Pierce College Library: Reference Web Starting Points

Internet Resources for Reference

Dictionaries
Encyclopedias
Quotations
Biographies
Statistics
Directories (Phone and E-mail)
Government Sites
Washington State Sites
Consumer Complaints and Issues
Research and Special Libraries
Internet Libraries
Media
Awards
Online Bookstores
Urban Myths and Legends
Other Sites of Interest

Dictionaries

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: This is more than just an online version of the print edition of the dictionary with this same title. Some words in this online version include sound clips of pronunciation (which is very useful for ESL students wanting to know how to say words); illustrations; long descriptions (almost like encyclopedia entries); and phrases or sentences illustrating how words are used. This is a terrific dictionary to bookmark as one of your favorites. (Maintained by Bartleby.com.)
See also our Language Links, including links to language dictionaries, in our Humanities Starting Points.
Merriam-Webster online: At this site, you can choose to search the dictionary for definitions or the thesaurus for synonyms. This site also has a wide range of features and services, like Word of the Day (an email subscription list) and word games. (Maintained by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.)
Webopedia: This dictionary/encyclopedia specializes in computer and Internet technology terms and phrases. It is hypertext, so when definitions include other terms you're unfamiliar with, their definitions are just a click away. (Maintained by internet.com Corp.)
Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus: This combination dictionary/thesaurus will show you definitions, synonyms, and similar words for each word you type in. You can then click on the synonyms and similar words to see their definitions. This site also has other features and services, like Word of the Week. (Maintained by Wordsmyth Collaboratory.)
yourDictionary.com: When you type a word into this dictionary, you simply see a definition, a button that will lead you to a thesaurus search, and a very useful pronunciation key. If you're looking for a word that is in a non-English language, start here. The home page of this site also leads you to places where you can search in hundreds of different languages! (Maintained by Robert Beard.)
Acronym Finder: Search this database if you are looking for meanings of acronyms or abbreviations. Did you know that F.I.A.T. has 12 different meanings? (Maintained by Mountain Data Systems.)

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia.com: Here you'll find more than 57,000 articles (more than twice what you'll find in the free online version of Encarta) from the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Articles are updated frequently and include links to newspaper & magazine articles, and illustrations. (Maintained by HighBeam Research, LLC..)
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: This is a good starting point for encyclopedia-type information on just about any topic under the sun: from Aeronautics to Zoology. (Maintained by Smithsonian Institution.)
World Factbook: Here you can read brief descriptions for quick information about many countries throughout the world. (Maintained by U.S. CIA.)
LC Country Studies: If you're looking for information on specific countries, this is the place to start! Search for a particular country and you'll find a description analyzing its political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors. (Prepared and maintained by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army.)
GLBTQ.com: The goal of this searchable encyclopedia is to "serve as the most comprehensive, accessible, and authoritative online resource about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (glbtq) culture." Nearly a thousand entries with graphics cover thousands of glbtq people who have "influenced society through literature and the arts, including film, dance, fashion, and sports." Authors of the encyclopedia entries are hundreds of well-respected artists, scholars, and professionals. (Maintained by glbtq, Inc..)

Quotations

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations. The Most Notable Quotations: 1950-1988: If you're looking for a quotation from a contemporary source, start here. There are over 10,000 quotations from 4,000 sources divided into 25 categories with 60 sections ranging from "love" to "criminology." (Compiled by James B. Simpson maintained by Bartleby.com.)
Familiar Quotations (AKA Bartlett's Familiar Quotations ): This is an online version of the tenth edition of this classic (printed in 1919). Search for any keyword (subject, author, source) or browse through an alphabetical list of all the included authors. (Compiled by John Bartlett maintained by Bartleby.com.)
xrefer: When you first access this site, from the pull-down menu next to the search box, select "quotations." With just one search it looks in all of the following: Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Bloomsbury Thematic Dictionary of Quotations, and the Bloomsbury Biographical Dictionary of Quotations. (Maintained by xrefer.com)

Biographies

Historical People (Google): This leads you to collections of sites with biographical information about historical figures. Sub-categories here are are topics like Artists, Authors, By Region, By Time Period, Explorers, Philosophers, Rulers and Royalty, etc. (Maintained by Google.)
Biography.Com: This is another great biography site and is the home of A&E's Biography. It includes many people, from Arnold Bennett to Mike Meyers to Frank Lloyd Wright. (Maintained by A&E Television Networks.)
The Biographical Dictionary: This is a decent starting point online for biographical information when you have nothing more than a name to search for. (Maintained by The Biographical Dictionary.)

