Alumni and Visitors Databases

The following tools provide free information on a variety of topics:

• AnyWho Online Directory (AT&T)
  Locate telephone numbers and addresses for both businesses and people. Other notable features include maps, reverse lookups (enter the phone number and it will return the owner's name and address), a toll-free directory, and links to international directories.

• Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
  Search the 1919 edition for passages, phrases, and proverbs traced to their sources in ancient and modern literature.

• Calculators & Converters
  Calculate the distance between two cities, perform metric conversions, calculate inflation, and more.

• CIA World Factbook
  Unclassified since 1971, the Central Intelligence Agency's annual World Factbook provides a reliable resource for information on independent states, dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, uninhabitable regions, and oceans.

• Information Please Almanac
  The online version contains all of the facts from the printed almanac, plus a dictionary and encyclopedia.

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus
  See Merriam-Webster Online for a good quick reference site from an authority in dictionary publishing.

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) 
  The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers over 200 free resources about writing, research, grammar, English as a Second Language, and professional writing.

Note: The American Library Association (ALA) has a list of the  best free reference web sites.

Many other libraries and institutions have created lists of free databases.

• Clemson University Libraries: Free Databases
• Loma Linda University Libraries: Free Online Journals, Books, & Databases
• Smithsonian Institution Libraries: Free Access Databases
• Truman State University Pickler Memorial Library: Free Databases for Magazine/Journal Articles, etc.
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Using the Library After Graduation
• University of Michigan Library: Free Resources for Social Work
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libraries: Online Reference and Open Access Databases