Subject Specific Web Sites

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Remember, anybody can write anything and put it on the Web.
Information found on the internet is not verified by editors or peer reviewers. YOU must decide if the information you obtain comes from a valid source. The following web site can help: Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources

Subject Specific Web Site Index: Art & Artists | Business | Criminal Justice | Country Studies | Cultural Diversity| Education | Environmental Issues | Ethics & Philosophy | Geography | Government & Politics | History | Illinois | Law | Literature | Mathematics | Music | Nursing and Health | Periodicals | Recreation Administration | Religion | Science | Social Work | Sociology | Statistics | Women's Studies

  • Art Cyclopedia
     Search by artists, art works, museums.  Browse by art movement, subject, nationality.
  • The Arts in the Great Lakes Region (GLIN)
    Lists of orchestras, Illinois Arts Alliance, Prairie: Illinois Humanities Council, and similar information for Wisconsin, Ohio, Ontario, Minnesota, New York, Quebec, and Michigan.
  • Illinois Arts Council
    Art Fair Directory, Artslinks, program applications, current news, and services of the Council.
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art
     Timelines of art history, illustrated from the Met's collection.
  • American Accounting Association
     Links to accounting sites and publications.
  • Annual Reports Online:
  • BEOnline Plus
    Internet resources by title and subject . This is provided by the Business Reference Services of the Library of Congress. Some subjects are: demographics, accounting, business plans, business forms, business standards, and data-sets.
  • BigCharts
    Search for company symbols and create a Quick Chart, Interactive Chart, or Java Chart of financial activity. Includes historical company data (I easily created a Java Chart for Dell for 1989).
  • CCH Inc.
     Information on tax and accounting issues, plus CCH Business Owner's Toolkit and Financial Planning Toolkit.
  • Business.Gov
     "Gateway to Federal resources" for business/small business development.
  • globalEDGE
     International business resources from Michigan State University.
  • Hoover's Online
     Company and industry information, some free. Links to  company home pages.
  • Illinois Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO)
     Regional planning, business incentives & support, grants, loans.
  • NASDAQ
     U.S. stock exchange quotes and news.
  • Northern Illinois Business Data
     Economic statistics and community profiles at the metropolitan, county, and state levels, 1990-Present.
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook
     Listings by job title, occupational clusters, employment projections.
  • O*Net Online
     Occupational Information Network provides information on: career choices (it replaces the Dictionary of Occupational Titles), job requirements, descriptions of workers, occupation snapshots, and links to career resources.
  • Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database
     Financial reports of publicly held companies.
  • Small Business Association
     Online training, examples of budgets/plans/reports, resource partners, starting an online business, and other tools for the small business entrepreneur.

  • Africa Focus: Sights and Sounds of a Continent
    University of Wisconsin digital collections presents selected primary and secondary sources of materials held at UW libraries. An example is the e-book Africans in Bondage: Studies in Slavery and the Slave Trade by Phillip D. Curtin and Paul E. Lovejoy.
  • Africa South of the Sahara
    Links to information on this part of the continent. Browse by Countries, Topics, or Africa Pages. Also, Breaking Africa News.
  • Background Notes
    Organized by country, these are the same as the Notes in print. You will find: statistics, information on the people, government, laws of the country, and more.
  • CIA World Factbook
     Maps and information on the nations of the world.
  • Countries of the World
    Combines information from The World Factbook, Country Studies, census facts and United Nations publications in a compact format. Eighteen years are covered. Protius Coutsoukis has created this Web site.
  • Country Studies/Area Handbooks
     Social, economic, political, and cultural descriptions of many countries.
  • East & Southeast Asia
     Topic index by country plus specific links to information on globalization, disasters, elections and politics.

