Internet Archive

The Wayback Machine - Archive.org
Browse through 150 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago.

To start surfing the Wayback Machine, type in the web address of a site or page where you would like to start, and press enter. Then select from the archived dates available.

As of April 2009, the Wayback Machine consists of approximately 4.5 Petabytes (4.5 million gigabytes) of archived web data.

The Wayback Machine will appeal more to "advanced" web surfers - people who have been online long enough to think, from time to time, "Jeez, I wish I'd downloaded that page instead of just bookmarking it - now it's gone". The Wayback Machine is a tool that lets you revisit/recreate bygone versions of sites and extensive archival content of websites and web pages. Paste a URL in the box on the home page, and the Wayback machine will retrieve as many copies of that page as it has archived. If you paste http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ into the Wayback Machine, for example, you'll see (as at November 3/09) links to 226 separate versions of this entire website (not just the home page) going right back to December 2000, two months after I purchased my own domain name ("canadiansocialresearch.net"). Use the Wayback Machine to access other sites right back to 1996...
Play with it - you don't have to register or anything, and you can't break it.
And don't miss the special collections of historical links!

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A practical example of how to make the Internet Archive work for you:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internet_archive.htm
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The Canadian Government's
Answer to the Internet Archive (sort of...)

The Government of Canada Web Archive
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/index-e.html
Since the Fall of 2007, Library and Archives Canada has been harvesting the web domain of the Federal Government of Canada (starting in December 2005).Client access to the content of the Government of Canada Web Archive is provided through searching by keyword, by department name, and by URL.The archive currently contains over 170 million digital objects and more than 7 terabytes of data.
Source:
Library and Archives Canada

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International Internet Preservation Consortium
In July 2003 the national libraries of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, The British Library (UK), The Library of Congress (USA) and the Internet Archive (USA) acknowledged the importance of international collaboration for preserving Internet content for future generations. This group of 12 institutions chartered the IIPC to fund and participate in projects and working groups to accomplish the Consortium’s goals. The initial agreement was in effect for three years, during which time the membership was limited to the charter institutions. Since then, membership has expanded to include additional libraries, archives, museums and cultural heritage institutions involved in Web archiving. For a complete list visit our members page.

Megasites

Google.ca Directory
- if you follow the Regional / North America / Canada links in this directory, you'll find over 110,000 Canadian links...

Canadian Information by Subject - Library and Archives Canada
Not a directory in the same sense as Google.ca, but rather a collection of thousands of links to Canadian websites (government and other), classified according to the Dewey Decimal System.
 Easy to navigate, not cluttered with graphics, overall a good guide to Canadian surfing...
See, for example...
Section 30 - Social sciences in general
Section 36 - Social problems, social service (incl. clubs, insurance)
- Be sure to start on the main page to see the entire list of subjects
- Go to the Library and Archives Canada Home Page

AcademicInfo: Subject Guides & Online Degrees
"Educational resources and subject guides since 1998"
AcademicInfo is an online education resource center with extensive subject guides and distance learning information. Our mission is to provide free, independent and accurate information and resources for prospective and current students (and other researchers). AcademicInfo was founded in 1998 by Mike Madin, a librarian coordinator, and is now maintained by multiple contributors. We currently feature over 25,000+ hand-picked resources and update the website on a daily basis.
* Subject Guides
* Educational Resources
* Education Blogs
* Online Degrees
* About & Help

From AcademicInfo:

* Canadian Studies Links & General Resources
* Canadian Studies - Directory of Online Resources on Canada
* Canadian Organizations, Associations, Centres & Societies

Dictionaries - Thesaurus - Encyclopedia

dictionary.com
OneLook Dictionaries
WWWebster Dictionary
YourDictionary.com
ROGET'S Thesaurus Online
Refdesk.com- 716 links to online reference sites
Visuwords Online Graphic Dictionary - It's a dictionary! Its a thesaurus!
"Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate. Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections."

howjsay . com
A free online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation

Bab.la - incl. FR/ EN and EN/FR translations, of course et bien sûr!
The bab.la language portal offers you dictionary translations, language quizzes & games, vocabulary lessons for learning and much more. bab.la is interactive: You can enter your own translation, create your own language test or your own vocabulary flashcard set. Bab.la is a language project - "a portal where language lovers can meet and exchange their ideas and learn languages from each other."
- incl. links to 25 bilingual dictionaries and millions of translations, including pronunciation, sample sentences and many additional features (word games, anyone?).

TheFreeDictionary.com
"English, Medical, Legal, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one!"

LookWAYup
Multilingual English dictionary that allows you to find definitions, synonyms and related words (thesaurus) for English words as well as their other-language equivalents.

allRefer - encyclopedia containing almost 52,000 entries along with a North America gazetteer containing almost 50,000 entries. Includes country studies and facts.