Statistics

Fedstats: Gathered on this site are statistics produced by more than 70 Federal government agencies. (Maintained and updated by the individual Federal agencies on their own web servers.)
Statistical Abstracts from 1878 - present: This is an online version of the book by the same title (available in Pierce College Library). The biggest added feature when accessing this data online is that you can search the text of the book. The site is self-described: "Statistical Abstract data present here ranges from our most recent edition to the historical abstracts compiled throughout the decades. Some of the data were scanned as an effort to make historical abstract information available to the public." (Maintained by U.S. Census Bureau.)
NationMaster.com: This awesome site allows you tell the database what stats you want and creates customized charts showing the results! It's very useful for creating illustrations for papers. You can look at prepared rankings (like Richest, Most Athletic, and Most Trigger Happy) or browse subject categories like Crime, Economy, Education, Labor, Religion, Sports, Transportation, and more. This site is a terrific place to start looking for statistics comparing nations. (Maintained by Luke Metcalfe.)
Statistical Resources on the Web: This is a list of many other statistics-oriented web sites broken down by subject making it very easy to find what you're looking for. (Maintained by University of Michigan, Documents Center.)
U.S. Census: Here you'll find statistics kept and analyzed by the U.S. Census Bureau: housing, income, foreign trade, and MUCH more! (Maintained by U.S. Census Bureau.)
Population Reference Bureau: This site claims to be a "one-stop source for U.S. population data" covering areas like "Children," "Education," "Marriage and the Family," "Migration," "Income and Poverty," and much more. Choose one of those topics and you will see articles, charts, and tables related to statistics on that topic. (Maintained by Population Reference Bureau.)
City-Data.com: This self-described site has "collected and analyzed data from numerous sources to create as complete and interesting profiles of thousands of U.S. cities as we could. We have pictures, maps, satellite photos, stats about residents (race, income, ancestries, education, employment...), geographical data, crime data, weather, hospitals, schools, libraries, airports, radio and TV stations, zip codes, area codes, similar cities list, comparisons to averages... If you ever need to research any city for any reason, from considering a move there to just checking where somebody you know is staying, this is the site for you." (Maintained by City-Data.com.)
Bureau of Labor Statistics: If you're hunting for economic (labor force) statistics, this is a great place to begin. Statistics are collected in categories (like "Inflation and Consumer Spending," "Wages, Earnings, & Benefits," (Maintained by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

Directories (Phone and E-mail) Phone

InfoSpace.com: Access to over 112 million U.S. and Canadian listings of people, government offices and businesses. Search for a listing by name, address, business category or do a reverse lookup by phone number. You can access federal, state and local people and addresses, as well as embassy information under the Government section. The International section includes listings for several European countries and the World Directories section lists available phone books for the rest of the world. (Maintained by Infospace.)
Anywho: Find Telephone Numbers and Addresses: AT&T's directory service database is the most feature-rich phone book on the Internet. You can do reverse lookups, ask for a street proximity listing for a business or residential listing, use their "sounds like" match for last name lookups, and get maps of the address (from their sister site MapsOnUs). It lets you edit or delete your entry, and requires confirmation by a telephone call from the phone number in question. There are 90 million white pages listings and 10 million yellow pages listings. E-mail, Home Page, FAX, and Toll-Free Number information is included if supplied by users. (Maintained by AT&T.)
Polk Directories: Like the print versions of the Polk directories, you can search for a phone number and find out the person or business assigned that number. You can also search by name. Entries are linked to MapQuest so you can get a map and driving directions to listed addresses. It also includes marketing information like average home price, average length of home ownership, and average age of resident! (Maintained by Polk Directories.)
Switchboard: Claims phone numbers for 93 million people and 11 million businesses. Queries can be made with just a name or searches can be narrowed by state or city. (Maintained by Switchboard Inc.)
Telephone Directories on the Web: This is the Internet's original and most complete index of online phone books, with links to Yellow Pages, White Pages, Business Directories, Email Addresses and Fax Listings from over 150 countries all around the world. (Maintained by CallNOW.com, Inc.)

