Biographies

Artists, Entertainers, Writers
AllMusic.com -  http://www.allmusic.com
Use the search box at the top of the page to find biography, discography, songs, and more for musicians from many genres.
Find a Poet -  http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/58
The Academy of American Poets collection of biographies on more than 450 poets.
Internet Movie Database -  http://us.imdb.com/
Use the search box on the left side of the screen and change the search mode to people. Most actor entries will include a brief bio, a filmography, and lots of links to interesting facts. Several biographies include excerpts or reprints from reputable print biographical sources.

Politicians & Rulers
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: 1774 to the Present -  http://bioguide.congress.gov/
Search by name, position, state, party or year. In addition to the bios, you'll find links to the House and Senate history Web sites with more details on people who have served in Congress.
Political Graveyard -  http://politicalgraveyard.com/
An incomplete but unusual database of politicians and government officials. The coverage of the site includes "certain federal officials, state officeholders and candidates in all 50 states, state and national political party officials, federal and state judges, and mayors (including candidates at election for mayor) of qualifying cities.
POTUS: Presidents of the United States -  http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/
Named after the Secret Service code for "Presidents of the United States", POTUS, part of the Internet Public Libary, provides information on all 43 presidents, listed in chronological order.
The Presidents of the United States -  http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/
The White House web site includes bios for all Presidents and their wives "from from the book The Presidents of the United States of America written by Frank Freidel and Hugh S. Sidey (contributing author), published by the White House Historical Association with the cooperation of the National Geographic Society."
Judges of the United States Courts -  http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/judges.html
"The Federal Judges Biographical Database contains the service record and biographical information for all judges who have served on the U.S. District Courts, U.S. Circuit Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court since 1789."
United Nations Secretaries General -  http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/pages/formersgs.html
Biographies of past and present Secretaries General of the United Nations.
U.S. State Department Biographies -  http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/
Biographies of senior officials and Chiefs of Mission representing the State Department.

Scientists
National Inventors Hall of Fame - http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/1_0_0_hall_of_fame.asp
Browsable or searchable by invention or inventors name and includes a time-line of inventions.

Women
Distinguished Women of Past and Present -  http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/
Biographies of women who contributed to our culture in many different ways, including writers, educators, scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists, entertainers, and others.
North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century : A Biographical Dictionary  - NetLibrary resource requiring on campus use or prior registration for off campus use
Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Vol. 1219, by Jules Heller, made available by NetLibrary. (You must register first as a NetLibrary user on an IP authenticated computer anywhere at Brewer Library, the Huntsville Campus Library, or anywhere else on Calhoun's campus).

Living or Not?
Dead or Alive? -  http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/
Browse or search the database for famous people to confirm whether they are dead or alive. Database also includes brief biographical information.
Who's Alive and Who is Dead -  http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/
Another resource that helps in keeping track of which famous people have died and which are still alive.
Social Security Death Index -  http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/
Generated from the U. S. Social Security Administration's Death Master File, this database includes birth date, death date, last residence, and social security number.

Dictionaries

Acronym & Abbreviation Dictionaries
Acronym Finder - http://www.acronymfinder.com/
A searchable database of 109,800 acronyms/abbreviations and their meanings, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military.
World Wide Web Acronym and Abbreviation Server  - http://www.ucc.ie/acronyms/acro.html
A searchable database of more than 17,845 acronymns, updated weekly.

Language Dictionaries
American Sign Language Brower - http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/
Access "video of thousands of ASL signs and learn interesting things about them courtesy of Michigan State University."
A Basic Chaucer Glossary - http://www.towson.edu/~duncan/glossary.html
A list of words from Chaucer's work with a modern English equivalent.
Handspeak  - http://www.handspeak.com/
A sign language dictionary featuring video clips demonstrating hundreds of American Sign Language terms.