  • Bureau of Justice Statistics
     Statistics about crime, law enforcement & courts.
  • Child Welfare Information Gateway
    Provides access to resources and information to "help protect children and strengthen families." Topics include: family-centered practice, adoption, preventing child abuse and neglect. Includes a "state statutes search" option.
  • DEA Briefs & Background –Illinois
    Up-to-date statistics on the drug situation in Illinois. Links to other state and city information.
  • Gang Alert
     Brochure produced by the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court, includes contact information, pictures of gang symbols, statistics, and “gang facts.”
  • Illinois Criminial Justice Information Authority
     Information and statistics related to crime and law enforcement in Illinois.
  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service
     Information on federally supported research and information in Criminal Justice. (Many documents are full-text.)
  • State of Illinois, Prisoner Review Board
    Click the "Annual Report" link for statistics on adult and juvenile releases, discharges, parole or good conduct reviews, and more.
  • Washlaw Web
     A meta-site (maintained by the Washburn University School of Law) to case and statute law sites and resources around the country indexed by state, jurisdiction, and topic areas.

  • Africa South of the Sahara
    Links to information on this part of the continent. Browse by Countries, Topics, or Africa Pages. Also, Breaking Africa News.
  • Asian-Nation
     Data on the culture, history, demographics, politics of Asian-Americans.
  • Black Studies
     Topics cover affirmative action, Central High School in Little Rock, education, Harlem Renaissance, statistics, and a great deal more. CCNY/CUNY website.
  • The Canadian Encyclopedia
     All things Canadian.
  • Chief George Manuel Memorial Library – CWIS
     “The Fourth World Documentation Archive is an online library of texts which record and preserve our peoples’ struggles to regain their rightful place in the international community.” More than 100,000 papers, documents, reports, and publications on American Indian nations and indigenous peoples from around the world.
  • Indigenous Studies
     Worldwide sites, data, articles and documents on peoples native to an area. Includes "North American Indians."
  • The Sonja Hayes Stone Center for Black Culture & History
    Extensive subject links under film, dance, civil rights, sports, women, people and biographies, religion, listservs and conferences, and a great deal more.

Environmental Issues

  • Places Online
     Association of American Geographers site. Click on a location on the map, such as Afghanistan, and you will see links to cultural and other information on the country plus images.

