Using the links below, you can find information on the following topics:

/ General Reference / Arts and Humanities / Books & Literature / Business and Company Information / Computers / Consumer Resources / Education /Jobs & Careers / Health and Wellness / History / Languages / Law / Management /Newspapers / People and Places /  Science / Students and Testing / Theater / Travel / Tutorials /

General Reference

Periodicals, journals, (including thousands of full text articles and graphics), newspaper articles, transcripts from television and radio broadcasts, and expanded coverage on topics of popular interest

InfoTrac OneFile (Gale) | eLibrary, | Internet Public Library

Arts and Humanities

The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 and based in San Francisco. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages in our collections, and provides specialized services for adaptive reading and information access for the blind and other persons with disabilities.
Also home of the "Wayback Machine" allowing users to view archived versions of webpages going back 20 years or more.
Internet Archive

Books and Literature

Authors and their works, biographical and critical information on contemporary authors, for the casual reader ("What should I read next?") or the high school, college or adult researcher.

Reader's Advisory Online , Good Reads , WCPL's literary website

Business

Reference USA
The ReferenceUSA database contains detailed information on more than 14 million U.S. businesses, 210 million U.S. residents, 855,000 U.S. health care providers, 1.5 million Canadian businesses, and 12 million Canadian households. Note: Our library may have access to only a limited number of these modules.
Note: library card required for off-site authentication.
Search Edgar
Since 1934, the SEC has required disclosure in forms and documents. In 1984, EDGAR began collecting electronic documents to help investors get information. The SEC's new system requires data disclosure — the next step to improve how investors find and use information.

Computers and Digital Media

CNET reviews. Cnet editors work to provide you with the news, information, advice, and tools you need to understand technology and its impact on your life.

PC World reviews. With over 25 years of brand awareness and credibility, PCWorld and Macworld consistently deliver editorial excellence through award-winning content and trusted product reviews.

No Shelf Required. No Shelf Required is a blog about eBooks, loosely defined to discuss eBooks, audio books, and other digital content found in libraries as well as the technology needed to read and listen to this digital content.

Consumer Information

Consumer resources compiled by the Reference Staff at the Washington County Public Library

Education

Education World, class materials, lesson plans, news. "The Educator's Best Friend."

Skype in the Classroom

Health and Wellness

MedlinePlus
MedlinePlus is the National Institutes of Health's Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. Your first stop for information about health and medicine.
Rosen's Teen Health and Wellness Online
Developed for teens, with their unique concerns and perspective in mind, Teen Health & Wellness: Real Life, Real Answers draws on Rosen's award-winning series, including Coping, Need to Know, and others. Thoroughly updated and revised for online use, all content is reviewed by leading professionals in medicine, mental health, nutrition, guidance, and career counseling.
NOAH: New York Online Access to Health
Your link to quality-filtered consumer health information! Also available en español.

History

History Matters
A gateway to web resources as well as a repository of unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence for high school and college students and teachers of American history. In January 2005, the American Historical Association awarded History Matters the James Harvey Robinson Prize for the site’s “outstanding contribution to the teaching and learning of history.” In April 2005, the New York Public Library selected the site for its “Best of Reference 2005.”

Virginia Historical Marker Guide: Markerhistory.com was founded by Richard Harrison in 2008. The Virginia Historical Marker Guide was created to make Virginia historical highway markers conveniently accessible and relevant to a wider audience.

Jobs and Careers

Testing and Education Reference Center
Testing & Education Reference Center is a start-to-finish resource with all the information and support materials needed to make informed, confident decisions to shape the rest of your life.

• Over 100 practice tests and courses
• Information on over 4,000 accredited schools

 Reference USA Provides detailed information on 14 million businesses in the United States, identifying the "hidden" job market. Through RefUSA you can match potential employers with your skills, find out about companies and their key executives, and even research the area where the business is located.

Languages

Mango Languages Mango is a language learning program teaching practical conversation and cultural awareness for the world’s most popular languages. It’s the fun, easy and incredibly effective way for travelers of all kinds to learn to speak a foreign language.

Law

• Legal Forms Library
• Legislative Information Systems: Code of Virginia, searchable database.

Management

• Free Management Library

Newspapers

• America's Newspapers (Newsbank)
  Search current and archived coverage of issues, events, people, government, sports and more with the largest collection of full-text U.S. newspapers. Includes staff-written articles, obituaries, editorials, announcements, real estate and other sections.
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers from the Library of Congress. Includes:
  

  The Abingdon Virginian (10/03/1862-12/09/1864)

People and Places

Biographical Resources

• Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
• Credo Reference: includes: Debrett's Peerage, Marquis Who's Who, Notable American Women 1607-present, Chambers Biographical Dictionary, and many other sources.
  
• Encyclopedia of Virginia: resource that explores the people, places, events, and institutions of the Commonwealth
• Britannia Biographies: brief biographies of the people, characters and personalities who have made significant contributions in the areas of government, diplomacy, religion, war, architecture, exploration, science, literature, medicine, education, athletics, the media and the arts in Great Britain.

Find people and places:

• Reference USA: Use this database of over 100 Million U.S. Residents to conduct market research, and locate friends and relatives.
• Virginia Gazetteer: Find digital maps, aerial photography and other geographic information for over 51,000 Virginia features.
• Virginia Places: Virginia's Natural Setting, Places, People & Development, from George Mason University.
• Sperling's "Best Places"; looking for a place to move, or retire? Sperling's has been compiling comparative data on American cities for over 20 years. Includes cost of living calculator.

Science

Links form our databases, social networking sites and the Internet.

• Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  provides information on the history of science through articles on the professional lives of scientists. Charles Scribner's Sons. 2008 (27 vols)
• Encyclopedia of Earth
  an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The Encyclopedia is a free, fully searchable collection of articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other's work.
• Environmental Science in Context
  cross-curricular in nature, the title supports both basic and advanced curricula in earth and environmental science, physics, chemistry, and biology, as well as general science, history, government and the social sciences. Gale/Cengage Learning. 2009 (2 vols)
• Experiment Center, 2010
  97 chapters with nearly 300 science experiments, covering nine key science curriculum fields: astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology, food science, geology, meteorology, and physics. U*X*L. 2010 (6 Vols.)
• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Evolution
  includes comprehensive coverage of recent ideas and discoveries in the field of evolution. Gale/Cengage. 2011.
• Science News
  published since 1922 this award-winning biweekly news magazine covers important and emerging research in all fields of science.
• Scitable
  A free science library and personal learning tool brought to you by Nature Publishing Group, the world's leading publisher of science. Scitable currently concentrates on genetics, the study of evolution, variation, and the rich complexity of living organisms.

Students and Testing

Testing and Education Center Test preparation and career planning from Peterson's, the premier educational and career publisher, and Cengage Learning. Includes e-books for ASVAB, GED, GRE, MAT, ACT, and many other tests. Also college and career planning.
Virginia Education Wizard

• Career Assessment
• College Cost Calculator
• College Search
• Transfer Planner

Travel

Theater

Theater Dictionary your video guide to theater lingo.
The Barter Theatre: the State Theatre of Virginia

Tutorials

• GFCLearnFree.org: free online tutorials for computers, reading, and math; supported by the Goodwill Community Foundation, Inc. (GCF®) whose mission is "to create and provide education, employment, and life enrichment opportunities for people who desire to improve the quality of their lives".

   

• Khan Academy: The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere.
  All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.