Bigfoot: If you're trying to locate someone's email address, this is THE place to start searching. (Maintained by Bigfoot International, Inc.)
Switchboard: The same directory as described above provides search engines for e-mail addresses as well as phone numbers. (Maintained by Switchboard Inc.)

Government Sites
Federal

FirstGov: Looking for a starting point to access government information? This is an official site of the U. S. Government, but rather than being organized by agency (like most government web sites), it is organized by topic (like Agriculture, Arts, Environment, Recreation, etc.). You can also search the site for your key terms. (Maintained by the FirstGov Team of the President's Management Council.)
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Search for the biographies of anyone who has served in Congress from 1774 through the present by name, position, or state. (Maintained by the U.S. Congress.)
Congress (Thomas - Legislative Information on the Internet): This is the largest disseminator of national legislative information in the world. Among its offerings are bill summaries & status, full text of bills, major legislation enacted into law, the Congressional Record and its Index, Congressional Committee information, Congressional directory information, information about the legislative process, and a selection of historical documents. (Maintained by Library of Congress.)
Federal Judiciary Home Page: This site is a clearinghouse for information from and about the Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government. Its document "Understanding The Federal Courts" (in the "About the U.S. Courts" section) gives a description of how the U.S. Federal Courts operate. You can find selected articles from The Third Branch, the monthly newsletter of the federal courts, recent Press Releases, and information about online access to U.S. federal court information and records. (Maintained by U.S. Federal Judiciary.)
GPO Access: Here you can find official federal government information that provides free access to many documents produced by the Federal Government. The information provided on this site is the official, published version and the information retrieved from GPO Access can be used without restriction, unless specifically noted. (Maintained by U.S. Goverment Printing Office.)
The White House: This is the official web site for the White House. You'll find information about the President, Vice-President, and their wives (biographies, accomplishments, speeches and addresses). You can also access briefings and press releases. (Maintained by the White House.)
FedForms.gov: Looking for forms distributed by the federal government? This is the place to start. Most forms used by Federal agencies are available on this site. There are also links to other resources for forms.
U.S. Government Information on the Web Subject Index: If you're having trouble locating web sites with government documents, try using this index. Search the list of documents or browse by subject and keyword. Some of the links are to general resource pages, while others are to specific electronic publications. (Maintained by St. Mary's University, Blume Library.)
U.S. Dept of Justice: Info produced by the Dept of Justice is available here. To find specific divisions or departments (like National Institute of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Center, or Office of Tribal Justice, for example) click on the like for "Alphabetical List of Components." Also check out their "Publications and Documents" link. (Maintained by U.S. Dept of Justice.)

Washington State

See also Washington State section below.
Access Washington -- Washington State Government Information & Services: Access Washington is the state Internet portal providing interactive government services online to help meet the needs of businesses and the people of Washington. You can find everything from information about the state budget to disaster planning to home-based instruction to winning lottery numbers! If you need information about Washington state, start here. (Maintained by the Washington State Department of Information.)
Find-It! Washington: GILS (Government Information Locator Service) is a program of the Washington State Library dedicated to providing public access to government information. The main product of Washington's GILS is Find-It! Washington, a collection of online search tools to help citizens find government information. WAGILS is continually exploring technologies and techniques to help you find relevant information quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.(Maintained by the Washington State Library.)
Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP): The Institute was established "to carry out practical, non-partisan research-at legislative direction-on issues of importance to Washington State." They use their own policy analysts and economists, specialists, and consultants, but their staff works closely with legislators, legislative and state agency staff, and experts in the field to ensure that studies answer relevant policy questions. On this site you can read about their current projects or access publications (read or download the full-text of these). (Maintained by WSIPP.)
Office of Financial Management, State of Washington (OFM): Among many tasks of this office, they povide estimates of state and local population, monitor changes in the state economy and labor force, and conduct research on a variety of issues affecting the state budget and public policy. From their web site you can view population, economic and labor force information like "Population of Cities, Towns, and Counties," "Profile of Working Families with Children," "Health Insurance Coverage of Washington's Non-Elderly Population," "Temporary and Part-Time Workers in Washington State," and more. (Maintained by OFM.)
Washington Voter: If you need any kind of election information, this is THE site for you. Some of the features you'll find useful are the online voters guides from the Secretary of State (just like the print ones you get in the mail); audio and video of live events produced by TVW (Washington's public affairs channel); information on campaign finance from government monitoring agencies and citizen watchdog groups; and an "issues grid" with candidate debates on issues at the presidential, congressional and statewide levels and on local issues in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Spokane counties. (Maintained by League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund.)
U.S. District Court -- Western District of Washington: This site contains general information about the court serves as the federal trial court for the western region of the state of Washington. (Maintained by U.S. District Court -- Western District of Washington.)
U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Washington: This site contains general information about the court that serves as the federal trial court for the eastern region of the state of Washington. c U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Washington.)