Wikipedia
Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference web sites, attracting around 65 million visitors monthly as of 2009. There are more than 75,000 active contributors working on more than 13,000,000 articles in more than 260 languages. As of today, there are 2,895,476 articles in English
Source:
Wikipedia
"The biggest multilingual open access encyclopedia on the internet"

Infoplease - All the knowledge you need
"Information Please has been providing authoritative answers to all kinds of factual questions since 1938—first as a popular radio quiz show, then starting in 1947 as an annual almanac, and since 1998 on the Internet."

The Canadian Encyclopedia
"With the aid of its partners and the generous support of Heritage Canada, Historica presents this site free of charge to all Canadians and to interested users around the world. The site contains the complete text of the acclaimed Canadian Encyclopedia in English and French, the text of the Junior Encyclopedia of Canada (in English only), numerous interactivities, feature articles, games, the Canucklehead Quiz, and an extensive timeline of Canadian and world events. The entire text can be searched via the simple search or advanced search and the user can switch languages at any time."

- features more than 10,000 articles written by a broad base of over 4,000 Canadians who are experts in their individual subjects. In addition to entries written in  hypertext format with bibliographies, the encyclopedia offers interactive elements, such as statistical graphs, multimedia presentations of key historical events, quizzes and games, student guides, monthly topical features, and more. The encyclopedia is accessible in French and English. 

Check out these two sample entries from the Canadian Encyclopedia:

Social Security
- excellent online resource by an expert in the field, Dennis Guest.
- includes History of Social Security in Canada and Renewing Canada's Social Programs.

100 Greatest Events in Canadian History

EZGuideCanada
A Truly Canadian Start Page - Since 2001

Masterliness.com
Thousands of articles, organized by various regional and topical categories including information about people, business, multiculturalism, history and Canadian values.

Google Directory : Encyclopedias

Bartleby.com
"The preeminent Internet publisher of literature, reference and verse providing sutudents, researchers and the intellectually curious with unlimited access to books and information on the web, free of charge."
- incl. tabs/drop-down menus for : Reference - Verse - Fiction - Nonfiction
- browse indexes by author, by subject or by title

Sample reference material available on the Bartelby.com site:

Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition)
"Containing nearly 51,000 entries (marshalling six and one-half million words on a vast range of topics), and with more than 80,000 hypertext cross-references, the current Sixth Edition is among the most complete and up-to-date encyclopedias ever produced."
Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus (Third Edition)
"Containing 35,000 synonyms and over 250,000 cross-references in an easy-to-use format, this thesaurus features succinct word definitions and an innovative hyperlinked category index."
The American Heritage® Book of English Usage
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English
"With a detailed look at grammar, style, diction, word formation, gender, social groups and scientific forms, this valuable reference work is ideal for students, writers, academicians and anybody concerned about proper writing style."
The Columbia World of Quotations
"The 65,000 essential quotations that constitute this authoritative collection represent the research of 154 experts. Entries from more than 5,000 authors and speakers are multiply classified into 6,500 subjects."
Familiar Quotations "A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature"
Compiled by John Bartlett
"This tenth edition of 1919 contains over 11,000 searchable quotations and was the first new edition of John Bartlett’s corpus to be published after his death in 1905—the new editor, however, choosing more to supplement than revise the work of the first name in quotations."
The Elements of Style - William Strunk, Jr.
"Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer."
The World Factbook, 2003
"The U.S. government’s complete geographical handbook, featuring 268 full-color maps and flags of all nations and geographical entities. Each country profile tracks such demographics as population, ethnicity and literacy rates, as well as political, geographical and economic data."
The American Language An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States by H.L. Mencken
"This classic was written to clarify the discrepancies between British and American English and to define the distinguishing characteristics of American English. Mencken’s groundbreaking study was undoubtedly the most scientific linguistic work on the American language to date and continues to serve as a definitive resource in the field."
The Encyclopedia of World History, 6th ed. 2001
"Renowned historian Peter N. Stearns’s comprehensive chronology of more than 20,000 entries that span the millenia from prehistoric times to the year 2000."
Harvard Classics - "...the complete 70 volumes of the most comprehensive and well-researched anthology of all time."

SourceWatch (formerly Disinfopedia)
"...a collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Sponsored by the Center for Media and Democracy (http://www.prwatch.org), the Disinfopedia was started in February 2003 and contributors are now working on over 7,000 articles.

FreeFullText.com
"...provides direct links to over 7000 scholarly periodicals which allow some or all of their online content to be viewed by ANYONE with Internet access for free (though some may require free registration)."

Favourite Articles
[Click "Search by title"]
Favourite Articles is a collection of articles from the Translation Bureau's periodical, Language Update, dealing with English language usage and style, translation problems and other language-related matters.

