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READY REFERENCE

ALMANAC

Information Please Almanac
Country profiles, travel and transportation resources, U.S. documents (for example, The Constitution), overviews of the largest U.S. cities, and much more!


ANNUAL REPORTS

Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR)
Corporate annual reports are filed for public companies and contain key company information — including name, address, telephone number, state of incorporation, Central Index Key (CIK) number, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, and company financials.


BIOGRAPHIES

A & E's Biography Channel
Over 25,000 biographies of people with links to related websites. Note: The search engine feature does not require exact spelling.


CALCULATOR

Martindale's Calculators Online Center
18,000+ calculators in an impressive range of categories including Air Travel, Arts and Crafts, Clothing and Apparel, Cooking and Beverage, Finance, Grade Point Average, History, Management and Business, Math, Nutrition, Science, and Sports/Games. There are many interesting sections. For example, use the "Parties" section under "Cooking and Beverage" to calculate food amounts, or see "Employee Scheduling" under "Management and Business" to build shift schedules.


COUNTRY PROFILES

CIA World Factbook 2003
Information on a wide variety of topics for all the countries of the world; data as of 1/03 with some updates throughout the year.


CURRENCY

What is a dollar worth?
Comparison of dollar value between different years from 1913-2003; based on the Consumer Price Index.

X-Rates.com
Current and historical exchange rates for over 30 different currencies.


DICTIONARIES / THESAURI

The Cook's Thesaurus
Thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools! Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and food substitutions.

yourDictionary.com
Dictionary links covering over 300 languages and a vast range of specialty areas. Notable specialties include accounting, cooking, food industry, marketing, textiles, and the travel industry. You can also link to thesauruses, an abbreviation and acronym dictionary, and a universal currency converter.


ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Over 51,000 entries organized by both subject categories and alphabetical index with a guide to pronunciation.


GOVERNMENT PAGES

FirstGov: US Government's Official Web Portal
Locate information from all areas of the federal government. Separate sections provide specific links for citizens, businesses/non-profits, federal employees, and government-to-government.

State and Local Government on the Net Directory
Thousands of official government websites with links to municipalities and local tourism organizations.


LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS

Alta Vista Babelfish
Translates between English and Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Russian. Also translates between English and most Western European languages including Spanish, German, and Dutch. Some translating is available between European languages.

Google
Translates text and web pages between English and French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Also, translates between French and German.


LAW

Guide to Law Online: Law Library of Congress
This annotated guide lists sources of information on government and law available online with links to resources for international, national, and state legal information.

THOMAS: U.S. Congress on the Internet
Official federal website gives a comprehensive overview of the U.S. Congress. Information on bills and laws is thorough and well-organized.


MAPS

Mapquest
Street maps and directions for countries around the world.


NEWS

CNN
News updated continuously throughout the day. U.S. and international versions are provided and can be read in Spanish, German, Korean, Arabic, and Japanese. Articles from Time, Sports Illustrated, and Business 2.0 are also included.

HospitalityNet
Updated daily, news is arranged by category and searchable within the past year.

National Restaurant Association (NRA)
News articles written by the National Restaurant Association over the past three months. Includes federal and state public policy updates related to the restaurant industry.

Providence Business News
Text of the latest weekly edition; most recent articles can be searched free of charge.

Providence Journal
Johnson & Wales Univ. subscription-only newspaper. Search the Providence Journal from 1983 to present.

Weekly Restaurant Connections
This newsletter provides industry news and trends and a useful links between schools, companies, and associations.


NUTRITION

Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC)
Nutritional information covering food safety, food guide pyramid, and dietary supplements, and a section on specific restaurant and fast food nutrient data. FNIC databases provide access to bibliographic citations and abstracts from government sources and other scientific literature.

Nutrient Data Laboratory
USDA database provides the composition of individual food items.

U.S Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition
Information on a broad range of food issues including nutritional guidelines, safety, regulations, and technology. Informative "Fact Sheets" can be found through the Food Safety link.


PASSPORT / VISA

U.S. Department of State: Travel and Living Abroad
This State Department site is for U.S. citizens looking to travel to other countries and for foreigners traveling to the U.S. Find information about process and procedure, travel tips, travel warnings about specific areas in the world, and country background notes.


QUOTATIONS

Bartleby.com: Great Books Online
A searchable database of over 87,000 entries contains both contemporary and classic quotations. Indexes are arranged by author, date, and keyword.


RHODE ISLAND

The Official Rhode Island Tourism Website
All about things to see and do in Rhode Island including a "Travel Industry" link.

Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation
Resources and data for doing business in Rhode Island. See the "Hospitality" link under "Industry Clusters" for a short industry overview, trade association links, and additional related resources. "RI DataBank" provides data related to the local economy.

Rhode Island Government
Link to all areas of Rhode Island government and to online State services (for example, Department of Motor Vehicle's license and registration forms).

State of Rhode Island Elections Division
Numerous guides and handbooks explain how to register and vote and even how to run for office! Read explanations of statewide referenda and ballot questions. Use the election calendar to look up dates and deadlines during the election cycle/ process. Federal candidates and federal political action committees must file their campaign finance reports with this division.


STOCKS

CBS Marketwatch.com
Up-to-date stock data and analysis plus financial information on specific companies. Useful industry news and analyses about airlines, casino, lodging, restaurant, textiles, and food and beverage industries.

YAHOO! FINANCE
Updated stock prices, financial news, and currency exchange rates.


TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES

Infobel.com
Links for more than 184 countries.

WhitePages.com
Nation-wide information.


TIME & WEATHER

Accuweather.com
Hour-by-hour and long-range forecasts for places around the world.

The Official U.S. Time
Official time for all time zones in the United States.

Time and date.com
Clock and calendar information for all areas of the world.

Virtual Perpetual Calendars

The Weather Channel
Daily and weekly forecasting for the United States and for cities around the world. Weather-related information for traveling, local events, and health issues (Need to know levels of local pollen or mosquito activity?).


VOTING PROCEDURES
See "Rhode Island" State of Rhode Island Elections Division.


WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Convert-me.Com
Common and uncommon (Need to convert an Ancient Roman dry measure?) measurements of area, computer storage, energy, length, power, pressure, speed, temperature, time, weight and mass, and volume.

Cooking Measures & Conversion Calculator
Converts U.S. measurements to metric. Lists equivalencies for volume, weight, lengths, and oven temperature. Provides equivalent British and American food names.


WRITING / STYLE GUIDES

Johnson & Wales University Research Resources Guidelines for citing sources in both APA and MLA formats.

OWL: Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Exercises and handouts on how to do research and document sources of information.


ZIP CODES / POSTAL RATES

U.S. Postal Service
Look up ZIP Codes plus their four-digit extensions for business and residential addresses. You can also find ZIP Codes for cities and states.

Zip Code with city/state names
Calculates postage and lists postage rates for national and international mailings.


Websites discussed on this page are for informational purposes only. Johnson & Wales University Library is not responsible for the accuracy, content, or stability of any websites linked to this page.

Created and updated by Lisa Spicola, 5/04, 9/07; revised by S. Reynolds, 8/04; links last checked 9/07

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