Pierce County

Pierce County: From the official site of Pierce County you can access Assessor-Treasurer records on tax information (for the county and for indvidual parcels of land in the county), see a roll call of who's in jail today, and search for cases in the court system by name, and view lists of job openings with the county. The site is searchable or you can browse topics by department (for example: Assessor-Treasurer, Auditor, County Council, District Courts, Facilities Management, Parks & Recreation, Sheriff, Superior Court). (Maintained by Pierce County.)

Lakewood, Steilacoom, Puyallup, and Tacoma

City of Lakewood: Information about the city is divided into categories like Government, Council Meetings, Jobs, Economic Development, Parks Division, Community Profile, and Municipal Court to name a few. Each category provides you with detailed information about Lakewood. For example, in the Community Profile you can see Lakewood's unemployment rate, population, climate, cost of living, average household income, and average housing cost. (Maintained by City of Lakewood, Washington.)
Steilacoom Chamber of Commerce: This is merely a collection of local resources and information including lodging, shopping, gifts, crafts, art, restaurants, museums, calendar of events, schools, and ferry schedules. (Maintained by Steilacoom Chamber of Commerce.)
City of Puyallup: Search the city's web site or browse their online information by major topics like Council Agenda, Last Council Minutes, Previous Minutes, Council Members, Election Results, Municipal Code, and City Phone Numbers. (Maintained by City of Puyallup, Washington.)
City of Tacoma: Here you'll find information about the city government, tourist attractions, and city services. There are links to schools, libraries, and other Tacoma-related sites, including information about Tacoma's international trade and cultural heritage, neighborhoods and business districts. (Maintained by City of Tacoma, Washington.)

Washington State Sites

See also the Washington State section under Government Links above.
The History Guy -- Washington State Government and Politics: Use this page to research the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of Washington state government. Links to Washington state political parties and candidates are updated periodically. This page also contains links to web pages and email for Washington's Federal Senators and Representatives. (Maintained by Roger A. Lee.)
History of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge: This is an amazing online exhibit that documentes the history of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. The exhibit includes photographs and text illustrating the background, building, and collapse of the bridge. Some shocking photos of the bridge as it is buckling and falling into the water are included. (Maintained by University of Washington Libraries' Special Collections in the University Archives.)
HistoryLink.org: This historical encyclopedia for the state of Washington is especially thorough in covering Seattle and King County (the original focus of this site). Included on the site are essays, timelines, maps, photo essays, and directories. Most essays on the site are written by their staff or consultants. (Maintained by History Ink.)
Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC): PSRC is the regional growth management and transportation planning agency for the central Puget Sound region in Washington state and its members are cities and towns and other agencies interested in transportation and growth management. Read about the organization (purpose, goals, history), its projects, or data and publications available from them. The kinds of Puget Sound area data you can access are about population trends, traffic, and housing, for example. (Maintained by PSRC.)
TRIBnet Census 2000: State census data, articles, and links to other census-related web sites are collected here for easy retrieval. (Maintained by The News Tribune.)

