ALA Best free reference websites 2011
http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/mars/marspubs/marsbestfreewebsites/marsbestref2011
Their 13th annual list – completed in June 2011. A bit of a US focus but includes some excellent sites:
Morguefile http://morguefile.com Strange name but a great resource. Free images to use, even in commercial work. Remix and reuse, even without attribution!
Public Library of Science www.plos.org Science and medicine research. All articles are open access.
ProCon.org www.procon.org Pros and cons of controversial issues. A great resource from an independent, non-profit group. Has a US focus but still very worthwhile. Has a Teachers’ Corner and includes a Readers’ Comments tab for each issue.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu Evolves with new research and refereed contributions from experts.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species http://www.iucnredlist.org/ The International Union for Conservation of Nature provides this world standard database of threatened plants and animals.
OpenLibrary http://openlibrary.org An open, editable library catalogue building towards a web page for every book ever published. Many titles can be borrowed as ebooks.
Other ALA best websites for 2011 include Google Translate, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Wikileaks, WolframAlpha & Worldometers.
Previous lists back to 1999: http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/mars/marspubs/index_publications
ALA recommended websites page
Highlights various lists produced by ALA. Good resources.
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/library/alarecommends/recommendedwebsites.cfm
ALA great websites for kids
Listed in categories – Arts, Animals, Literature & languages, Sciences, Reference desk, History & biography, Maths, Social sciences.
http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template=/cfapps/gws/default.cfm
AASL Top 25 websites for teaching and learning 2011
These free sites “foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation and collaboration”. Includes Zooburst, PicLits, Kerpoof, Myths and legends, Dipity, iEARN, Khan Academy, Geocube….
http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25
Their 2010 list: http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/2010bestwebsites