Desperately Seeking Something? Try These Free Research Tools
Depending on your needs, the Web can be a gold mine, a cesspool, or both. So how can you find answers to your questions, and the helpful, authoritative information you need? Check out my list of the best free online reference and research tools. I promise, no April Fool's tricks in this issue! |
Free Online Search (and Research) Tools
There are plenty of websites with dubious experts, opinionated blowhards, and others who would lead you in a particular direction that benefits them more than you. So where do you turn when you have a problem and you need to find reliable answers from true experts, researchers, and the recognized leaders in a particular area?
I've got a list of websites that I have personally found to meet those criteria. Most of them have been around for over a decade (or two), proving their worth by their longevity. Check out my long list of FREE online reference tools, covering more than a dozen areas of expertise.
General Reference Tools
In a library, if you don't know where to look for a reference book, you go to the Reference Librarian. On the Internet, if you don't know where to look for answers, you go to RefDesk.com. At first glance, the sheer amount of useful links on the Refdesk home page can be overwhelming. But it's really quite well organized and useful. I recommend that you click the dropdown next to REFERENCE DESK at the top right, and select an option from the list.
Encyclopedia.com gives you credible answers from published reference works. Enter you search words and it will search multiple encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses. (Thesauri? Thesaurus Rex?)
The Britannica Online Encyclopedia is another very credible source. Today the home page has some April Fool’s Day hoaxes, and a discussion of why bird poop is white. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
At Dictionary.com, you can look up a word in either a dictionary or Roget's Thesaurus (to find synonyms and antonyms). The site also offers Word Facts 101, the Word of the Day, daily crosswords & word search puzzles, and a huge list of links to other online dictionaries, including hundreds of non-English ones.
At the Infoplease Homework Center, students will find useful information by subject area, develop better writing, note-taking and study skills, and search through previous questions and answers from other students.
WordReference offers free online translation dictionaries. Enter a word and it will first translate it into
Spanish, French, Italian, German or Russian, then it will display the dictionary definition for that word in the chosen language.
Need a synonym, antonym, or related word? Try this RhymeZone.
The Farmers' Almanac is filled with entertaining short stories, good cooking, fun, facts, forecasts, timely household tips, calendars for fishing and of course gardening. "Guessing the future since 1818."
The CIA World Factbook, published by the United States Central Intelligence Agency, has data on almost every country in the world, including maps, background, geography, people, government, economy, and military.
Medical Questions

The Mayo Clinic's Symptom Checker prompts you to choose a symptom, enter related factors, and view possible causes. (I heard one comedian refer to this as YouProbablyHaveCancer.org)
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest medical library. You'll find information on health, wellness, disorders, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, supplements, and articles about diseases, symptoms, tests, and treatments.
Business and Financial Research

EDGAR - The SEC requires public companies to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Now you can access and download this information for free.
Zack's Investment Research has tools that enable individuals to research, select and track their investments more effectively. Company news, profiles, stock prices and more.
Weather

For the weather junkies, Weather Underground has everything you'd expect from a weather site, including yesterday's forecast.
Check the BBC Weather Centre for weather forecasts for the UK and cities around the world.
Movies

Ever wonder if a movie is appropriate for your family? ScreenIt has detailed reviews for movies and videos. You'll know just how much language, violence, sex, and other potentially offensive material you'll be exposed to.
Rotten Tomatoes is a site for both casual movie-goers and film buffs alike. Millions each month use Rotten Tomatoes as a dependable resource and objective coverage of movies and videos. With more than 100,000 titles and 360,000 review links in its ever-gro wing database, Rotten Tomatoes offers a fun and informative way to discover the critical reaction on movies from the nation's top print and online film critics, neatly summarized via the TomatoMeter.
Music and Lyrics Research

Kiss This Guy is a website devoted to misheard or misunderstood lyrics. Finally, you can find out why Manfred Mann had a boulder on his shoulder in the song "Blinded by the Light."
US Government

USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal, a guide to finding government info and websites on a wide variety of topics, including Benefits and Grants, Consumer Guides, Environment, Energy, and Agriculture, Health and Nutrition, Money and Taxes, Public Safety and Law, Science and Technology, and Voting and Elections.
Language Translation

Microsoft's Bing Translator is a similar service, covering about 60 languages.
Maps, Topography and Astronomy

Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope turns your computer into a telescope. This jaw-droppingly cool tool blends images and data from ground and space-based telescopes to allow for seamless panning and zooming across the night sky. You can also take guided tours, narrated by astronomers, featuring interesting places in the sky.
CitySearch helps you explore city life, from Las Vegas hotels to New York restaurants, Chicago events to Seattle coffee houses. Find recommendations, ratings, reviews, tips and more.
Genealogy

Find more genealogy resources in my article Genealogy Research Online.
Air Travel

My article Here's How to Get The Lowest Airfares Online will point you to some specialized online search tools, and more tips and tools for flyers. Read on...
Miscellaneous Research Tools

FINANCIAL AID - FinAid is the most comprehensive collection of information about student financial aid on the web. FinAid is free and has a stellar reputation in the educational community as the best Web site of its kind. Make it your first stop on the Web when looking for ways to finance an education.
HOUSE VALUES - Zillow.com offers free automated house valuations on more than 80 million homes across the United States. You can see the estimated value of your house, your neighbor's house, or just about any other home in the country -- whether it's for sale or not. Zillow pulls information from public real estate records, tax rolls and other sources to compute a house value. Zillow also offers a forum where you can chat with pros, as well as other home buyers and sellers.
PEOPLE FINDERS - Need to find someone's phone number, address, or other personal info? Check out FastPeopleSearch and search my name, phone number, or address. In the past I've recommended WhitePages.com, but I've found this site offers more information, fewer ads, and doesn't constantly try to sell "premium" services.
SPECIALIZED GOOGLE SEARCHES - Just visit Google and type in a phone number, stock symbol, or Fedex tracking number, and see what happens. Learn more about Google's secret search tools in my artcile Here's How to Strengthen Your Google Fu.
Got a favorite online reference, research or search tool? Post a comment below and tell us about it...
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This article was posted by Bob Rankin on 1 Apr 2022
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Most recent comments on "Desperately Seeking Something? Try These Free Research Tools"
Posted by:
Albert
01 Apr 2022
Thanks very much for this Thanks very much for this expansive list of references, Bob. Your commitment to the provision of information is greatly appreciated.
Posted by:
TJ Viktor
01 Apr 2022
Thank you for sharing Bob!
One of my favorite resources is The Wayback Machine at Internet Archive web.archive.org. In fact I'll be saving this article there as soon as I'm finished with this comment!
Posted by:
John L
01 Apr 2022
Thanks Bob, this looks a really useful list that I will be keeping.
Posted by:
Norman
01 Apr 2022
I use several of the tools you listed. My main go to, though, is wikipedia, which I have found to be very reliable, and a good starting place for information.
Posted by:
JP
01 Apr 2022
Other good language translators:
https://www.deepl.com/translator - Free online with limits or paid versions with more features.
https://context.reverso.net/translation/
Posted by:
Ryan James
01 Apr 2022
For Spanish translations and study, I love www.spanishdict.com.
Posted by:
bb
01 Apr 2022
And where should I look for the truth of, well, "urban legends" and other random videos the people pass on?
Like the the one with "President Zelensky Singing With Wife Olena" which is really neither one of them?
Posted by:
RandiO
12 May 2022
What is the replacement for CDDB?