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Don't Buy Your Reference and Research Books, Find Them Free on the Web

© Alina Sandor

Why buy a dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia, if you can find all of your information on the web? This article will help you find the best websites to do all of your research. Most of them are free or inexpensive to use and sometimes provide you with more information than their paper counterparts. Be careful, though. Many of these sites have "diversions" or games that can lead you away from your research.

Reference Books on Your PC Sure you need a good dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and, of course, The Writer's Market. But many of us are poor (or cheap) writers. Why not save money, as well as time by finding them on the Internet instead?

For a great dictionary and thesaurus go to Wordsmyth, at www.wordsmyth.net. Just type in your word, spelled correctly or not, and the site will give you the correct spelling, synonyms, definition, and a list of related words.

Merriam and Webster Online, at www.m-w.com, not only have a dictionary and thesaurus, but also offers the Encyclopedia Britannica for a small monthly fee or a year's subscription a little bit more. Merriam and Webster Online also has a word of the day, a free online tool bar, downloads, word games, and surveys.

Encyclopedia.com offers a great encyclopedia for free that has content from Columbia Encyclopedia and has a topic tracker that will send the latest information about your favorite subject to your email.

Want one place to find all the information possible on a word? Fagan Finder.com will automatically search all of the best encyclopedias like Britannica and Encarta, as well as information sites, directories, almanacs, and links for information on your subject.

Are you tired of hefting that tomb that every writer must have called the Writer's Market? Then Writer's Market.com is for you. The digital version of Writer's Market offers instant access to thousands of editors and agents. This is a great time saver because it is constantly being updated, which means it will end up having more listings than the paper version, saving you time finding new markets.

Writers Weekly.com also has a wonderful up-to-date listing of new markets. The listing is updated weekly, like the name implies, on the site and offers this list in a newsletter that is also weekly for free. Writers Weekly additionally offers a listing of markets that welcome new writers, a writer's forum, and articles.

Another terrific place to find markets is Places For Writers.com. This list has publications needing specific types material. Scrolling through their "Calls" list is a great way to find out what new markets are looking for in queries and manuscripts. For the month in which I was writing this article there were more than eight new listings. Imagine being able to find eight new listings a month on one site!