BUYING A HOME | CONSTRUCTION/ BUILDING | REMODELING
CRAFTS/CRAFTING | GARDENING | PETS | RECIPES/COOKING | SPORTS | TRAVEL
CARS/AUTOMOBILES | COLLEGE/FINANCIAL AID | INVESTING | JOBS/CAREERS | MONEY | TAXES
INTERNET SEARCHING | REFERENCE | WEATHER
HEALTH | PARENTING | EDUCATION (K-12) | HOMESCHOOLING | RELIGION | WEDDINGS
Buying a Home:
Buying a Home - http://www.hud.gov/buying/
- HUD's Web site for homebuyers includes common questions from first-time
homebuyers; rights of a homebuyer; calculating how much mortgage you can afford;
home-buying programs, including HUD's special programs; and more.
HomePath - http://www.homebuyingguide.org/ -
This site from Fannie Mae includes explanations of different kinds of mortgages;
calculators that help consumers understand how much of a mortgage payment they
can afford; a glossary of terms; and links to active lenders.
Quicken Loans - http://quickenloans.quicken.com/
- This site has lots for the potential home buyer, with interactive tools that
help determine how much house you can afford, whether you should refinance now,
and what today's rates are (by state and type of mortgage)
Construction/Building:
Cass County Building Codes - http://www.casscounty.com/cassfr.htm
- Complete text of county building codes from the Cass County government web
site.
Construction Weblinks - http://www.constructionweblinks.com - A searchable collections of links for the construction industry and related fields, including architecture and engineering.
Homeglossary - http://homebuildingmanual.com/glossary.htm - A "dictionary of construction and real estate terminology with over 10,000 [brief] definitions."
Sweet's Online: Building Product Information - http://www.sweets.com - A searchable collection of information on building materials based on manufacturer's catalogs, arranged in 16 building trades divisions.
Remodeling:
Improvenet - http://www.improvenet.com
- This site offers many useful tools and calculators for home remodelers.
This Old House Online - http://www.thisoldhouse.com/.- This searchable site for old home renovation and restoration features projects, tips, techniques, and resources from over twenty years of the PBS television series.
Crafts/Crafting:
Arts and Crafts Shows - http://www.artandcraftshows.net/
- Subtitled A Searchable Database of Events, this site lists over 2000 arts and
crafts shows, festivals, or fairs for the upcoming twelve months.
Crafts for Kids - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/
- These crafts projects are for preschool, kindergarten and elementary school
children. The crafts use materials found around the house, like egg cartons,
cardboard, paper, boxes, string, crayons, paint, glue, etc.
AllCrafts.net - http://www.allcrafts.net/
- Over 1500 free craft patterns for crochet, cross-stitch, quilting, crafts,
plastic canvas, and knitting. Plus patterns for other crafts and links to other
craft sites.
Jo-ann Fabrics and Crafts: Project Center - http://www.joann.com/
- A wide assortment of projects for various crafts including decorating,
quilting, and even some for kids of all ages.
Gardening:
Floridata - http://www.floridata.com/
- "An online photo reference of plants for the landscape and garden."
The Master Index categories include annuals, cactus & succulents, grasses,
palms, perennials, shrubs, trees, vines, and water plants.
The Garden Gate - http://garden-gate.prairienet.org/
- This is an annotated directory of selected gardening sites AND contains useful
original material. The guide to searching the WWW for specific plant information
is superb.
GardenNet.com - http://www.gardennet.com/
- Subtitled A Gardener's Information & Shopping Guide, this gardening
gateway covers "everything about gardens and gardening" with links,
descriptions, and contact information for thousands of companies, mail order
catalogs, associations, services, products, plants, and shops.
University of Missouri Outreach and Extension - http://outreach.missouri.edu/main/homegarden/ - Great gardening information and advice tailored to the area by the Outreach and Extension Office.
WebGarden - http://webgarden.osu.edu/
- Includes a searchable database of over 20,000 fact sheets from universities
and cooperative extensions, a dictionary of plants with links to images and
descriptions, and links.
Languages:
Spanish Professor - http://www.spanishprofessor.org/
- A guide to Spanish learning programs, online Spanish lessons, Spanish
dictionaries, and the cultures of Spanish speaking countries.
Pets:
Care for Pets - http://www.avma.org/care4pets/
- By the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the site covers
information related to keeping pets healthy and contains advice on vet
selection, pet selection, pet loss, and traveling with your pet.
