# online reference compendium **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-reference-compendium/150304 "2003-01-22T22:40:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-reference-compendium/150304/1 "2003-01-22T22:40:22Z")
There are certain books a complete reference library should contain. My reference library is mostly online, and it’s got holes in it. Anyone want to help fill those holes? I’m looking for references that are free and preferrably don’t have a registration requirement. A good index or search function is important. I try to avoid pop-ups or pop-unders if I can. Here are some references I use fairly regularly, piled into rough categories: **General Reference** [ul][li]Dictionary: Merriam-Webster OnLine at [http://www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com).[/li][li]Thesaurus: Merriam-Webster OnLine at [http://www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com).[/li][li]Acronym Reference: Acronym Finder at [http://www.acronymfinder.com](http://www.acronymfinder.com).[/li][li]Slang Dictionary: The Online Slang Dictionary at [http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/.[/li](http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/.%5B/li)][li]Etymology: [Wordorigins.org](http://Wordorigins.org) at [http://www.wordorigins.org](http://www.wordorigins.org).[/li][li]Street Maps: MapQuest at [http://www.mapquest.com](http://www.mapquest.com). I’m looking for a better site.[/li][li]Internet: Google at [http://www.google.ca](http://www.google.ca).[/ul][/li] **Computer References** [ul][li]Bash: The Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide at [http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/[/li][li]C:](http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/%5B/li%5D%5Bli%5DC:) Programmming in C at [http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave/C/CE.html](http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/Dave/C/CE.html). The search function doesn’t work for me.[/li][li]OpenGL: OpenGL Index Page at [http://www.cevis.uni-bremen.de/~uwe/opengl/opengl.html.[/ul](http://www.cevis.uni-bremen.de/~uwe/opengl/opengl.html.%5B/ul)][/li] **Other References** [ul][li]Guitar music: The Online Guitar Archive at [http://www.olga.net](http://www.olga.net).[/ul][/li] **Reference of Last Resort** [ul][li]The Straight Dope at [http://www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com), of course![/ul][/li] **References I’m still looking for** I have yet to find a good encyclopedia, an atlas, a source for music lyrics and their explanations or interpretations, and general references for html, latex, C++, perl, and so on. Feel free to add any references you find useful as well; I’m sure I’ve missed many. Please add any references you use in the same format as I’ve used so the URL is visible. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-reference-compendium/150304/2 "2003-01-22T23:30:58Z")
At the top of GQ is a sticky thread with many reference sites. You might check those included there to see if they include ones you’re looking for. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=149223](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=149223) ---
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-reference-compendium/150304/3 "2003-01-23T00:01:22Z")
My eyes are dim, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me… Thanks for the link, **Lsura** ; I confess to only checking the first 100 of 2500 SDMB search matches. I guess that’s this thread deaded then.