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Reference Shelf: Quick Reference

Dictionaries, encyclopedias, phone directories, zip and area codes, recommended websites by topic, grammar guides, and more.

Premium Online Resources

Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia
This database provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas.

Online Dictionaries and Tools

Merriam Webster Dictionary
Dictionary and Thesaurus
Oxford Dictionaries
Dictionary, Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation aids
A Variety of English Dictionaries
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* American-Heritage Collegiate DictionaryOne of the best
* Century Unabridged Dictionary (1889)Old but still useful, especially for historical interests
* Cambridge Dictionaries OnlineFree Online English Dictionaries from Cambridge University Press.
* Historical Dictionary of American Slang alphaDictionary's own slang dictionary that allows you to search for the years of slang terms and slang variations of the same meanings.
Speciality Dictionaries
Links to a variety of specialized dictionaries.
Thesaurus.com
Free online thesaurus of synonyms and antonyms
Perseus Digital Library
Latin-English Dictionary

Online Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia.com
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A free online encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com features premier titles like The Columbia Encyclopedia, Oxford’s World Encyclopedia, and the Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian

Specialized Dictionaries

These items are in the Mesa County Libraries collection. If the call number begins with Ref or Reference, this material is for use in the library only. Photocopiers are available. All other materials are available for checkout.

Black's Law Dictionary, Standard Ninth Edition by Bryan A. Garner
Call Number: Reference 340.03 B627

ISBN: 9780314199492
Dictionary of American Regional English: Volume I: A-C by Frederic G. Cassidy (Editor-In-Chief)
Call Number: Reference 427.973 D554

ISBN: 0674205111

5 volumes
The Dictionary of Banking by Jerry M. Rosenberg
Call Number: Reference 332.1 R813d

ISBN: 0471574368
Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms by Douglas Downing; Michael Covington; Melody Covington
Call Number: 004.03 D554d 12th ed

ISBN: 9781438008783
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Gianni Guadalupi
Call Number: Reference 809.933372 M277D

ISBN: 9780156008723
Dictionary of Medical Terms by Rebecca Sell; Mikel A. Rothenberg; Charles F. Chapman
Call Number: 610.3 S467d 6th ed

ISBN: 9781438010373
Dictionary of Native American Mythology by Sam D. Gill; Irene F. Sullivan
Call Number: Reference 299.7 G475d

ISBN: 9780195086027
Dictionary of Selected Legal Terms by Margaret C. Jasper
Call Number: 340.03 J39d

ISBN: 9780195376579
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary by Dorland
Call Number: Reference 610 D711d 32nd ed.

ISBN: 9781416062578
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations by Elizabeth Knowles (Editor)
Call Number: 808.88 O98

ISBN: 9780199668700
Safire's Political Dictionary by William Safire
Call Number: Reference 320.03 S128s

ISBN: 9780195343342

Specialized Encyclopedias

These items are in the Mesa County Libraries collection. If the call number begins with Ref or Reference, this material is for use in the library only. Photocopiers are available. All other materials are available for checkout.

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present by Paul Finkelman (Editor)
Call Number: Reference 973.049 E56 2009

ISBN: 9780195167795

Four volumes
Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume by Josephine Paterek
Call Number: 970.6 P295e

ISBN: 9780393313826
Encyclopedia of Antique Tools and Machinery by C. H. Wendel
Call Number: 621.9 W469e

ISBN: 0873416074
Encyclopedia of Evolution by Stanley Rice; Massimo Pigliucci (Introduction by)
Call Number: 576.803 R497

ISBN: 0816055157
Encyclopedia of Gods by Michael Jordan
Call Number: Reference 291.2 J82e

ISBN: 0816029091
Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones by David Longshore
Call Number: 551.5503 L857

ISBN: 9780816062959
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World by Richard C. Martin
Call Number: Reference 297.09 E56

ISBN: 0028656032

Two volumes
Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America by Michael Johnson; Richard Hook (Illustrator)
Call Number: 970.004 J63 3rd ed.

ISBN: 9781554073078
Encyclopedia of Psychology by Raymond J. Corsini
Call Number: Reference 150.03 C826e

ISBN: 0471558192
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust by Israel Gutman (Editor)
Call Number: Reference 940.5318 E56

ISBN: 0028960904

Four volumes
The encylopedia of Colorado by Nancy Capace
Call Number: Reference 978.803 E563

ISBN: 0403098130