Alcove 9: An Annotated List of Reference Websites

Libraries, Archives, and Consortia

ALADIN
Online catalog for a consortium of Washington D.C. area university libraries.

American Library Association
Home page for the U.S. association of librarians and information professionals, with information about events and conferences, issues of current interest, and other features, some of which are restricted to members only

British Library
This web site for the British Library provides information on exhibitions, services, reader admission, and access to the online catalog.

Center for Research Libraries
Information about the Chicago-based consortium, including access to its online catalog.

COPAC
Combined online catalog for numerous British academic libraries including the British Library, Cambridge University, Edinburgh University, Glasgow University, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London School of Economics (LSE) Library, Oxford University, Trinity College, Dublin, University College, London, University of London Library.

District of Columbia Public Library
Home page for the Washington, D.C. public library system, with information on local history from the library's Washingtoniana Division, District of Columbia census data, and access to the library's online catalog.

The European Library
Collection of web pages, online catalogs, addresses, and hours from the national libraries of Europe, browsable by country. Frames-based; website formerly known as "Gabriel."

LibDex: The Library Index
International library directory, searchable by keyword or browseable by country. The keyword search is most effective for finding libraries in the U.S.; the browse feature works best for finding libraries outside the U.S.

Maryland Libraries
One-stop shopping for information about public and academic libraries in Maryland, including hours, policies, and telnet links to their catalogs.

National Archives and Records Administration
Information about NARA facilities and holdings across the country. The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) is a search engine covering some of NARA's collections. There is also an online version of the Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States.

National Library Catalogues Worldwide
A listing of online catalogs (mostly via telnet, but some have HTML search interfaces) with login instructions. The list is maintained by a librarian at the University of Queensland, Australia.

National Library of Medicine
General information, telephone numbers, hours, and other information. Access to NLM databases, many fee-based. Access to NLM Locator Plus (online library catalog) is free.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)
Free online analog of the print resource, with information from 1987 to the present. Catalog records for mansucript collections can be searched via the Library's Z39.50 gateway.

New York Public Library
Offers web interfaces for CATNYP (online catalog of the NYPL Research Libraries) and LEO (online catalog of the Branch Libraries). CATNYP includes materials added to the collections after 1971, with some retrospective cataloging. There are also online resource guides to the NYPL collections.

OCLC
Includes a FirstSearch database list and a database of OCLC participating institutions searchable by name or OCLC symbol.

Public Library Locator
From the National Center for Education Statistics, a searchable directory (based on a 1996 survey) enabling users to find public libraries by location, size of collection, and other criteria.

Research Libraries Group
Information about the consortium and its online utilities.

Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
Includes catalogs for the Smithsonian Libraries system, archival collections, and art inventories (which include many other collections besides the Smithsonian).

Society of American Archivists
Website for the principal professional association of archivists in the U.S., with a history of the organization, a glossary of archival and records terminology, various free online publications, and other features, some of which are available to members only.

Special Libraries Association
Website for the international association for professionals working in specialized libraries, with information about events and conferences, the complete run of the SLA journal Special Libraries from 1910 to 1996 (in PDF), and other features. Some features, such as full access to the online version of the SLA publication Information Outlook, are available to members only.

WWW Accessible National Libraries of the World
Listing of national library web pages, maintained by IFLA.