  • ADA Home Page
     Information on the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • American Presidency
    Two parts to the site are Presidency in History and Presidency in Action. The Action section covers the function and responsibilities of the modern presidency, organization charts, staff listings, and biographies of staff and advisors.
  • The American Presidency Project
    Extensive information on current presidency and politics, and coverage on all presidencies to date. Public papers, proclamations, addresses, press conferences, elections, and much more.
  • Aurora
     City of Aurora, Illinois home page.
  • Aurora Online Community Network
     List of Aurora community organizations and information: arts, health, churches, libraries/museums/history, politics and government, newspapers, transportation schedules, and other very useful information. Includes online links.
  • DisabilityInfo.gov
    Information and printable brochures on topics of interest to people with disabilities, their families, employers, service providers, and many others.” These topics include: disaster preparedness, employment, mentoring, and family issues.
  • GovTrack.us
    U.S. government active legislation is independently tracked: bills, recent votes, active bills, newly-introduced legislation, new laws, etc. Very current information. The site was created by Joshua Tauberer, a graduate student studying linguistics, as a pet project. This site is not affiliated with the government or any other group.
  • GPO Access
     Guide to federal government publications, many of which are available in full-text.
  • Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC)
    Publications and links aimed at informing consumers; many are free to order or download. Information on such topics as: consumer action, health, food, travel, family, education, and recalls and scams.
  • FRASER (Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research)
     Economic information and data on the U.S. economy. Includes History of the Federal Reserve, Survey of Current Business, and Economic Indicators.
  • Illinois General Assembly
     Senate and House members, rules, transcripts, some audio/video clips of sessions. Legislation & Laws; bills, public acts, Illinois constitution. Rules and regulations, Illinois Register, agencies, and contact information.
  • Illinois - State Home Page
     News, information, and documents about Illinois state government, legislation, agencies, schools, tourism, and Illinois communities.
  • Kane County
     Current local news, elected officials, bikeways and trails, pets to adopt, bio-terrorism information; other counties have similar web sites.
  • Library of Congress
     Research tools, services, and reference materials, including digitized versions of historic materials from the American Memory project.
  • Library of Congress-Federal Research Division
     Country studies, e-books on terrorism, military legal data.
  • Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
     Non-partisan service to inform journalists, policy makers, and citizens about innovations in public policy at the state level.
  • OpenCRS – Congressional Research Reports for the People
    A project of the Center for Democracy & Technology and other organizations, and funded with taxpayer dollars, the report collections are linked to the National Council for Science and the Environment, Federation of American Scientists, Thurgood Marshall Law Library-U. of Maryland. Topics of reports range from economics to U. S. trade policy.
  • Political Science Resources - U.S.
     Lobby groups, elections, campaign finance, primaries, foreign policy, and much more.
  • State and Local Government on the Internet
     Directory of official state, county, and city government websites. Search by location and topic.
  • United Nations
     Official web site of the UN; information on UN agency activities and publications.
  • U.S. Department of State-Foreign Relations of the U.S.
     Foreign policy documents with links to specific presidential eras.
  • Biography of America
     History of America from First Encounters to current times. Includes web links by topic. (Companion to the video series).
  • British History Online
     Digital library of some of the core printed documents for medieval and other British Isles history (county histories, London, legal documents, etc.)
  • Center for History and New Media
     Global and U.S. events - current and past, digital resources, original documents, model syllabi, historical method, and much more.
  • Digital History
    “Using new technologies to enhance teaching and research.”
  • Encyclopedia of Chicago
     Articles, maps, images, and special features about The Windy City. A joint effort of Chicago Historical Society, Newberry Library, and Northwestern University.
  • Eternal Egypt
     Egyptian history, art, civilization, and timeline, with links to a mass of materials on this ancient land. Excellent digital images through Shockwave software. This is a joint project of IBM and the Egyptian government. It is accessible as a mobile digital guide, also.
  • Food Timelines - History Notes & Historic Prices
     Comparative costs from various years, for example, Chicago 1900. Some company historical information.
  • Historical Census Browser
    Historical demographics, 1760-1960, including state and county levels. Data is taken from U.S. housing and population censuses. You may also produce a map of the data. This is a University of Virginia project.
  • History and Politics Out Loud
    Archive of significant audio materials. Speeches and addresses by such figures as Martin Luther King, Robert F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, Whitney Young Jr., and Lyndon B. Johnson. Searchable by date, speaker, or title of speech or event. There is also a link to information on how to cite the resources.
  • History Web Sites
     Prehistory, 20th century, maps, U.S. History.
  • Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
     Human origins, Mesopotamia, Israel, Christian origins, Hellenistic and Roman worlds; many primary resources.
  • Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
     Essays, images, documents, songs, maps, glossary all about the French Revolution.
  • Making of America Digital Library
     Full-text primary resources in education, history, sociology, religion. Click on About MoA for links to more digital resources.
  • NIU Digitization Projects
     Historical pictures, photographs, and documents pertaining to Illinois in addition to American archival materials and primary resources for students and teachers.
  • Secret Routes to Freedom
     The Underground Railroad experience images, photographs, maps, brief text. Choose HTML unless you have FlashPlayer software.
  • The History Files
     Get the inside story on some of Chicago's most memorable events!” Includes Al Capone, Chicago Fire, World's Columbian Exposition, and more.
  • The Illinois History Resource Page
     Some of the entries are: government offices and officials, Abraham Lincoln, Chicago, I&M Canal, Native Americans, Illinois towns.
  • The Middle East, 1916-2001
    The Avalon Project at Yale Law School presents detailed documentary information on this part of the world. These are primary documents.
  • World War I Document Archive
     Primary documents from World War I; international in scope.