Medical Dictionaries
Medicine.Net's Medical Dictionary  - http://www.medicinenet.com/Script/Main/AlphaIdx.asp?li=MNI&p=A_DICT
Browse or search for terms.  Many entries include linked references to other relevant information.
Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy  - http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/
The 17th edition from Merck is searchable or browse by table of contents.

Quotations Dictionaries
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations -  http://www.bartleby.com/100/
The 10th edition with over 11,000 searchable quotations (the 17th edition of this work is available in print at both Calhoun Community College libraries).
Simpson's Contemporary Quotations - http://www.bartleby.com/63/
1988 edition with over "9,000 quotations from 4,000 sources organized into 25 categories and 60 sections."

Technical Dictionaries
Dictionary of Computing - http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html
A searchable dictionary of terms and acronyms with over 13,000 definitions.
High Tech Dictionary - http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/
Search for more than 7,000 high tech terms.
Telecom Glossary 2000 - http://www.atis.org/tg2k/
Search or browse this glossary of telecommunications terms that began as the Federal Standard 1037C, Glossary of Telecommunication Terms glossary.

Word & Phrase Origins
Behind the Name: Etymology of First Names - http://www.behindthename.com/
A searchable database of first names, or you can browse by alphabet, geography, or a set of categories (i.e., Biblical, ancient, literature, etc.).
Behind the Name: Etymology of Surnames - http://surnames.behindthename.com/
Search the database or browse by geography or ethnicity.
IdiomSite - http://www.idiomsite.com/
A dictionary of the origins of words and phrases.

Directories

People & Phone Books
AT&T  Real Yellow Pages  - http://www.realpageslive.com/
The online version of The Real Yellow Pages with residential, business, and government listings.
Infospace.com  - http://www.infospace.com/
Search yellow pages, white pages, and public records.
Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator -  http://www.martindale.com/Home.aspx
Search for lawyers by name, firm, location, or specialty.
Social Security Death Index - http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com
An interactive search at RootsWeb of over 72 million social security death records.  This source is updated monthly.
Switchboard Dictionary - http://www.switchboard.com/
Nationwide telephone and address directory.
Reverse Look-Up - http://www.anywho.com/rl.html
Enter a phone number to retrieve the person or business associated with that number.   This is an AT&T sponsored directory.
YellowPages.com - http://www.yellowpages.com/sp/yellowpages/
Another AT&T sponsored directory.  It includes separate search pages for businesses or residences in addition to city and consumer guides.

Publications
Online Newspapers - http://www.ipl.org/div/news/
A directory of online newspapers from around the world which can be searched by keyword or browsed by region or title.
OnlineNewspapers.com -  http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
A directory of online newspapers listed alphabetically and searchable by location.

Organizations
Associations on the Net - http://www.ipl.org/div/aon/
A collection of hundreds of Internet sites providing information about a wide variety of professional and trade associations, cultural and art organizations, political parties and advocacy groups, labor unions, academic societies, and research institutions.
BioAlabama -  http://www.bioalabama.com/
The site of the Biotechnology Association of Alabama.  In addition to membership information, site includes news and events information on the state and national levels.
NIRA World Directory of Think Tanks - http://www.nira.or.jp/past/ice/nwdtt/
Links to public policy institutes from over one hundred countries, including more than 70 from the U.S.
Process Register - http://www.processregister.com/
A database of manufacturing suppliers and services.  With 80,000 vendors and over 20,000 products, it is worth a look, but does not come close to replacing Thomas Register of Manufacturers (see below) for depth and coverage.
Thomas Register of Manufacturers - http://www.thomasnet.com/home.html?navsec=header
ThomasNet is an industrial search engine that allows you to keyword search or browse by company or category to find products, services, or suppliers. It also includes line-item product details, CAD drawings, and more.

Zip Codes
Zip Code Directory - http://www.usps.com/zip4/
From the US Postal Service, a database that lets you look up zip codes by address, city, or company.

Handbooks

Encyclopedias