Consumer Complaints and Issues

Federal Consumer Information Center: This is the place to begin looking for consumer information from the U.S. government. Information covering just about everything, including identity theft, funerals, car buying, and house buying. Take a look. (Maintained by Federal Consumer Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration.)

Research and Special Libraries

Smithsonian Institution: You may have heard of the Smithsonian Museums, but did you know that it is also a research institution? This site has a wealth of information from various research centers and galleries like Museum of the American Indian, National Postal Museum , National Air and Space Museum, Center for Latino Initiatives, Materials Research and Education, and the Marine Station at Fort Pierce to name a few. (Maintained by Smithsonian Institution.)

Internet Libraries

Infomine--Scholarly Internet Resource Collections: This is a guide to academic Internet resources. Topic areas include: biology, agriculture, and medicine; government information; maps and GIS; physical sciences, engineering, computing, and math; social sciences and humanities; visual and performing arts; instructional resources; and a section on "Internet enabling tools." Each topic page allows you to search by keyword, title, or subject, as well as to browse indices of all three. A "what's new" page is available for each topic. One of the strongest features of this site is each topic's "table of contents" page, which serves as a Yahoo-like hierarchical browsing tool and demonstrates the vast scope of this project. (Maintained by University of California, Riverside.)
Librarian's Index to the Internet: Also known as the Berkeley Digital Library, this site has connections to over 30 digital text and image collections, hundreds of library catalogs, location aids for selected archival collections, and tools for clients and servers such as Adobe Acrobat, Quicktime VR, the Scout Toolkit, DynaWeb, Harvest, and WebZ, among others. Network information resources are included on topics such as copyright and intellectual property, current awareness, imaging, and preservation. (Maintained by University of California-Berkeley and Sun Microsystems.)
Internet Public Library: This was the first public library of the Internet (that's "of" the Internet not "on" the Internet) created to serve the public by finding, evaluating, selecting, organizing, describing, and creating quality information resources. They provide links to quality web sites for various topics. (Maintained by University of Michigan School of Information.)
Best Information on the Net (BIOTN): This site has links to web sites organized by subject and cateogories like "Hot Paper Topics", "Important Sites by Major", "News", "Picture Sources", and "Surviving College". (Maintained by O'Keefe Library at St. Ambrose University.)

Awards

Nobel e-Museum: This is the official web site of the Nobel Foundation, which is well-known for its prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. On its site you can read about Nobel Symposia, prize amounts, and visit a virtual Nobel museum of science and culture on Internet presenting popular, educational, and scientific documents describing work recognized by the Nobel Prizes. (Maintained by Nobel Foundation.)
Pulitzer Prizes: A list of winners, finalists, and the Prize Board and Juries is available at the Pulitzer Web site. The archive provides information about all past winners and their works, including winning photos, editorial cartoons, music clips and the full text of all winning articles. (Maintained by Pulitzer Board.)

Online Bookstores
New Books (and sometimes used)

Amazon.com
Powells: Portland bookstore selling new and used books. Offers online component.
Barnes and Noble
Borders Books and Music

Used Books

Abebooks
Alibris
Bookfinder: Searches Abebooks, Bibliofind, Amazon.com, Powells and more. As a result, sometimes searches are a little slower.

Media

Mass Media in General

See also our Journalism Links in our Humanities Starting Points.
Communication Studies Resources: This web site categorizes media-related issues & provides links to useful, reputable web pages about those issues. Some of the many categories included are: Advertising; Film studies; Gender, ethnicity, and race; and Media studies. (Maintained by Karla Tonella of University of Iowa Department of Communication Studies.)
Media Literacy Online Project: This thorough site focuses on how media influences children (and youth). It includes directories, links to online journals, articles and bibliographies, media organizations, media news, and much more. It also provides information for parents and discussions of many specific issues. (Maintained by the College of Education, University of Oregon.)
Media Awareness Network (MNet): This is a fantastic site for information on media-related issues. It's a Canadian site, so it does include a lot of Canadian information, but it includes plenty of non-Canadian information, too. Some of the many issues included are: children and violence; ratings; cultural diversity; hate; and privacy. This web site is searchable! (Maintained by Media Awareness Network.)
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR): FAIR is a media watch group, which exposes "well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship." Their web site states that they "work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information." (Maintained by FAIR.)
Accuracy In Media (AIM): FAIR is another media watch group, which describes itself as a "grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage." (Maintained by AIM.)