  • ALHN Illinois
    Vital record databases, census information, early settlers, Illinois praires, county data, early Illinois laws, online books on Illinois, and much more.
  • The Arts in the Great Lakes Region (GLIN)
    Lists of orchestras, Illinois Arts Alliance, Prairie: Illinois Humanities Council, and similar information for Wisconsin, Ohio, Ontario, Minnesota, New York, Quebec, and Michigan.
  • Digital Illinois
    Digital collections from libraries, historical societies, museums, and other cultural institutions in Illinois. Contains image, text, and audio files.
  • Encyclopedia of Chicago
     Articles, maps, images, and special features about The Windy City. A joint effort of Chicago Historical Society, Newberry Library, and Northwestern University.
  • Illinois Arts Council
    Art Fair Directory, Artslinks, program applications, current news, and services of the Council.
  • The Illinois History Resource Page
     Some of the entries are: government offices and officials, Abraham Lincoln, Chicago, I&M Canal, Native Americans, Illinois towns.
  • Illinois Periodicals Online (IPO)
    Ten digitally-imaged full-text publications including Illinois History, Illinois Heritage, and Illinois History Teacher. Various date coverage.
  • Illinois - State Home Page
     News, information, and documents about Illinois state government, legislation, agencies, schools, tourism, and Illinois communities.
  • NIU Digitization Projects
     Historical pictures, photographs, and documents pertaining to Illinois in addition to American archival materials and primary resources for students and teachers.

  • American Law Sources
     Links for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; in English, French, and Spanish.
  • GovTrack.us
    U.S. government active legislation is independently tracked: bills, recent votes, active bills, newly-introduced legislation, new laws, etc. Very current information. The site was created by Joshua Tauberer, a graduate student studying linguistics, as a pet project. This site is not affiliated with the government or any other group.
  • Illinois Courts
    About Illinois courts and the history of the Illinois Judicial System, the Illinois Constitution, local court information by county, how cases proceed through the courts, as well as court documents and opinions. Other links for “citizen self-help,” and links for educators.
  • Law Online-Nations of the World
     Legal systems of all nations and associated jurisdictions.
  • Legal Information Institute
     Cornell University Law School provides: law events in the news with case citations, easy to search laws by source or jurisdiction (links to states other than Illinois), and court opinions.
  • THOMAS: U.S. Legislation
     Comprehensive guide to the U.S. Congress, with detailed information on current and pending legislation.
  • U.S.Code Table of Popular Names
     Common names for legislative acts; linked to U.S. Code.
  • U.S.Courts
     Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District Court.

  • American Passages : a Literary Survey
     Study American literature in its cultural context. Includes visual aids and links.
  • Digital Book Index
     Vast archive of reference works, full-text fiction and non-fiction works, history & other writings. Over 49,000 titles are available free.
  • Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
     Full-text myths, legends, and tales organized by topic.
  • Geoffrey Chaucer
    Information on Chaucer, the Middle Ages, and the Canterbury Tales, from Harvard University. A wealth of information.
  • Great Books Online
     Quotations, verse, literary resources.
  • Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database
    Topics have some medical relationship. A few authors that are represented are: Anton Chekhov, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare (of course). Works range from Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott, Anatomy Lesson by Jack Coulehan, anyone lived in a pretty how town by E.E. Cummings, to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Includes some audio texts. Online texts are annotated.
  • The Online Library of Liberty
    “to encourage study of the ideals of a society of free and responsible individuals.” Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Wealth of Nations, and The Federalist are just a few of the full-text offerings.

  • B'Way
     Broadway, the stars, the shows, the songs. Memorable musicals, some with sound bites.
  • Essentials of Music
     Basic information about classical music: eras, composers, glossary. There is sound if you have audio software on your computer.
  • Popular Music & Society
     Information arranged by artists (Electric Prunes, Stone Coyotes, Chesterfield Kings, etc), music organizations, publications (not full-text articles), and recording companies.
  • Twentieth Century Music Links
     Medieval, Romantic, Classic, and modern classical composers and music links.
  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing
     The AACN works to establish standards of quality for bachelor- and graduate-degree nursing programs. Site lists job opportunities and full-text of AACN Issue Bulletins.
  • Bioterrorism
     Quick reference materials and fact sheets, journal articles and news, plus key documents.
  • Center for Disease Control (CDC)
     Health topics A to Z, traveler's health, data & statistics.
  • Discover Nursing
    Jobs and scholarship information for nurses plus benefits and salaries statistics.
  • Family Doctor
     American Academy of Family Physicians - information on a variety of family health issues.
  • Health Web
     Provides links to quality information for health care professionals and consumers.
  • Mayo Clinic
     Search for information on diseases or conditions.
  • Merck Source
     Medical Centers” section provides health information by age group (children, women, men, seniors). Search the Merck Manual for drug information, or view the virtual body tours. Useful health forms, “find a clinical trial in your area,” and “questions to ask your doctor,” and you can sign up for a free e-newsletter from the Harvard Medical School.
  • National Mental Health Association
     Do a topic search (depression, sexuality, etc.), find a support group, read news.
  • New York Online Access to Health
     English/Spanish site, provides a wealth of accurate and timely full-text consumer health information.
  • The Nutrition Source
     Information on healthy eating, food pyramids, cholesterol, exercise, diabetes, alcohol use, and more.


