By Annice Sevett
Many libraries subscribe to excellent paid databases, however unfortunately some libraries cannot afford these databases or help patrons who may not have access to these resources. Thankfully, there are a number of free reference resources that work just as well, and sometimes better, than the paid databases for many questions you may face while answering reference questions. This article will mention a number of those resources you may want to bookmark so you are prepared the next time someone asks you a question.
Before we get into topic specific resources, there are some great general websites that will help with a variety of questions. The government of the United States puts out arguably the most information of any organization in this country and they have a number of websites that are helpful when looking for reliable information. The main site is known as USA.gov and has a search engine that locates information from all government agencies and related organizations. They maintain topic pages on a number of hot issues with links to places to go for further information. While most government agencies have their own websites, usa.gov is a wonderful place to start a search. The U.S. Census Bureau is one agency that has an excellent website that provides government statistical data. This is useful when looking for statistics on people and households or business and industry facts. The last government agency website I’ll mention specifically is the Central Intelligence Agency. The most useful part of their website is a link to the World Factbook, helpful for ready reference and more in-depth questions you might face.
Many librarians admit to using Wikipedia for basic information. We all know the information may not be accurate and should proceed with caution when using this site, however for ready reference questions it is a great place to start. When questions about the weather arise, either current or historical, turn to Weather Underground. The data for this site comes from personal weather stations and uses innovation models to provide highly localized weather. Oftentimes, questions about translation come up in reference work. A favorite resource is Google Translate, allowing for the quick translation of words in many languages. The final resource mentioned in the general category is ResearchBuzz, a website that provides news and resources on social media, search engines, databases, archives and more. Although not as useful for reference work, it is a wonderful site to read every day to get information relating to libraries and, because the topics are newsworthy, patrons may come in with questions about the stories featured.
The most common questions may come in the form of what we will call entertainment questions, including those relating to books. For basic questions about books, authors, what to read next, and for user posted book reviews, GoodReads is an excellent place to look. Another resource for information on books and authors is Fantastic Fiction. Questions about what book is next in a series are common, and we’re in luck because the Kent District Library has a great database called What’s Next that allows you to search by author, series title and even an individual book title. Movies, another form of entertainment that most libraries lend out, have their own set of unique properties and reference questions that come with it. IMBD is a resource you may be familiar with and is great to use when answering questions about movies and tv shows. Another useful site is RerunCentury, which has free public domain videos of 20th century TV shows along with historical information of network channel lineups.
Medical questions can be tricky due to legal implications, however the National Library of Medicine has a number of resources that you can get basic information from and point patrons to for reliable, accurate information. MedlinePlus is the general consumer health resource of the National Library of Medicine, providing trusted health information on diseases, drugs, procedures and more in terms that consumers will understand. For drug related questions, turn to DailyMed or PillBox. DailyMed contains drug listing information while PillBox is a drug search engine that helps identify medication by properties. Lastly, LactMed is a resource to point expecting and breastfeeding mothers to when questions arise about drugs and chemicals that may be harmful.
Academic libraries and large library systems subscribe to databases for scholarly journal articles and other documents to help with research. These databases are wonderful but sometimes students from smaller colleges or those in high school from rural areas need access to scholarly articles that may be unavailable to them. A good place to start is Google Scholar, the Google search engine from scholarly articles that links to full-text versions when available. A second website for scholarly articles is the Digital Commons Network, a database that brings together free, full-text scholarly articles from colleges and universities around the world. In addition to a regular search engine, they have a unique interface that allows individuals to narrow their search by topic until they find the section they are interested in. You can point patrons to Community Commons when they are in the beginning stages of research about topic. This site compiles information about specific community issues together and includes data, tools and stories. For law related questions, Cornell University Law School hosts the Legal Information Institute, a resource for finding laws, materials that help people understand the law and law related facts and information. Patrons needing information on American history can turn to the American Memory Project, a project from the Library of Congress that offers free and open access to text, sound recordings, images, prints, maps and music that document the American experience.
Finally, if you are looking for a one stop shop for free reference resources, the Florida Atlantic University Libraries has an excellent LibGuide that contains links to free resources in a variety of categories. This LibGuide is, as of the writing of this article, updated and reviewed on a regular basis.
Keep these free reference resources in mind when you are on the reference desk. They are sure to help your patrons and yourself find the information they need.