News Sources, Stations, and Programs

NewsDirectory.com: Search titles of magazines and newspapers from around the world, or browse by country of publication. Most sites include English-language content (plug-ins are required for some languages). (Maintained by NewsDirectory.com.)
TotalNEWS: "All the News, On the Net, All the Time." This news search engine allows you to search through dozens of newspapers by typing in one search. It then leads you to the full text of relevant articles. You can also go directly to any one of many national and world newspapers, TV, and radio news sites (like NPR, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, etc.) When publications are not in English, notes indicate their language (plug-ins are required for some languages). (Maintained by TotalNEWS Inc..)
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR): FAIR is a media watch group, which exposes "well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship." Their web site states that they "work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information." (Maintained by FAIR.)
Accuracy In Media (AIM): FAIR is another media watch group, which describes itself as a "grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage." (Maintained by AIM.)

Television Stations and Programs

Local

KOMO 4 (Seattle)
KING 5 (Seattle)
KIRO 7 (Seattle)
KCTS 9 (Seattle) Public Television.
U.S.

Northwest Cable News (U.S.) Northwestern U.S.-related interests.

CNN (U.S.) world news
C-SPAN (U.S.) public affairs
Worldwide

BBC News (U.K.) British news
ITN (U.K.) world news

Newspapers

Local

Tacoma News Tribune
Seattle Times
U.S.

New York Times
Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
Christian Science Monitor
Worldwide

Associated Press (AP)
This is a not-for-profit cooperative through which most news agencies receive stories.

Weather News (For local weather see the television and newspaper sites above.)
UM Weather
Sure, you can find the usual forecasts on this site, but you can also read the latest warnings, radar, maps, computer model forecasts, special weather statements, severe thunderstorm, tornado, and flood warnings. But wait, there's more! There are links to other useful weather-related sites as well. (Maintained by The Weather Underground at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.)
National Weather Service
You can find just about any kind of weather data here: from current conditions and maps, to storm prediction, to satellite imagery, to warnings! (Maintained by Jim Fenix of the National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.)

Radio Stations and Programs

Tacoma

KEXP (Tacoma & Seattle, Experience Music Project) Eclectic music: independent, local, world, theme shows, etc.
KFNK 104.9 (Tacoma) Alternative, hard, and heavy rock .
KPLU 88.5 (Tacoma, Pacific Lutheran University) National Public Radio
Seattle

KING FM 98.1 (Seattle) Classical music.
KIRO 710 (Seattle) News and talk.
KISW 99.9 (Seattle) Rock music.
KJR 95.7 (Seattle) Hits of the 60s and 70s.
KMPS 94.1 (Seattle) Country music.
KMTT 103.7 (Seattle) Adult, eclectic rock.
KNDD 107.7 (Seattle) Contemporary rock.
KNHC 89.5 (Seattle)
KOMO 1000 (Seattle) News and talk.
KPLZ 101.5 (Seattle) Hits of the 80s and 90s.
96.5 JACK-FM (Seattle)
KUOW 94.9 (Seattle, University of Washington) National Public Radio
KVI 570 (Seattle)
KWJZ 98.9 (Seattle) Smooth jazz.
KZOK 102.5 (Seattle) Classic rock.
Olympia

KAOS (Olympia, Evergreen State College) Eclectic music: independent, local, world, theme shows, etc.
KGY 1240 and 96.9 (Olympia) Contemporary rock.
Bellevue

KRWM 106.9 (Bellevue) Soft rock.
U.S.

National Public Radio (NPR)
Special Issues or Points-of-view

Native Voice
Native Voice provides current news about Native Americans. The current program and some archived programs are available free on their web site. (Maintained by Native Voice Media.)

WINGS: Women's International News Gathering Service
WINGS "is an all-woman independent radio production company that produces and distributes news and current affairs programs by and about women around the world." On their web site, you can listen to WINGS programs and connect to links related to the stories aired by WINGS. (Maintained by WINGS.)

