Ready Reference Resources
Handy reference resources for fast facts, bibliographic information, and citation style help.
Library Contact
Scott Dennis
Contact:
209 Hatcher Graduate Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
(734) 647-6484
Website
Article Indexes (General)
Citation & Style Guides
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Citation Help GuideIncludes American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) Styles.
Dictionaries & Thesauri
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Merriam-Webster Unabridged DictionaryLargest, most comprehensive American dictionary. Includes Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus.
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Oxford English Dictionary (Third Edition)Most complete, authoritative dictionary of the English language, documenting past as well as present meanings and uses. Includes Historical Thesaurus.
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American Heritage Dictionary of the English LanguageFree online version of the 5th edition (2011) with audio word pronunciations.
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Thesaurus.comFree online version of Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus (3rd ed., 2013).
Encyclopedias
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Encyclopædia Britannica (Britannica Academic)Academic edition.
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Oxford Reference OnlineCombined access to hundreds of encyclopedias and dictionaries from Oxford University Press.
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Gale eBooksCombined access to hundreds of encyclopedias from Gale, Macmillan, and other publishers.
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AccessScienceCombines McGraw-Hill's Encyclopedia and Yearbooks of Science & Technology and Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms.
News & Events
Search full text of thousands of newspapers, magazines, blogs, broadcast transcripts, etc.
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Nexis UniFull-text access to over 15,000 sources of news, business, legal, and reference information worldwide.
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ProQuest News & Current EventsCombined access to all 50 ProQuest news databases, both historical and current, including ProQuest Global Newsstream.
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Access World News [NewsBank]Full text of 600+ U.S. newspapers and 260+ English-language newspapers from other countries worldwide.
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News Sources GuideAdditional sources of international, historical, local & political news.
People & Organizations
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Biography in ContextContains biographies on 528,000+ people from around the world and throughout history.
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Marquis Who's WhoBackground profiles of over 1.4 million persons of note, past and present.
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Data AxleWhite- and yellow-pages directory listings for all U.S. residences and businesses, with additional information.
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OrbisSingle largest database of public and private company information, including over 40 million firms worldwide.
Places
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Europa World PlusProfiles of every country and region in the world.
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Columbia Gazetteer of the World OnlineEncyclopedic database of geographical places and features of all kinds.
Publications & Media
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Gale Directory of Publications & Broadcast MediaCovers newspapers, with some circulation data, as well as radio and television stations.
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Ulrichsweb Global Serials DirectoryProvides information for 300,000+ periodical publications worldwide, including magazines, scholarly journals, book series, newsletters, newspapers, and electronic serials.
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WorldCatCombined catalog of millions of books, periodicals, sound recordings, videos, musical scores, archival materials, maps, electronic resources, etc., held in 10,000 libraries worldwide.
Last Updated: Nov 20, 2025 12:54 PM
Subjects: General Information Sources
Tags: ready reference shelf