Free Online Resources and Tools
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Publicly Available Resources
Listed below are various resources for general and special interest needs. Click the heading to see a list of relevant links.
Reminder: Free to access does not mean free from copyright. Cite all sources!
- Directories
- General Reference
- Open Access Journals and Ebooks
- Business and Consumer Resources
- Education Resources
- Teaching and Learning Resources
- Employment and Workplace Resources
- Energy and Environment
- Health and Nutrition Resources
- Language Resources
- Map Resources
- News and Weather
- Louisiana State Agencies and Organizations
- Federal Government Resources
- National Organizations
- Global Organizations and Resources
- Miscellaneous Tools and Resources
- Internet Search Tools
Directories
Need to find people, businesses, or services? Try these!
- AnyWho: Finding People, Places and Businesses (from AT&T; includes Yellow pages, Reverse Lookup and Area/Zip Code Lookup)
- WhitePages
- yellowbook
General Reference: Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and More
Use these resources for backgound information and quick references.
- Dictionary.com, includes a thesaurus and a translation tool.
- Encyclopedia.com searches numerous encyclopedias & dictionaries.
- Internet Archive: A digital library of audio, video, text, software and archived webpages.
- TheFreeDictionary includes a dictionary/thesaurus, specialized dictionaries, foreign language dictionaries, and more.
- infoplease: Encyclopedia offers several reference tools, including an atlas, encyclopedia, & dictionary, as well as other tools & resources.
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, includes a thesaurus, medical dictionary and Spanish Central.
- YourDictionary.com, includes a thesaurus, quotes, and more.
Open Access Journals and Ebooks
Open Access resources are those that are available online for free access and use. Most of those listed here are major scholarly publishers, offering peer-reviewed materials online for FREE!!!
- BioMed Central
- DOAB: Directory of Open Access Books
- DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals
- Elsevier Open Access Options:
- Open Access Journals from OMICS Group
- Oxford Open, a list of fully open access journals from Oxford Journals.
- Springer Open includes open access journals and e-books.
- Taylor & Francis Open Access offers full open access and select open access journals.
- Wiley Open Access
Business and Consumer Resources
- Better Business Bureau
- Small Business at USAGov
- FTC: Federal Trade Commission
- LABI: Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
- LED: Louisiana Economic Development
- SBA: U. S. Small Business Administration
- SEC: U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Education Resources: Find information on colleges, financial aid, etc.
Teaching and Learning Resources
- EDSITEment lists recommended websites in the humanities.
- HomeworkLouisiana offers free online tutoring, online homework help, and more for Louisiana residents.
- IES: Institute of Education Sciences
- Khan Academy, offers interactive exercises, video tutorials, etc.; sign-up required, but it’s FREE!
- Open Learning Initiative, from Carnegie Mellon University, offers free, open courses. Users may register or not (work will not be saved unless registered).
Employment and Workplace Resources
- Explore HEALTH Careers "is a free, multi-disciplinary, interactive health careers website that gives students (and educators) a reliable, comprehensive source of accurate, up-to-date information about the health professions."
- Louisiana Jobs and Career Center – from the State Library of Louisiana, offers various job search, training and other employment resources.
- Louisiana State Employment
- Occupational Outlook Handbook – from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; provides information on various jobs & professions, including expected salary ranges, education & training needs, etc.
- OSHA: Occupational Safety & Health Administration of the U. S. Department of Labor.
- USAJOBS: Working for America – search for jobs with the U. S. Government!
Energy and Environment
- EIA: U. S. Energy Information Administration
- Energy.gov: U. S. Department of Energy
- EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency
- IEA: International Energy Agency
- Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
- REN21: Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century
- United Nations Environment Programme
Health and Nutrition Resources
- APHA: American Public Health Association
- CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- eatright.org: information on nutrition and health, from meal planning and prep to choices that can help prevent or manage health conditions.
- FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- FDA: U. S. Food and Drug Administration
- Food and Nutrition Information Center from the USDA National Agricultural Library.
- Healthline
- IFPRI: International Food Policy Research Institute
- Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals
- MedlinePlus from the U. S. National Library of Medicine
- National Institutes of Health
- PubMed from the U. S. National Library of Medicine
- UNAIDS: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
- USDA: U. S. Department of Agriculture
- U. S. Department of Health & Human Services
- WebMD
- WHO: World Health Organization
Language Resources
- Acronym Finder
- BBC Languages, offers instruction in multiple languages, with audio, video, interactive activities, and more. While the site indicates that it is no longer being updated, the content is still useful and free!
- Microsoft Translator
- Dictionary.com: Translator
- duolingo, offers “Free language education for the world,” including French, Spanish and other languages. Includes apps for Apple and Android. Sign-up is required, but it is FREE!
- Français interactif: a French Program from University of Texas, Austin, with audio, video, and PDF downloads.
- Learn a Language: Free language-learning resources for nineteen languages!
- PROMT-Online Translation (Includes free downloads, dictionary, text-to-speech, etc.)
- RhymeZone Rhyming Dictionary
- SpanishDict
- WorldLingo Free Text Translation (also offers professional services)
Map Resources
- Google Maps
- Library of Congress: Maps (historical maps)
- MapQuest
News and Weather
Local News and Weather:
- Baton Rouge:
- The Advocate
- WAFB 9 TV (CBS affiliate)
- WBRZ 2 TV (ABC affiliate)
- BRProud.com WGMB Fox 44 TV (Fox affiliate) / WVLA 33 TV (NBC affiliate)
- New Orleans:
- WDSU TV (NBC affiliate)
- WGNO TV (ABC affiliate)
- WVUE FOX8 New Orleans (Fox affiliate)
- WWL TV (CBS affiliate)
- Louisiana Newspapers
National Weather:
National and Worldwide News:
- ABC News
- The Associated Press
- CBS News
- CDC Newsroom: Health news & announcements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- CNET News – Technology News
- CNN
- Forbes – Business & Finance News
- Fox News
- The Huffington Post
- Kiplinger – Business & Finance News
- MNT: Medical News Today
- MSNBC
- NBC News
- NPR: News
- ProPublica: Journalism in the Public Interest
- Reuters
- UPI: United Press International
- WebMD Health News
- Yahoo! News
- All You Can Read – a directory of over 22,000 local, national, and international newspapers and magazines from over 200 countries.
Louisiana State Agencies and Organizations
State and Local Agencies:
- Louisiana.gov
- Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
- Louisiana State Legislature
- State Library of Louisiana
- Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice
- Louisiana Statistical Analysis Center for crime statistics.
- Louisiana Municipal Association
- Police Jury Association of Louisiana: Parish Governments
Organizations:
- CABL: Council for a Better Louisiana
- LAE: Louisiana Association of Educators
- LFT: Louisiana Federation of Teachers
- Louisiana League of Women Voters
- LPA: Louisiana Press Association
- LPB: Louisiana Public Broadcasting
- Louisiana School Boards Association
- PAR: Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana
Federal Government Resources
General Information & Directories:
- Federal Service Desk
- GAO: U. S. Government Accountability Office
- Government Printing Office
- Library of Congress
- Smithsonian
- USA.gov
- US Government Web Services – a non-government directory of government data sources.
Census, Demographics, & Statistics:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Data.gov
- United States Census Bureau
- Census 2000
- Census 2010
- Census of Population and Housing – Includes data from decades as early as 1790 to the most recent.
- Census Bureau Library includes information in various multi-media formats.
- USAgov: Data and Statistics about the U. S.
Government & Law:
- America’s Founding Documents: The Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, & Bill of Rights
- Congress.gov The official website for U.S. federal legislative information.
- Federal Register: The Daily Journal of the United States Government.