Healthypet (AAHA) - http://www.healthypet.com/
- The Pet Care Library contains searchable information on a wide range of topics
about pets including behavior, common health problems, the human/animal bond,
nutrition, care tips, and preventive care.
Finding a Lost Pet: Where to Start - http://www.missingpet.net/advice/
- Advice on how to search for a strayed or lost cat, dog, horse, bird, or other
animal. Part of the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal Care Office
sponsored Missing Pet Network (MPN), a state-by-state collection of classified
ads for lost and found pets.
Cat Fanciers Web Site - http://www.fanciers.com/
- Has breed descriptions and FAQs; feline health,
welfare, and shelter information; listings of cat shows, clubs, and registries;
and a large number of
annotated links to general and specialized cat related resources.
American Kennel Club - http://www.akc.org/ - This comprehensive site has the AKC's Directory of Breeds - with photos and complete descriptions of the 150 recognized dog breeds, current registration statistics, as well as upcoming events and its official publication.
Recipes/Cooking:
Allrecipes.com - http://www.allrecipes.com/
- This site has thousands of recipes, menu ideas, meal preparation tips, cooking
terms, and more. All recipes show nutrition facts, and it is possible to create
a shopping list from the recipe.
Cook's Thesaurus - http://www.foodsubs.com/ - Suggests substitutions for over 1,500 cooking ingredients, including low-calorie and low-fat alternatives for dieters, inexpensive substitutes for gourmets on a budget, and innovative replacements for hard-to-find ethnic ingredients.
RecipeSource - http://recipesource.com/ - Over 70,000 recipes are indexed and are searchable by keyword or by topic. The number and breath of recipes indexed make this a useful resource.
Delicious Decisions - http://www.deliciousdecisions.org/
- A site for learning how to eat right, stay fit, and establish good habits for
a lifetime. From the American Heart Association.
The Food Timeline - http://www.foodtimeline.org/
- Useful for locating food history and period recipes. From the Morris County
Library in New Jersey.
PastryWiz Food Resource Center - http://www.pastrywiz.com/ - Decorating information and recipes for cakes including those for weddings and other special occasions are available on this searchable site.
Sports:
Total College Sports (FANSonly) - http://www.collegesports.com/
- Gateway to news and features on major and some minor college sports, and links
to the official collegiate conference and team pages.
SportQuest - http://www.sportquest.com/sports/
- A starting point for sports reference questions. The list of sports acts as a
sports encyclopedia. It links to information for all sports (noncommercial,
adventure, amateur-level, etc.) and the Olympics.
Travel:
MyTravelGuide.com - http://www.mytravelguide.com/
- This site offers the traveler U.S. and Canadian city travel guides; a free
travel newsletter; overviews of over sixty international destinations; common
phrases in various languages; an opportunity to check for low airfare, hotel,
and rental car costs; and more.
Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel Online - http://www.frommers.com/
- Stressing "Vacations for Real People," this site features a daily
newsletter, bargains, alternative vacation ideas, tips and resources, The
Cheapest Places on Earth, and Arthur Frommer's answers to your travel questions.
Away.com - http://away.com/index.adp -
This site contains travel advice for tourists who want travel that is active and
travel that is responsible. It recommends tourist destinations for hiking,
biking, bird watching, rafting, horseback riding and simply exploring.
Citysearch - http://www.citysearch.com/
- Citysearch provides guides for over 40 United States cities and regions as
well as over 20 cities in Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Scandinavia.
Elderhostel - http://www.elderhostel.org/
- Elderhostel's searchable and browsable site provides adventures in lifelong
learning for people 55 and older through educational travel programs, domestic
and worldwide.
Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites - http://www.mostateparks.com/ - Get away to the great outdoors with the information contained on this site.
Cars/Automobiles:
Cars.com - http://www.cars.com
- Everything you need to know about buying, selling, and owing a car, including
access to "Click and Clack" from the Car Talk show on National
Public Radio.
Kelley Blue Book - http://www.kbb.com - Find the Blue Book value of new and used cars, read car reviews, and more.
Edmunds.com - http://www.edmunds.com - Another perspective on new and used car pricing.
College/
Financial Aid:
Education (usnews.com) - http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/eduhome.htm
- This excellent site from U.S. News & World Report features four sections
designed to help users choose a college or graduate school and a career.
