General Reference Sources

This guide compiles online general purpose reference sources. For resources on specific topics, including health-related information, please see this guide.

I. Acronyms/Abbreviations

II. Citation and Style

III. Company Information

IV. Dictionaries, Glossaries, and Thesauri

V. Encyclopedias

VI. General Reference Sources

VII. Internet Archives

VIII. Library Catalogs

IX. Maps

X. Quotations

XI. Statistics

XII. Telephone/Address Directories

I. Acronyms/Abbreviations

  • Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations - Focuses on English language legal publications, from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and the United States. Compiled by Cardiff University, Wales.
  • MediLexicon - Over 70,000 medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical & healthcare acronyms and abbreviations.

 

II. Citation and Style

  • Citing Electronic Information - A collection of resources about how to cite electronic sources. Includes links to style guides, citation generators, and citation format bibliography. Compiled by the Internet Public Library (IPL).
  • International Legal Citation Manual - A project of the Washington University in Saint Louis Global Studies Law Review. Arranged by country, this manual provides citation format for constitutions, laws, codes, statutes, administrative regulations, case law, journals and treaties.

 

III. Company Information

 

IV. Dictionaries, Glossaries, and Thesauri

  • Wex - Free community-built legal dictionary and encyclopedia from the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII)

 

V. Encyclopedias

  • Wex - Free community-built legal dictionary and encyclopedia from the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII).
  • Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago - Comprehensive encyclopedia of Chicago history. A collaboration between the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry, and Northwestern University

 

VI. General Reference Sources

  • Codes of Ethics Online - A compilation of ethics codes from industry, the professions, sciences, associations and organizations provided by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (IIT)
  • Federal Citizen Information Center - Formerly the Federal Consumer Information Center. Features guides and handbooks on a variety of consumer topics including cars, computers, education, employment, family, federal programs, food, health, housing, money, small business and more.
  • Internet Public Library - Resources on a wide variety of subjects as well as newspapers and magazines. Originally maintained by the University of Michigan School of Information; now hosted by the Drexel iSchool. No longer updated as of June 2015.
  • World Factbook - Provides basic information about countries worldwide. From the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
  • Chronicling America - Search and view newspaper pages from 1880-1922 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Provided by the United States Library of Congress.
  • Internet Scout - High quality Internet resources selected by librarians and educators. From University of Wisconsin-Madison.
  • SearchSystems - Searchable public record database for states, counties and municipalities. Also links for Canadian and global public records.

 

VII. Internet Archives

  • WayBack Machine - Searchy by URL for archived versions of websites. From the Internet Archive.
  • CyberCemetary - Permanent public archive of government websites that have ceased operation. Browse agencies by branch of government, date of expiration, or agency name. Provided by University of North Texas Libraries.

 

VIII. Library Catalogs

  • CARLI I-Share - Search the catalogs of the more than 125 member libraries of the Consorium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.
  • WorldCat - Search the collections of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide

Chicago Area Law School Libraries

Other Illinois Academic Law Libraries

Other Illinois County Law Libraries

 

IX. Maps

  • Maps and Geospatial Data - Interactive maps of Cook County. Includes maps featuring transportation infrastructure, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts, County facilities, fishing lakes, and more. From Cook County Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  • National Geographic Maps - Locate maps for any place on Earth, and view it by population, climate, and much more. Browse antique maps and find country facts. Formerly known as MapMachine.
  • National Map - Interactive maps and data sets from the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
  • Atlas of Historical County Boundaries - Map and text data featuring the boundaries of all United States Counties from inception to the present. Also includes information on unsuccessful authorizations for new counties, changes in county names and organization, and the temporary attachments of non-county areas and unorganized counties to fully functioning counties. From the Newberry's William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture.

 

X. Quotations

  • Respectfully Quoted - The 2,100 quotations most frequently requested by members of the United States Congress.
  • Wikiquote - Free online database of quotations in dozens of languages. Organized by person, literary work, theme, location, and more.

 

XI. Statistics

  • FedStates - The portal to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies.
  • NationMaster - Compare statistical information on more than 300 countries.

 

XII. Telephone/Address Directories

  • AnyWho - Includes white pages, yellow pages, toll-free numbers, email lookup and reverse lookup.
  • Zip Code Lookup - Find zip codes for commercial and residential addresses or generate lists of all cities within a given zip code. From the United States Postal Service (USPS)

 

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The web sites listed in this guide are for information only and are not endorsed or supported by the Cook County Law Library. Please independently verify the accuracy and currency of all information. Consult an attorney for legal advice.

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Revised August 2017 by David Sanborne