Periodicals

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
     Free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals.
  • The Free Library
    Browse by publication category, title, articles by date or topic, or do a keyword search. Samples of included periodical titles are: Academic Exchange Quarterly, Community Action, Dance and School Administrator. Coverage from 1987 to current date, but not all dates and issues are included.
  • HarpWeek
     Electronic access to Harper's Weekly, the "Journal of Civilization."  Primary resource for examining 19th century America on a cumulative week to week basis during the period from 1857-1877.
  • PubMed Central
     National Library of Medicine digital archive of life sciences journals. Many articles full-text.


  • Bible Gateway
     Many versions of the Bible presented as concordances (keyword search), some RealAudio, and foreign language texts.
  • Islam & Islamic Studies
     Resources for studying Islam including the Qur'an, Shi'ite Islam, history, and Jihad.
  • Jewish-Christian Relations
     Articles, study resources, Holocaust studies, bibliographies.
  • Religion Explorer
     Topical list search of some of the standard as well as the more esoteric philosophies and concepts of religion.
  • Religious Resources on the Internet
     Activities, organizations, publications, music, art, directories, education.
  • The Secular Web
     "Nontheistic worldview" information, atheistic and agnostic in tone. A source of e-books, indexes, and philosophical thought.

  • AMSER: Applied Math and Science Education Repository
    Biology Browser, tides and coastlines of America, astronomy/people in astronomy, Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia, The Siam Journal on Discrete Mathematics and more.
  • Animal Diversity Web
     Pictures and sounds of animals, as well as classification of the animal kingdom.
  • Atlas of the Body
     AMA site. Colored illustrations and brief descriptions of body elements.
  • Biology Online
     Information in the life sciences via a dictionary, tutorials, online directory, and forum.
  • Encyclopedia of Psychology
     Human behavior, behavioral medicine, B.F. Skinner & others.
  • Endangered Species Program
     List of endangered species, laws and policies, news, teachers' resources.
  • FAS (Federation of American Scientists)
     FAS programs and publications inform public debate of our nation's most critical challenges.” Topics include arms trade, nanotechnology, biomedicine, restoring degraded land, learning federation, gun laws.
  • NASA Astrobiology Institute
     Articles on evolution, life on Earth, planets, and the Universe.
  • National Academies
     News, reports, and articles on such topics as: biology, earth sciences, environment, health & medicine, mathematics & physics, space.
  • PubChem
     NLM site provides information on the biological activities of small molecules.” Good diagrams and illustrations.
  • Stem Cell Information
     Scientific resources, federal policy, general information on this hot topic
  • U.S. Naval Observatory
    Phases of the moon, eclipses, sunrise/sunset, Earth's seasons - all by date - are a few of the offerings at this site. Interesting graphic presentations.
  • The Virtual Library of Botany/Plant Biology
    Broad directory of resources and links to plant taxonomy, genetics, natural history, etc. Developed by a University of Oklahoma professor.
  • World of Science
     Net resources for math, physics, chemistry, astronomy, plus biographies of scientists.

