There exist tens of thousands of these online reference sites worldwide, serving every conceivable interest, activity, subject and occupation, and they can be broadly categorized into single source and comprehensive source sites.
Online reference sites devoted to the general theme of academic writing dominate the industry. Most offer their services free of charge. They range from the simple, single source dictionary or thesaurus sites, familiar to all of us who have ever sent an email, to the most comprehensive, all-inclusive varieties which provide access to multiple subject matter, encyclopedias, dictionaries, literary sources, etc.
I've condensed the number of sites devoted to the theme of academic writing down to the absolute best and most indispensable free five sites.
Bartleby
For older grade school students on up. This free site is refreshingly uncluttered, loaded with the best references, and super easy to use. I quickly accessed Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES on the Harvard Classics link and could have read the entire book from the comfort of my laptop.
You can access the convenient author, title and subject indexes. Some of the links are: the Columbia Encyclopedia, American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, American Heritage Book of English Usage, Columbia World of Quotations, Oxford Shakespeare, Strunk's Elements of Style, World Factbook, Columbia Gazetteer, King James Bible, The Harvard Classics and The Shelf of Fiction. It is the preeminent internet publisher of literature, reference and verse.
The Free Library
This site is a ‘no-nonsense' reference site with its topical references listed like an index. This free library is an invaluable research tool and the fastest, easiest way to locate useful information on virtually any topic. All it's missing is the librarian! Explore the site through a keyword search, or simply browse the enormous collection of literary classics and up-to-date periodicals to find exactly what you need.
The Christian Bible Reference Site
Good for students researching the Bible as literature or historical literature.
U.S. Census Bureau
A good, cleanly presented site. It is the official census site, with links to some related sites. The reference site is extremely useful for researching past and current statistics, as well as future projections.
CIA World Factbook
An up-to-date, ‘just-the-facts-ma'am' type of reference site, but extremely useful for information about every country and region of the world. Just click on the ‘select a country or location' drop down menu and you're on your way.
