Presentation on free information resources from the 2014 OLC Chapter Conferences.

1. Why Buy the Cow?
Milk These Information
Resources for Free!
Bill Meltzer- Worthington Libraries
Chris May- Mansfield/Richland County Public
Library

2. Why look for alternatives?
• Shrinking reference collections
• Pricing model for databases is different
• Shrinking budgets
• OPLIN provides fantastic databases but usage
is down
• Can we supplement those resources?

3. But it can’t be just anything!
• Remember the basics in evaluating websites
– Coverage
– Objectivity
– Author/Publisher/Organization
– Currency
– Accuracy

4. Books & Readers’ Advisory
BookBrowse.com

5. Books & Readers’ Advisory
Literature-Map.com

6. Books & Readers’ Advisory
KDL What’s Next

7. Literary Criticism
IPL Literary Criticism PAL: Perspectives in
American Literature

8. History, Geography, Cultures
CIA World Factbook

9. History, Geography, Cultures
NationMaster

10. Science
Encyclopedia of Life Encyclopedia of Earth

11. Science
Animal Diversity Web

12. Science
WolframAlpha

13. Learning Languages
Duolingo BBC Languages

14. Careers & Self-Education
Mooc-list.com

15. Careers & Self-Education
Khan Academy GCFLearnFree

16. Careers & Self-Education
BLS Resources for Jobseekers

17. Careers & Self-Education
Career One Stop

18. Research & Writing Tools
ProCon.org DOAJ.org

19. Research & Writing Tools
IPL A+ Research/Writing

20. Research & Writing Tools
Purdue OWL

21. Health
Medlineplus.gov MerckManuals.com

22. Health
National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine

23. Genealogy
Cyndi’s List

24. Genealogy
FamilySearch.org

25. Genealogy
Ancestry (Two-Week Trial)

26. One-Stop Shop
Internet Public Library