Free Speech Radio News (FSRN)
FSRN is an independent, progressive radio newscast that is owned and managed by news reporters. It includes over 200 journalists reporting from and 57 countries around the worldi (ncluding Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Argentina, Mexico and Nigeria) and 40 states within the U.S.. Their web site further explains that this organization "supports peace and social justice. It emphasizes decentralized production, and the collective input of Pacifica stations, affiliates and other community media. The FSRN steering committee strives for diversity in ethnicity, gender, class and sexual orientation in the staff and reporting pool. FSRN is administered by Pacifica Reporters Against Censorship (PRAC)." (Maintained by FSRN.)

Urban Myths and Legends

Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com): This is an extremely useful site full of many legends and myths, both oral and online, and is searchable for easy retrieval of information on any legend you might want to get facts on. (Maintained by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson.)
UrbanMyths.com: Search this site for information on popular urban myths passed on orally, by mail, by phone and by e-mail. (Maintained by UrbanMyths.com.)
AFU & Urban Legends Archive: This site has legends divided by category (like animals, celebrities, Disney, politics, etc) and is also searchable. It collects legends and myths from a variety of sources, including those that are posted on the Alt.Folklore.Urban (AFU) newsgroup. (Maintained by Jason R. Heimbaugh.)
TruthOrFiction.com: Start here to find information about warnings, offers, requests for help, and humorous or inspirational stories that are widely distributed though e-mail. "Every story on TruthOrFiction.com has either been personally researched by the TruthOrFiction.com staff or, in some cases, is known to be a classic rumor or urban legend that has stood the test of time. As much as possible, the sources of our information are included in the stories." Stories are classified into the following categories: Truth; Fiction; Reported to be Truth; Reported to be Fiction; Unproven; Truth & Fiction; Previously Truth Now Ended (or Resolved); and Disputed. (Maintained by TruthOrFiction.com.)

Other Sites of Interest

OurTimeLines.com: Create personalized timelines here! Enter any dates from 1000 A.D. to today, covering between 5 and 140 years. Some events listed in your timeline are hypertext, so you can click on them to read more about them. (Maintained by Charles Benjamin Blish.)
America's Best Graduate Schools: On this site you will find rankings listed by discipline plus articles about how to select schools, how to decide on a career, and links to professional organizations in each discipline. (Maintained by U.S. News)
College and University Rankings: At this site, you will find links to many ranking services for undergraduate, graduate, business, and law schools along with cautionary notes and a discussion of the ongoing controversy over rankings. (Maintained by Education and Social Science Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.)
Old Farmer's Almanac: Since 1792, The Old Farmers Almanac has provided advice and tips about fashion, weather, cooking, gardening, and household issues. The web site is divided into sections similar to those in the print edition, so users can browse by section or can type in keyword searches. The Question of the Day feature provides information on a variety of topics with an archive of previous questions and answers. (Maintained by Yankee Publishing Inc.)
MapQuest: Get online, interactive maps and driving directions drawn from this company's 30+ years of traditional and digital mapping experience. (Maintained by MapQuest.com)
AAAS Human Rights Action Network: The AAAS Science and Human Rights Program objective is to document when scientists, engineers, and health professionals are persecuted for their professional or personal activities. This site provides alerts about human rights violations as a way to encourage letter-writing campaigns. There is an online archive of all alerts since 1996. It includes casework guidelines and sample letters of appeal. (Maintained by AAAA Human Rights Action Network.)
Women with Disabilities -- National Women's Health Information Center: This site offers many resources of interest to women with disabilities and those who work and live with them. Divided into topical areas such as abuse, parenting, and sexuality, the site has a range of information about different types of disabilities and how they affect women specifically. Information on federal laws and regulations protecting those with disabilities and extensive lists of services and support resources are also on this site. A section on statistics may be especially useful to researchers and educators. (Maintained by National Women's Health Information Center, a Project of The Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services.)


Questions/Comments about this website to: Lynn Olson, lolson@pierce.ctc.edu. Last Revised 1/20/2007.