  • Human Rights Watch
     Includes current events, global issues, documents by country.
  • IssueLab
    Papers, publications, and reports issued by nonprofit organizations. Several of the available titles are: Strong Neighborhoods, Strong Schools; Hunger in America 2006; Immigrant-led Organizers in Their Own Words.
  • Population Reference Bureau
     Facts, news & reports on U.S. and world population issues.
  • Sociology Links
     Barbara Strassberg's links to web resources for sociology.
  • UC Atlas of Global Inequality
    The site is divided into categories of health, income, economic growth, gender, inequality & growth and country pages. Most maps are organized by decades; data tables may be downloaded or exported. This is from the Center for Global, International and Regional Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
  • UI Public Services
     Services offered under the auspices of the U. of Illinois to the people of Illinois. Program areas, with links to websites and offices, are organized by topics, such as Social Policy, Youth, Family & Children, Health, Public Safety, and Education.
  • Understanding Prejudice
    Site devoted to understanding the causes and consequences of prejudice. Links to resources, searchable databases, and social justice organizations. Includes exercises and demonstations, and a Multimedia Center.
  • University of Louisville Sociology Links
     Links to sites such as women's studies and urban institute.
  • U.S. Department of State - International Topics and Issues
     Topics include: human rights (links to reports on individual countries), HIV/AIDS, international women's issues, terrorism, trafficking in persons, migration, refugees, war crimes.
  • Voices of Civil Rights
     Personal accounts of those who have experienced civil rights history as well as stories of those who are involved in the continuing search for equality.
  • Fedstats
    Choose statistics from alphabetical topics, agencies arranged A to Z, U.S. statistics by geographical location, MapStats, or use the Statistics Reference Shelf for such sources as the Statistical Abstract of the United States.
  • IllinoisAtlas.com
     Digital maps from NIU; demographics and statistics for business education.
  • Illinois Census (and Census 2000 Profiles)
    Census demographics and statistics from 1990 to 2000. Data Facts provies a summary table of demographics. Fact Finder allows you to build a query of specific age, race and gender, and you may also create a search by city, county, and township.
  • Illinois Department of Public Health
     IDPH statistics coverage varies in dates but some start as early as 1973. Topics include: infant mortality, birth, death, abortion, plus other state and county vital statistics .
  • International Data Base (IDB) of the U.S. Census Bureau
    Demographics and socioeconomic data for 228 countries and areas of the world. Coverage from 1950 to as far in the future – projected statistics – as 2050.
  • National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
    Timely, accurate, statistics for U.S. agriculture; by nation, state, and county.
  • National Center for Health Statistics
     Annual Chartbooks on American health trends from 1975. With links to Healthy People 2010, America's Children 2003, and Aging Activities.
  • National Compensation Survey
     Occupational earnings for all areas, Employment Cost Index, Employee Benefits in Private Industry, and other statistics.
  • Population Reference Bureau
     Divided by Focus Area (Reproductive Health, Population Trends), Topics (Education, Mortality, Migration), and Regions (Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa). There are also sections on Data By Country, Environment, and Gender, and fast facts (the U.S. estimated population is 293,600,000).
  • Statistical Resources on the Web
     Stats on: business & industry, consumers, foreign governments, health, cost-of-living, and much more.
  • United Nations Global Statistics
     Datasets for demographics, social & housing indicators, environment, industry, energy.
  • U.S. Census Bureau International Database
     Data by people, business, geography. U.S. and World population clocks, quick facts on the states, historical statistics.
  • U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
    Every statistic you might want on U.S. occupations, employment, CPI, import/export, wages, injuries on the job, unemployment, etc. There is also a section on international statistics.
  • Yearbook of Immigration Statistics
    DHS statistical profiles on legal permanent residents, "foreign nationals granted lawful permanent residence" in the U.S., mapping of immigrants by metropolitan area.

  • 4Woman.gov
     Women's health information, with special sections on disabilities, body image, menopause, mental health, pregnancy, stress, HIV/AIDS. Information in foreign languages, also.
  • American Women’s History
     Digital collection of primary & secondary resources, state index to sources, and subject index.
  • Voices From the Gap
     North American women writers of color. Biographical, bibliographical, and critical information.
  • Women in American History
     Encyclopedia Britannica articles: biography, primary documents, literature, study guides. 1600-present.

Rev. July 17, 2007

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