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General Reference
Encyclopedias and Facts
Dictionaries and Languages
Maps and Gazetteers
Communication – telephone, e-mail, post etc
Encyclopaedias and Facts
Bloomsbury Research Centre
The Bloomsbury Research centre is a FREE on-line database of reference books. Over 17,000 entries are cross-referenced providing a wealth of information all linked and all fully indexed.
http://www.bloomsbury.com/arc/arc_home.asp?mscssid=AK722ALWEE199KTRGG7AX68E5AXH6N85&category_id=16
Britannica Online
Users of East Lothian Libraries now have access to the online version of Encyclopaedia Britannica. To access all of Encyclopaedia Britannica's services simply CLICK HERE, then when prompted simply enter your library card number or smartcard number.
http://library.eb.co.uk/eb?library_id=eastlothlibs
Encyclopedia.com
Encyclopedia.com is a free encyclopedia providing users with more than 57,000 frequently updated articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Each article is enhanced with links to newspaper and magazine articles as well as pictures and maps.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
KnowUK
East Lothian library members can now also access KnowUK, an online reference service. This service is normally only available though a subscription. However providing you have a valid East Lothian library membership card you can now access this information for free.
KnowUK contains over 100 reference publications which can all be searched simultaneously. Titles include: Willing's Press Guide, Whitaker's Almanack, Who's Who, Good Food Guide, Educational Grants Directory, Municipal Yearbook, and various Which? guides.
To access KnowUK simply click on the link above, enter your borrower number in the box and then click Submit Query.
http://www.knowuk.co.uk/barcode
NewsUK
East Lothian library members can now also access NewsUK. This is an online service combining the most popular British newspaper titles in one database. NewsUK is a companion service to KnowUK but searches newspapers rather than reference sources.
To access NewsUK simply click on the link below, enter your borrower number in the box and then click Submit Query.
http://www.newsuk.co.uk/barcode
Symbols.com
Symbols.com contains more than 1,600 articles about 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics.
http://symbols.com/
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Dictionaries and Languages
English Dictionaries
Scots and Gaelic Dictionaries
Multi-Language and Translation Tools
English Dictionaries
AskOxford
Online dictionary from the Oxford University Press.
http://www.askoxford.com/
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
Search Cambridge English Dictionaries online.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Chambers Reference Online
Chambers 21st Dictionary and Chambers thesaurus
http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/chref/chref.py/main
The World Wide Web Acronyms and Abbreviations Server
Dictionary of acronyms and abbreviations
http://silmaril.ie/cgi-bin/uncgi/acronyms
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Scots and Gaelic Dictionaries
Dictionary of the Scots Language
Comprises electronic editions of the two major historical dictionaries of the Scots language: the 12-volume Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (DOST) and the 10-volume Scottish National Dictionary (SND).
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/
The School Gaelic Dictionary
Gaelic dictionary for use by learners of the language.
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MF2/index.html
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Multi-language and translation tools
Babelfish
Online translation tool
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
BBC Languages
Beginner’s courses in a variety of languages from the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
Ethnologue
An encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world’s 6,912 known living languages.
http://www.ethnologue.com/web.asp
Google Language Tools
Translate words and phrases using Google’s language tools.
http://www.google.co.uk/language_tools?hl=en
WordReference
The WordReference Dictionaries are free online translation dictionaries.
http://wordreference.com/
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Maps and Gazetteers
General
Scottish Gazetteers
Gazeteers - General
Historical
Street and Roadmaps
General
British Cartographic Society
Click 'About the BCS' for a list of useful cartographic links: bookshops, map publishers, map software etc.
http://www.cartography.org.uk/
Ordnance Survey
The site of Britain's national mapping agency. Find here details of maps, guides and CDs available. Under 'Free & Fun' you can search for locations in the UK (at 1:50 000 scale).
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
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Scottish Gazetteers
The Gazetteer for Scotland
A vast encyclopaedia, featuring details of towns, villages, bens and glens from the Scottish Borders to the Northern Isles.
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/
SCAN Gazetteer of Scottish Places
Answers specific problems relating to places encountered by researchers using historical records in Scotland, such as valuation rolls; census returns; civil registers of births, marriages and deaths; and tax records.
http://www.scan.org.uk/knowledgebase/search/gazetteer_indexnew.asp
Ancestral Scotland
The VisitScotland genealogical tourism site containing a search device for places and parishes.
http://www.ancestralscotland.com/
Scottish Placename Society
A project looking at, among other things, the etymology of Scottish placenames.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/institutes/sassi/spns/
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Gazetteers – General
Gazetteer of British Place Names
This gazetteer provides an exhaustive place name index to Britain (over 50,000 entries) and includes alternative spellings and Welsh and Gaelic versions. For each place entry, details of the old or geographical county name are given plus 'the name of the most important administrative areas' (i.e. of local government, police, health authority, region and lieutenancy). and grid reference.
http://www.gazetteer.co.uk/
Global Gazetteer
Search for towns and cities by country.
http://www.calle.com/world/
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Historical
Gateway to Map History/History of Cartography
A gateway site from the Institute of Historical Research. Includes links to: images of early maps, map collections, map collecting sites, map societies sites, web projects concerned with early mapping and further links and gateways.
http://www.maphistory.info/
Genmaps: Online Old Maps of Great Britain
Search by county (pre 1974 boundaries) for maps from England, Scotland and Wales from the 14th to the 19th century .
