November 29, 2010

Might I offer up my references?

When I want to look something up, here are the sources I use...and the last thing I can think for which I used each one...
  • imdb.com - For movies and television shows - primarily to see which ones various actors were in as well as trivia about each one.  I use this pretty much every time I review a movie and a lot more frequently than that.  The last things I looked up here were trivia for Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
  • wikipedia.org - For pretty much everything.  I'll admit that I use Wikipedia all the time and have even contributed to the site at various times - most significantly in writing the initial Princeton High School entry.  The last things I looked up here (other than just now for the PHS entry) was Bill Nye the Science Guy because on imdb.com's new design, I couldn't tell if 1997 was the start or end of Bill Nye the Science Guy...and Doctor Who because I saw a commercial for the Masterpiece: Contemporary production of John Lennon and couldn't tell who was playing Lennon.  Once I recognized the nose, I went to wikipedia to show The Girl who the actor was.
  • allmusic.com - For any album, artist, or song. This is another one that I check out pretty much any time that I'm writing a review post - for music, anyway.  Their listing of albums - including alternate versions (Japanese releases, re-releases, collectible editions, anything) - is impressive and makes for a great reference.  The last thing I looked up here was listing of any albums from the Muppets.  Sadly there aren't many on cd.
  • baseball-reference.com -  There is, quite simply, no better place to look up anything about baseball players, teams, seasons, or records.  They provide every possible statistic - from the most obscure to the most mainstream.  In the past year, their biggest improvement has been the addition of their blog which is nothing short of outstanding, and they're committed to improving the site constantly.  Awesome.  The last thing I looked up here was Adrian Beltre's statistical record in looking at whether he has a chance to get into the Hall of Fame some day.  Quick answer: probably not.
  • sports-reference.com - What started as just baseball-reference.com expanded to pro-football-reference.com and has since expanded to include college football; basketball and pro football, basketball, and hockey; and olympics sports.  Their non-baseball sites are still catching up to the awesomeness that is baseball-reference.com, but they're pretty awesome.  Look, for example, at the records of the Indiana Hoosiers.  Each season is entirely clickable and holds all sorts of details.  Love it.
  • IndianaHSBasketball.homestead.com - I do enjoy a good high school basketball game from time to time, and I keep up on the happenings back in my home state via this site.  Thankfully, the alma mater has gotten off the schnide with a victory over the dread Highlanders on Friday night.
I'm still desirous of a site that's a great reference for books - kind of like an imdb for tomes.  Any suggestions there or other reference sites I should be using regularly?

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