The Elements of Style (William Strunk, 1918)
The Classic.

Common Errors in English

Grammar, usage and style resources

A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices
"This book contains definitions and examples of more than sixty traditional rhetorical devices - from alliteration to zeugma - all of which can still be useful today to improve the effectiveness, clarity, and enjoyment of your writing."

Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
- incl. grammar and punctuation exercises and tests

Webgrammar
...help with spelling, grammar, homonyms, punctuation, capitalization, and style; information in the areas of writing, education, typography, academic research, and Web development...

Word Wizards**(see note below)
"The Canadian Online Language Toolkit"
Government of Canada
Version française: Génies des mots - La trousse langagière canadienne en ligne.
"Word Wizards offers a comprehensive compendium of online, made-in-Canada language tools. You may also consult our Directory of Organizations to find out who is doing what in the language industries in Canada. (...)
- collection of online resources - some free, some for a fee - for people who write in either French or English
- incl links to : About Word Wizards - Directory of Organizations - Writing Tools - Translation Tools (Fr/Eng - Eng/Fr only) - Terminology Tools - Specialized Tools - Feedback - Study English or French in Canada.
Free Language Tools - links to a dozen online free resources, mainly from government and university.

**This site is dead - I don't think it was active for more than two years...
Our federal tax dollars at work!
Here's the Word Wizards website as it appeared (sans graphics) in March 2005
--- thanks to the Internet Archive

Plain English Campaign

The Phrase Finder
Meanings and origins of over 2,000 English sayings, phrases and idioms

.Dictionnaire de la langue française - de l'Internaute

La grammaire interactive - navigation par thèmes, un outil de recherche et un index alphabétique permettent de consulter les fiches grammaticales de Softissimo. Les explications y sont claires et les exemples pertinents. De plus, la rubrique « Testez-vous » propose des exercices qui sont corrigés en ligne.
Grammaire : Les accords
Testez votre orthographe
Dictionnaire de synonymes
Conjugaison en ligne

Translation

Ode to Traductors - [image] - why I have this love-hate relationship with government translation...

Le grand dictionnaire terminologique
Source:
Office de la langue francaise
Excellent! Traduit du français à l'anglais et de l'anglais au français
 Trois millions de termes français et anglais dans 200 domaines d'activité
Translates words from French to English or English to French - three million French and English entries in 200 fields

French-English Dictionary - from The ARTFL Project (American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language)

Termes juridiques - Ministère de la Justice du Québec (PDF file - 159K, 26 pages)
This is a French-to-English dictionary, but you can go to the English index at the end of the file and use it to find French legal terms.

Harper Collins French-English Dictionary (WordReference.com)

French-English (ARTFL Project, University of Chicago)

Free online translation of web pages or text
*Google's Language Tools
*Alta Vista Translation Service
*Freetranslation.com
*Dictionary.com Translation
*Go translator
*T-Text (text only) 
*These are free translation services where you can type (or cut-and-paste) a word, a paragraph, a page or even a URL (Internet address) and see the translation almost immediately. This is machine translation, most suitable for someone who is looking for the gist of a word/text/web page. Don't try using these services in lieu of human translators, though -- they're pretty rough around the edges.

Internet research tools 

Below, you'll find a selection of links to Internet tutorials that I highly recommend to anyone from the "newbie" to the seasoned veteran researcher - anyone who wants to improve their ability to find things online. The date of the latest revision appears at the bottom of each tutorial.

From the University at Albany Library's Internet Tutorials:

Over a dozen current guides and other resources in all - here are just a few:
[click the link above to access the complete list]

Understanding the World Wide Web
A discussion of Web basics, including links, major Web protocols, the makeup of URLs, and Web programming

Multimedia on the Web
A guide to the multimedia phenomenon

The Web and You
A guide to the social Web and how you can participate

RSS Basics
What it is, why you need it, and how to use it

Alphabetical list of Search Engines

Alphabetical list of Subject Directories - incl. * Academic & Professional Directories * Commercial Directories & Portals * Directory Archives

How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory
A chart listing numerous features and the search engines & directories that support them

The World of Search Engines
Covers search engine basics, including general search engines, meta search engines, concept categorizing search engines, and vertical search engines

The World of Subject Directories
A guide to collections of Web resources organized by people

Source:
SUNY University at Albany

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Canadian Search Engines (almost 60 links)
Source:
Search Engine Colossus
(links to search engines from 217 countries around the world!)

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Anywhere.ca - Canadian search engine and directory
"... a search engine and directory of over 75,000 Canadian websites. Online since April 2004, we are working to become Canada's largest human edited directory."

AcrossCan - an exclusively Canadian search engine owned and operated in Canada. The project was conceived after ongoing difficulty attempting to find Canadian results from the larger search engines. Our goal is to provide a search engine with Canadian only results.

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