University of Virginia Library
PO Box 400113
Charlottesville VA 22904-4113
434.924.3021
fax: 434.924.1431
This is a partial listing of general reference sources. Please consult Virgo or the Libraries' subject-specific research guides for more suggestions, or Ask a Librarian.
Online version of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia and its Yearbooks with additional updates, biographies, and a glossary of scientific terms.
This encyclopedia of geographical places and features profiles every country in the world, with information on demography, geography, industry, agriculture, cultural and historical points of interest, transportation, and pronunciations. Search by place name, type of place, or keyword.
Searchable full-text of hundreds of reference handbooks in engineering, chemistry, biology, medicine, technology and the environment.
Information about over 101,000 representative organometallic, inorganic, and coordination compounds, including formulae, chemical structures, CAS Registry Numbers, synthesis, physical properties, and key literature citations
Fully searchable and browsable encyclopedia, also including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus. Many entries have links to related web sites.
Comprehensive encyclopedia with over 21,000 entries on all aspects of Jewish life, culture, history, and religion.
Search the full text or browse topics. including cosmology, archeoastronomy, instrumentation, space missions, solar system, stars, and galaxies.
Comprehensive encyclopedia of Islamic religion and of the culture and history of the Islamic regions. Click on "Login" to enter. Requires special fonts that can be downloaded from the site.
Lengthy overview articles on many aspects of life sciences. From Wiley.
16 interlinked encyclopedias to show "transdisciplinary aspects of the relationship between nature and human society." Covers topics in social sciences and humanities as well the life, physical, and applied sciences.
Comprehensive encyclopedia of the visual arts of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific with links to tens of thousands of images.
Comprehensive music encyclopedia, with coverage of music history, theory and practice, musical terminology, and biographies. Includes works lists and musical examples.
Handy online dictionary and thesaurus. Has online audio pronunciations and includes the Abbreviations, Foreign Words and Phrases, Biographical Names, and Geographical Names sections from the print version.
Has definitions for most of the words in the English language but also information on their origins and quotations showing their range of meanings from the time they entered the language to the present.
Contains the entire text of the 22-volume Oxford English Dictionary, second edition. Has definitions for most of the words in the English language but also information on their origins and quotations showing their range of meanings from the time they entered the language to the present. From UVa Library's Etext Center.
Search by keyword or browse alphabetically. Includes references to journal articles.
For a wide variety of chemical substances provides relevant patent information and data on physical and chemical properties, production, applications, economic data, toxicology and occupational health.
Current facts, statistics, biographies on many topics. Includes Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia.
Large compilation of current and retrospective biographical dictionaries with sketches of individuals from all geographic locations and time periods. Includes Marquis Who's Who titles.
Long essays on almost 20,000 figures from US history. DAB is included in History Resource Center.
Lives of British persons from the earliest times to the end of the 20th century.
Indexes current and retrospective work for biographical information on people, both living and deceased.
Comprehensive encyclopedia of the visual arts of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific with links to tens of thousands of images.
Comprehensive music encyclopedia, with coverage of music history, theory and practice, musical terminology, and biographies. Includes works lists and musical examples.
A collection of family and local histories and genealogy and local history periodicals from the US and Canada, and of US census data.
Includes the full text of articles from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Authors and other biographical and critical compilations about authors, along with journal articles and book chapters about literary works and topics. Also includes the MLA Bibliography. Strongest for English and American literature, but includes much on other literatures.
Biographical facts about 60,000 prominent people of the 21st century, including obituaries for those who have recently died.
Collections in Humanities and Social Sciences; Science, Technology and Business; Music; Journals; and Conference Proceedings from 1975.
Search simultaneously the catalogs of libraries in France.
Search simultaneously the catalogs of 24 of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland, plus the British Library and the National Library of Scotland.
Search simultaneously many library catalogs from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as other major catalogs worldwide.
Geographic listing of links to many library catalogs around the world.
Search catalogs of Japanese libraries. Search interface in English or in Japanese.
Catalog records for books, journals. and other materials from many libraries. Includes some research libraries that are not in WorldCat.
Includes over 30 million catalog records and holdings from over 12,000 libraries worldwide, including UVA. Materials in all formats.
A current directory of over 5,000 repositories and more than 120,000 collections of unpublished primary source material (manuscripts, papers, diaries, photographs, etc.), with holdings and contact information. Includes the entire National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections from 1959 to the present, as well as the Index to the National Inventory of Documentary Sources. Updated regularly.
Find descriptions of archives and manuscripts in 13 Virginia libraries. Searchable by keyword, search can be limited to one location, i.e., only documents at UVA. Currently includes over 3500 finding aids. The first phase of the project emphasizes access to African-American history and culture.
This page is maintained by University Library staff to help you find book reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Contains information and reviews on children's books, videos, and audio books ranging from the earliest baby board books to novels and nonfiction for young adults.
Lists in-print, out-of print, and forthcoming books from the US, UK, Canada, and some other English-speaking countries. For some titles, reviews, tables of contents, and the full-text of the first chapter are also provided.
Horn Book Guide publishes short, critical reviews of virtually every hardcover trade book published in the United States for young people.
Comprehensive coverage of reviews of educational media (films, talking books and other sound recordings, etc.) and some reviews of entertainment media, primarily films that may be of interest to schools.
Full text of book and film reviews in pscychology.
Lists in-print, out-of print, and forthcoming books from the US, UK, Canada, and some other English-speaking countries. For some titles, reviews, tables of contents, and the full-text of the first chapter are also provided.
Search for music currently in print by genre, instrumentation or using the Master Index.