hope I have helped shine a light so you may avoid a few blind alleys today. Enjoy.

Your feedback is what helps me decide what topics to cover. Drop me an email at

info@shawneecomputer.com <mailto:info@shawneecomputer.com> and let me know what you’d like to read about!