Back To College - http://www.back2college.com
- Resource center for re-entry and nontraditional students, with lots of
information about everything from choosing a college to using academic reference
materials.
FastWeb - http://www.fastweb.com/
- The heart of this site is the scholarship search engine that lets Internet
users search, without cost, a database of more than 400,000 U.S. scholarships,
fellowships, internships, grants, and loans.
Adventures in Education - http://AdventuresInEducation.org/
- Information on careers, colleges, and financial aid to help you plan for your
future. Good place to start for middle and high school students who are planning
for college.
College Board Online - http://www.collegeboard.com/ - This site, from the organization that knows all about it, takes you through practice for, scheduling, and taking the SAT I and II, finding: a college, financial aid, and a career.
Scholarship Hunter - http://scholarshiphunter.com/
- An index of scholarship and financial aid opportunities.
Student Financial Assistance - http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/
- Web site of the Student Financial Assistance Programs, the largest source of
student aid in America, providing over $40 billion a year in grants, loans, and
work-study assistance.
Investing:
Bloomberg.com - http://www.bloomberg.com/
- Many Bloomberg publications, including feature articles from Bloomberg
Personal, a News section that includes top daily headline stories from papers
around the world; mutual fund; stocks; etc., can be accessed without charge
Fantasy Stock Market - http://www.fantasystockmarket.com/
- Investors educate themselves by investing $100,000 of fantasy money each month
in stocks and mutual funds.InvestorGuide - Your Guide to Investing on the Web - http://www.investorguide.com/
- Excellent, comprehensive source of information for the investor.
Motley Fool: Finance and Folly - http://www.fool.com/ - A comprehensive investment resource for small investors. They say their "purpose is to inform, educate and amuse the individual investor."
Wall Street Research Net - http://www.wsrn.com/ - Great resource for investors. Over 500,000 links to help professional and private investors locate economic data and perform fundamental research on actively traded companies. Well-organized and searchable.
Jobs/Careers:
JobHuntersBible - http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/
- Excellent advice and and reviews of resources in three major sections: Job
Listings; Resumes; and Career Counseling. Written and updated by Richard Bolles
as a supplement to his job hunting guidebook, What Color Is Your Parachute.
O*NET OnLine - http://online.onetcenter.org/
- Use this interactive database to explore occupations, identify your current
job skills (and get a list of occupations that match your identified skills),
discover related occupations, and get a snapshot of the skills and knowledge
required for your selected occupation.
SalaryExpert.com - http://www.salaryexpert.com/
- This searchable site determines the mean salary, total compensation, and
equivalent “renter’s buying power” for a chosen job title in a chosen zip
code or metro area.
Kansas City Career Builder - http://careers.kansascity.com/xp/kr/780014/index.xml - Large database of Kansas City metro job advertisements, primarily from the Kansas City Star. National listings also available.
NationJob.com - http://www.nationjob.com/ - National classified site, searchable by location and job title.
Money:
American Bankruptcy Institute - http://www.abiworld.org/
- ABI World provides information on bankruptcies, including advice on how to
file, questions & answers, sources of advice & counseling, news of
changes in laws relating to bankruptcy, and a library with definitions of terms,
links to relevant databases, and links to the Web sites of bankruptcy courts.
CardRatings.com - http://www.cardratings.com/ - Find reports on low rate, poor credit, reward, corporate, and student credit cards. Answer questions such as “Which is better: a flight card or a low rate card” using special credit calculators.
National Foundation for Consumer Credit - http://www.nfcc.org/ - NFCC is an association of non-profit organizations that provide education and counseling in credit and debt management.
Savings Calculators & Tools - http://www.dreyfus.com/docs/iv/plan-education/calculator-tool/savings/savingscalc.htm - There are several investment calculators on the Net, but the Dreyfus Planning and Education Center seems to offer the easiest ones to use.
TruthAboutCredit - http://www.truthaboutcredit.org/ - A good consumer site, sponsored by the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), offering advice on credit cards. Coverage includes rip-offs, hazards and traps, navigating offers, terms, paying off debt, obtaining your credit report, resolving troubles, and links.
Taxes:
1040.com - http://www.1040.com/ -
Federal and state forms and publications, links to various state tax authorities
and the IRS bulletin board system as well as current tax news and information
are available at this site.
Cass County Tax Levies - http://www.casscounty.com/cassfr.htm - Find out exactly where your property taxes go in Cass County. Note that the Public Library has one of the lowest levies of any of the county services.