- Office of the Law Revision Counsel – United States Code (Laws)
- U. S. Department of Justice
- U. S. Department of State
- U. S. House of Representatives
- U. S. Senate
- U. S. Supreme Court
- The White House
Law Enforcement & Crime:
- FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Uniform Crime Reporting for publications and statistics.
- U. S. Department of Justice
Health, Medicine, & Social Services:
- CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Health.gov
- HHS.gov: U. S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
- MedlinePlus from the U. S. National Library of Medicine
- National Institutes of Health
- PubMed from the U. S. National Library of Medicine
Military & Defense:
Science & Technology:
- FCC: Federal Communications Commission
- NASA: National Aeronautics & Space Administration
- NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- NSF: National Science Foundation
- Science.gov
- USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
- USGS: U. S. Geological Survey
- U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
Social Security & Government Benefits:
Taxes, Government Spending:
- IRS – Internal Revenue Service
- U. S. Department of Justice: Tax Division
- U. S. Department of the Treasury
National Organizations
Demographics & Statistics:
Government & Politics:
- U. S. State Policy, from the Pew Charitable Trusts, offers research and analysis of legal and policy issues from all 50 states.
- Stateline: from the Pew Charitable Trusts on the States, “provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy.”
- Public Citizen
Global Organizations and Resources
General Information & Organizations:
Statistics & Demographics:
- World Bank Open Data “Free and open access to global development data.”
- PRB: Population Reference Bureau
- United Nations Statistics Division
- United States Census Bureau: International Programs
- worldometers: real time world statistics
Economics & Development:
- OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- The World Bank
- UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
- World Trade Organization
Government & Military:
- European Union
- NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- OAS: Organization of American States
- United Nations
Miscellaneous Resources and Tools
Need to find area or zip codes, calculators, time zones, etc?
- All Area Codes
- AskNumbers – Measurement Conversion Calculator, Converter
- CalendarHome – offers free and fee-based calendars, date calculator and more.
- Calculators from math.com; includes unit converters and more!
- XE Currency Converter
- Find Area and Zip Codes, with reverse look-up from whitepages.com.
- Calculators from Bankrate.com.
- Look up a ZIP Code from the USPS.
- Official U. S. Time
- The Old Farmer’s Almanac offers information on weather, gardening, cooking, and more!
- The World Clock – Worldwide
Internet Search Tools
Search Engines & Directories – Contrary to popular belief, search engines do not search the entire World Wide Web. They collect information about websites using proprietary methods; some search other search engines (metasearch engines), some search for specific types of information or file types. Some will even customize searches to the user, his/her location, etc., meaning that two people using the exact same search tool and terms can get very different results! For best results, construct your search terms carefully and use a tool that’s appropriate for your needs.
- 360Daily: searches video on the web.
- Ask: “Q&A” platform.
- bing
- dogpile: returns all the best results from leading search engines including Google and Yahoo.
- DuckDuckGo: “The search engine that doesn’t track you.”
- EducationWorld: education-based includes other resources and tools.
- Entireweb: boasts “ultra-high-performance information retrieval.
- freesound: “aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio files released under Creative Commons licenses.”
- FindLaw: search for legal resources
- Healthline: health and medical information, resource and tools.
- LYCOS: in addition to searching, this offers a variety of options and resources.
- MSN: Microsoft’s web portal.
- Political Information: “a search engine for politics, policy and political websites.”
- USA.gov: the U. S. Government Information Portal.
- WolframAlpha: a “Computational Knowledge Engine,” that answers questions, does math, unit conversions and more.
- Yahoo!
- Yippy: clusters results, allows users to set preferences.
Connect to River Parishes Community College Social Media:
External websites and online resources linked on the RPCC Library website are beyond our control. We strive to ensure that our links function and that the resources we recommend are relevant, reliable, and valid. Please contact us if you experience any problems accessing our resources or find any dead links. Please mention the link title and the RPCC Library Services webpage where it was found.
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