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ ~genmaps
Landmark Old Maps
Use the 'Gazetteer' to find a selection of old maps for a specific county or search by place name or co-ordinates.
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/
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Street and Roadmaps
Multimap
Use the 'advanced search', to find a map of a place or an area in the UK (shows street names), to locate an address, or to calculate mileage and travel times to any street in the UK. Grid references and map co-ordinates are listed below the map. This site also includes maps of Europe and the world, a London tube map and aerial and historic photos of a selection of places in the UK.
http://uk2.multimap.com
UK Street Map
Street and road atlas maps for the whole of mainland Britain.
www.streetmap.co.uk
Map24
Award-winning site offering excellent maps and clear route planning.
www.uk.map24.com
Google Maps
Map and route planning functions. Also enables users to create their own maps.
maps.google.co.uk
ViaMichelin
Select the map tab to find maps of European cities (plus information on hotels, restaurants, weather and routes).
http://www.viamichelin.com/
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Communication – telephone, e-mail, post etc
Dialling Codes
Free E-mail Accounts
Postal Services and Postcodes
Telephone Directorites
Telephone Preference Service
Dialing Codes
International Dialing Codes
http://www.countrycallingcodes.com/
UK Phone Information
The UK Telephone Code Locator takes telephone numbers, access/short codes, exchange names or the name of a location
http://www.ukphoneinfo.com/
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Free E-mail Accounts
Easy.Com
Simple to use free e-mail account from the EasyGroup. Excellent for users new to e-mail.
www.easy.com
Free e-mail address directory
Lists 100s of free e-mail address providers including lists of services in different languages. Excellent web site for users whose first language is not English.
http://www.emailaddresses.com/
Google Mail
E-mail from those behind Google. Sign up from this screen by sending a text or by invitation from an existing Gmail user.
https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1
Hotmail
Hotmail
www.hotmail.com
Yahoo Mail
Yahoo Mail
www.yahoo.com
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Postal Services and Postcodes
Post Office
Post Office
www.postoffice.co.uk
Postcodes
Enter a postcode to find an address or vice versa. Registration is required to use the site.
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm
Postwatch
Postwatch is an independent organisation, not attached to the Royal Mail Group or part of the Government. It was set up to ensure that post offices, Parcelforce, Royal Mail and any competing postal providers, give the best service possible to customers.
www.postwatch.co.uk
Royal Mail
Royal Mail
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm
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Telephone Directories
UK
World
UK
A variety of websites offer free Directory Enquiry Services. Some require registration, so make sure you tick the "do not send me further information" box, or else you may receive unsolicited marketing material.
118118.com
Unlimited searches. No need to register.
www.118118.com
192.com
A business telephone directory. You can search the whole country at once by name, location or business classification. 10 free searches per day. Registration includes additional search facilities e.g. viewing the electoral roll (although some services require payment by purchasing credits)
www.192.com
Ukphonebook.com
Allows five free searches a day if you register.
Ukphonebook.com
AskAlix
UK business directory, search by product, town, county or postcode.
www.askalix.com/uk/
British Telecom Directory Enquiries
Search for business and residential numbers in the UK. Unlimited searches, no need to register.
http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/
Mobile118
Searchable UK mobile phone directory. Registration required.
http://mobile118.co.uk/
Scoot
A yellow-pages-type directory. Search companies by business type and town or by company name. Includes a cinema finder.
http://www.scoot.co.uk/
ThomWeb
The Thomson directories, searchable by company name, business type, town or county.
http://www.infospace.com/%20uk.thomw/
Yellow Pages
Search 1.7 million businesses in the UK (except the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands).
www.yell.co.uk
Finally always check saynoto0870 for cheaper alternatives to 0845, 0870, 0871 numbers.
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World
AskAlix
Business directory, search for business contact details for over 22 million companies in Europe. To search by country scroll down the opening page and click on the link to the international versions of the site.
www.askalix.com
Telephone Directories on the Web
Index to worldwide telephone directories, with useful descriptions of each site. Includes yellow and white pages, business directories, e-mail address and fax listings.
http://www.infobel.com/%20teldir/%20default.asp
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Telephone Preference Service
Telephone Preference Service
If you would like to choose not to have unsolicited telephone calls you can register with the Telephone Preference Service.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/
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