Free Online Resources and Tools

Need to find people, businesses, or services? Try these!

• AnyWho: Finding People, Places and Businesses (from AT&T; includes Yellow pages, Reverse Lookup & Area/Zip Code Lookup)
• WhitePages
• yellowbook

Use these resources for background information and quick references.

• Great Books Online from Bartleby (includes dictionaries, thesauri, etc.)
  • Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
• 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.
• Your Dictionary, includes a thesaurus, quotes, and more.

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
  • Open Journal Archives
• 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

• Better Business Bureau
• Business USA
• 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

• U.S. Department of Education
• Education USA
• Federal Student Aid
• FAFSA
• KnowHow2Go

• EDSITEment offers lesson plans and student activities 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).

• 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.gov: Jobs: Search for state and private-sector employment and other resources.
  • State Civil Service
• Louisiana Workforce Commission works to connect businesses & jobs with people.
  • Louisiana Star Jobs: Find a Job or Explore Careers.
  • My Life. My Way. Use this to estimate living expenses, and more.
• Post your resume on the Louisiana Job Connection!
• 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.
• USA JOBS: Working for America – search for jobs with the U. S. Government!

See also our Career Information & Job Seeking Resources page for more.

• 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

• APHA: American Public Health Association
• CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • CDC Learning Connection
• Eatright: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• 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
  • healthhfinder.gov
• WebMD
• WHO: World Health Organization

• 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
• Dictionarist: Online Talking Translation Dictionary (note that the spoken word is the one entered for translation, not the result)
• 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 eight languages!
• PROMT-Online Translation (Includes free downloads, dictionary, text-to-speech, etc.)
• RhymeZone Rhyming Dictionary
• SpanishDict
• StudySpanish.com offers a limited free student membership, but also offers premium memberships.
• WorldLingo Free Text Translation (also offers professional services)

• Google Maps
• Library of Congress: Maps (historical maps)
• MapQuest

Local News & 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 Weather Service
  • National Hurricane Center
• The Weather Channel
• The Weather Underground

National & 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.

State & Local Agencies:

• Louisiana.gov
• Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness
  • Emergency Preparedness: Get a Game Plan
• 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
• LANO: Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations
• 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

General Information & Directories:

• Federal Service Desk
• GAO: U. S. Government Accountability Office
• Government Printing Office
• Library of Congress
• Smithsonian
• USA.gov
  • Government Agencies and Elected Officials
• 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
  • Bureau of Justice Statistics

Health, Medicine, & Social Services

• CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • CDC Learning Connection
• Health.gov
• HHS.gov: U. S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
• MedlinePlus from the U. S. National Library of Medicine
• National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health
• PubMed from the U. S. National Library of Medicine

Military & Defense:

• U. S. Department of Defense
  • U. S. Air Force
  • U. S. Army
  • U. S. Marine Corps
  • U. S. Navy
  • National Guard
    • Louisiana National Guard
  • U. S. Coast Guard
• Selective Service System Online Registration

Science & Technology:

• FCC: Federal Communications Commission
• NASA: National Aeronautics & Space Administration
  • JPL: Jet propulsion Laboratory
  • NASA’s Stream on SoundCloud
• NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • NOAA Central Library
• NSF: National Science Foundation
• Science.gov
• USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
  • National Agricultural Library
• USGS: U. S. Geological Survey
• U. S. Patent and Trademark Office

Social Security & Government Benefits:

• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
• Social Security Administration

Taxes, Government Spending:

• IRS – Internal Revenue Service
• U. S. Department of Justice: Tax Division
• U. S. Department of the Treasury

Demographics & Statistics:

• ICPSR: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

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

General Information & Organizations:

• CIA World Factbook

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
  • Population Clocks
• 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

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

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
• AOL Search
• Ask: “Q&A” platform
• bing
• BPubs.com: a business directory
• Dogpile: a metasearch engine; searches Google, yahoo! and Bing, among others
• DuckDuckGo: “The search engine that doesn’t track you.”
• Education World: 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
• Google
  • Google scholar
• Healthline: health and medical information, resource and tools
• Infospace: a metasearch engine, searching Google, Yahoo! and bing
• LYCOS: in addition to searching, this offers a variety of options and resources
• MSN: Microsoft’s web portal
• Millie: Northern Light: a business research source.
• Political Information: “a search engine for politics, policy and political websites”
• Startpage: this search engine protects users’ privacy
• 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