Internal Revenue Service - http://www.irs.gov/ - Everything you need to know to file your tax returns with the federal government.
Kansas Department of Revenue - www.ksrevenue.org/eservices.htm- Tax information for the state of Kansas.
Missouri Department of Revenue - http://dor.mo.gov/ - All things taxable in the state of Missouri, including personal taxes, business taxes, forms, and more.
City Earnings Tax Forms- http://www.kcmo.org/finance.nsf/web/forms - You can now pay your City Earnings Tax On-Line
Internet
Searching:
Best Search Tools Page - http://www.infopeople.org/search/tools.html
- Page with the search forms for the best subject directories, search engines,
and meta search engines. From the InFoPeople Project.
Google - http://www.google.com/
- Excellent for simple searches. In addition to the largest database of Web
pages, they have indexed more than 13 million PDF files.
Kid's Tools for Searching the Internet - http://www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm
- This page puts the best children's search engines and directories onto a
single page.
Google Groups - http://groups.google.com/
- Archives postings from more than 20,000 Usenet newsgroups going back to May
1981. Best place to search Usenet newsgroups. Formerly DejaNews.
Reference (Almanacs,
Dictionaries, etc.):
Ready Reference Collection (IPL) - http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref00.00.00
- Excellent, annotated collection, from the Internet Public Library. Quick
access to many of the best "Ref Desk" resources on the Internet.
Refdesk.com - http://www.refdesk.com/ - An
extensive, searchable, collection of links "on three levels: quick, studied
and deep." Refdesk's Categories is an alphabetical list of subject links.
Facts Finders links to encyclopedias and other sources of facts.
Reference - Bartleby.com - http://www.bartleby.com/reference/
- Search a combined database of more than twenty
respected reference works by topic area (encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus,
quotations, and English
usage), or specific work.
xrefer - http://xrefer.com/ - This meta-search
engine searches a combined database of over fifty reference books from
Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, and Penguin. Be sure to read the
Help page for full use of this database of authoritative full-text reference
works.
Weather:
National Weather Service - http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
- The U.S. government's site for local, national, and international weather,
which includes some historical data. Of particular interest is a listing of all
the active weather
warnings in effect in the U.S.
The Weather Channel weather.com - http://www.weather.com/
- From the TV Weather Channel people. You can access current conditions and
forecasts for U.S. States's cities and towns as well as most places in the rest
of the world.
World Climate - http://www.worldclimate.com/
- Climate data are historical weather averages, showing what the weather was
typically like each month, averaged over a range of years.
Extreme Weather and Climate Events - http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/extremes.html - This NOAA site tracks the worst of the weather.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Photo Library - http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/
- This collection of more than 16,000 photographs is grouped by category, with
such topics as tornadoes, seafloor
invertebrates, marine mammals, coral, coastlines, sunrises, sunsets, moonbeams,
fishing, and weather balloons.
Health:
InteliHealth - Johns Hopkins Health - http://www.intelihealth.com/
- The major content of this comprehensive health site is in the Health Library,
which contains the Johns Hopkins Encyclopedia.
MayoClinic.com - http://www.mayoclinic.com/index.cfm?
- Well-written and easy-to-understand information on health and medical topics.
MEDLINEplus - http://www.medlineplus.gov
- This directory site is designed to lead the user to resources containing
information that will help with researching their health questions. The #1
health site, maintained by the National Library of Medicine.
Healthfinder - http://www.healthfinder.gov/
- This is a gateway to consumer health information from the U.S. government and
includes links to selected online publications, databases, Web sites, and
support and self-help groups, as well as the government agencies and non-profit
organizations that produce reliable health information for the public.
International Bibliographic Information On Dietary Supplements - http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/IBIDS/
- A database of citations, and sometimes abstracts, for journal articles
"on the topic of dietary supplements including
vitamins, minerals, selected herbal, and botanical supplements."
Family Doctor - http://familydoctor.org/
- The American Academy of Family Practice offers well-written,
easy-to-understand health and medical information.
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy - http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/
- The 1999, 17th edition, well-known diagnostic handbook is online in its
entirety. Searchable and browsable by chapters.
Parenting:
BabyCenter - http://www.babycenter.com/
- Baby names (including most popular), advice from pediatric experts, chat rooms
for parents, articles about pregnancy and child-rearing, Web resources, and an
immunization scheduler are only some of the features of this extensive site from
BabyCenter, Inc.
