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Reference Resources at the IU Southeast Library

Online Reference Collections

Print Reference Collection

Behind the Service Desk is a small collection of materials including encyclopedias, dictionaries, collections of facts and statistics, directories, books of quotations, and much more. This is a good place to find a quick fact or a general overview of a subject. Because these resources should be available at all times, these books may not be checked out. The materials are arranged according to their Library of Congress call numbers on the reference shelves, as are the titles in the regular book collection.

General Reference Resources

ARTstor
ARTstor is a digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with a suite of software tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.
Britannica Online
See Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Dictionary of Literary Biography
Now called Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Consists of the online equivalent of the printed Encyclopedia Britannica plus numerous supplementary resources, including the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, select magazine and journal articles, thousands of photographs and illustrations, and links to additional websites reviewed by the Britannica editors.
Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
A general online encyclopedia with over 25,000 records covering a variety of topics.
Gale Ebooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL))
Includes a collection of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for beginning research. Subjects include African American studies, American and world history, animal behavior, anthropology, biography, business and finance, cinema, elementary and secondary education, general science, law, literature, medicine, philosophy, psychology, religion, scholarships and fellowships for college, sociology, and technology.
Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography
Provides more than 16,000 biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of some of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.
Note: The ability to cross-search Gale Literature Criticism, Gale Literature Resource Center, Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography, & Gale Literature: Something About The Author is available on the Gale Literature platform.
Grove Art Online
See Oxford Art Online.
Grove Music Online
See Oxford Music Online.
Indiana School Directory
A directory of Indiana schools and related information, sorted both alphabetically by school name and corporation name.
Indiana University Faculty/Staff Directory
Online directory for all IU campuses' faculty and staff. Includes individual and departmental contact information, campus information, as well as interactive maps of each campus.
LearningExpress Library
Designed to help students and professionals at all levels of learning achieve their educational and career-related goals. Includes practice tests for: academic, advanced placement, basic skills success, civil service, college preparation, cosmetology, EMS, ESL (Spanish) skills improvement courses, firefighter, GED, graduate school entrance (GRE), law enforcement, military, real estate, skills improvement courses, teacher certification, technical and career college, and US citizenship.
Note: Users must create a free account to fully access the resource which includes an interactive online database of practice tests and tutorial courses with scoring, complete answer explanations, and analysis of results.
Merriam-Webster
A free online dictionary and thesaurus.
Oxford Art Online
An online art reference source that covers Western and non-Western visual art. Includes the contents of Grove Art Online as well as additional Oxford art reference resources. Provides access to artists' biographies, images of artwork, as well as information on aesthetics, art terms, art movements, styles, theory, and criticism.
A video guide for Oxford Art Online is available: http://www.oxfordartonline.com./subscriber/page/guided_tour.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The OED covers words from across the English-speaking world, from North America to South Africa, from Australia and New Zealand to the Caribbean. It also offers the best in etymological analysis and in listing of variant spellings, and it shows pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Oxford Music Online
An online music reference source that includes the contents of Grove Music Online as well as The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music. Provides access to articles on composers, performers, conductors, individual works, instruments and notation, forms, genres, and popular music.
Oxford Reference Online: Premium
A collection of language and subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works published by Oxford University Press. All titles in the collection are cross-searchable; individual titles may be searched separately as well.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Provides writing resources and instructional materials to assist with writing projects.
Rosetta Stone for Personal Use
Language-learning courses for 24 different languages, with the Rosetta Stone full versions available for Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and Russian. Levels 1-3 are available for 15 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Swedish.
ACCESS NOTE: Users must create their own username and password for access to Rosetta Stone.
One Mail Instructions
If you setup your Rosetta Stone account using your@ius.edu email address, you will need to update the address to your iu.edu email address before December 31, 2025. Please use the following instructions to update your account:
1. From a web browser, visit Rosetta Stone and log in with your existing credentials.
2. Select Profile from the left-hand menu.
3. Update the E-mail field to reflect your iu.edu address and click the Update button.
4. You will see the message “Your account information has been updated.”
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A scholarly, open-access online encyclopedia covering a full range of philosophical topics.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Provides access to statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
ACCESS NOTE: The last Statistical Abstract of the United States published by the U.S. Census Bureau was the 2012 edition. The current edition is available in the IU Southeast Library Reference Collection -- HA202 .A3.
STATS Indiana
Provides access to US Census statistics compiled by the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University.
Virtual Reference Library (GVRL)
Now called Gale Ebooks.
World Bank
Provides access to a wealth of international data, including statistics on global finance, development, economic conditions, national governance, business, education, gender, health and nutrition, and more.
WorldCat
See OCLC WorldCat.
World Development Indicators Online
Provides a comprehensive selection of economic, social and environmental indicators, drawing on data from the World Bank and more than 30 partner agencies. The database covers more than 900 indicators for 210 economies with data back to 1960. Browsable by country, general topic, and indicator.
Writing Center (IUS)
Provides valuable information on documentation, punctuation, and general writing tips.

Reference Resources

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Reference Resources at the IU Southeast Library

Online Reference Collections

Print Reference Collection

General Reference Resources

One Mail Instructions