Kids-in-Mind - http://www.kids-in-mind.com/
- Subtitled The Parents' Guide to Movies & Video, this site provides
"objective, non-critical assessments of the potentially objectionable
material contained in movies." Each movie is given a rating on a scale of
zero to ten in three distinct categories - sex & nudity, violence &
gore, and profanity.
Parent Soup - http://www.parentsoup.com/
- Come here for answers to parenting questions and concerns--from expecting a
child to packing one off to college.
SafeKids.Com - http://www.safekids.com/ -
Includes "Child Safety on the Information Highway" that you can view
online or download and use. Reviews child safe search engines, has an up-to-date
chart on the filtering softwares, and more. Developed by Los Angeles Times
syndicated technology columnist and child online safety expert, Larry Magid.
Zero to Three - http://zerotothree.org/ -
Dedicated to promotion of healthy development of children from birth to age
three. This searchable site contains information on a baby's social, emotional,
and intellectual development during the critical early years.
Education (K-12):
For homework help and other information for kids and teens, please visit our Homework
Help page!
BigChalk: The Education Network - www.bigchalk.com
- Extensive resource for students, teachers, and parents, including homework
help, games, learning contests, and more.
Education World - http://www.education-world.com/ - A well-organized site, this is the place "where educators go to learn." The site supports K-12 school administrators and teachers by providing information on lesson plans, curriculums, books in education, school administration, special themes, and educational Web site reviews.
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education - http://www.dese.mo.gov./ - Information about all aspects of K-12 education in Missouri, including news about state funding, district directory, MAP scores, links to school with a web presence, etc.
National Parent Information Network - http://npin.org/
- The purpose of the NPIN is to provide information and communications
capabilities to parents and those who work with them. Offers full-text articles
of ERIC materials and other publications.
ShawGuides - http://www.shawguides.com/
- This publisher of worldwide directories to educational travel and creative
career programs, now provides free online access to the content of their guides
to schools, retreats, workshops, vacations, camps, conferences and more.
Homeschooling:
Homeschooling Information and Resource Pages - http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/
- A large collection of homeschool specific essays, articles, and op-ed pieces
from Home Education Magazine.
A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling - http://www.gomilpitas.com/homeschooling/
- Locate information, resources, support groups, and laws about home schooling
and find links to "over 700 pages of the best and most interesting and
useful sites and articles about home education on the web."
Eclectic Home School Online - http://www.eho.org/
- This online magazine promotes "creative homeschooling through unique
resources, teaching methods and online helps." It features a Christian
point of view, but is not limited to solely religious materials.
Religion:
Beliefnet: Multifaith Information - http://www.beliefnet.com/
- This multifaith, independent site is focused on providing religious,
spiritual, and moral information and inspiration from a spectrum of religious
and spiritual beliefs.
Virtual Religion Index - http://www.virtualreligion.net/vri/ - This comprehensive, annotated directory is the place to start if you're doing extensive research on any aspect of religion on the Internet.
Religious Freedom - http://iarf-religiousfreedom.net/ - The International Association for Religious Freedom, founded in 1900 in Boston, reports on legislation, persecution and other topics related to religion in countries throughout the world.
World Scripture - http://www.unification.net/ws/ - An online version of World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, this site contains over 4,000 scriptural passages from 268 sacred texts and 55 oral traditions, organized into 164 different themes common to all traditions.
Islam 101 - http://www.islam101.com/ - A comprehensive source on one of the world's fastest growing religions. Contains topics such as Islamic culture and civilization; social studies; human rights; Islam and women; an online course on Islam; studies and articles comparing Islam with other religions; Islamic history, archaeology, and art.
Weddings:
All About Showers - http://allaboutshowers.com/
- This site covers all the basics for throwing a baby or bridal shower. Ideas
for shower games, decorations, and themes are all included.
The Knot: Weddings for the Real World - http://www.theknot.com/
- A great starting point for planning your wedding and your life after the
wedding. Find suggestions for setting the date, choosing flowers, selecting
colors, throwing a wedding shower, registering for gifts, setting up your home,
and over 6000 pictures of wedding gowns.
Wedding Anniversaries - http://www.chipublib.org/008subject/005genref/giswedding.html
- Lists of traditional and modern gifts for wedding anniversaries compiled by
librarians at the Chicago Public Library.
