Want to know who is the best when it comes to the world’s reference websites?

We’ve compiled the list complements of Amazon-owned, Alexa but we really figured that the list missed some really notable reference sites so in the spirit of an important award ceremony, we’ll start by hat tipping our fantastic runner-ups.

Here are (drum roll)…

THE TOP 10 HONORABLE MENTIONS…

1. Google Earth – which is a desktop app but has recently been promised its own website so it kinda qualifies
2. Ted – which is a small non-profit dedicated to the spread of good ideas
3. Open Yale Courses – or try Stanford or Harvard tuition for nothing, nada, zip.
4. About.com – find out about almost absolutely anything.
5. Librarians Internet Index – for information you can trust, compiled by librarians for the world to enjoy.
6. Gary Price’s List of Lists – A database of ranked listings of companies, people and resources freely available on the Internet.
7. Ancestry.com – My great, great, great grandfather is on ancestry.com (true story). It is an awesome resource for figuring out the secrets of your family’s past.
8. Ref Desk – Fact checker for the Internet. I also really like Internet World Stats.
9. Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names – Look up (almost) anywhere in the world.
10. Universal Currency Converter – Convert anything to anything to figure out what it’s worth.

THE WORLD’S TOP 20 REFERENCE SITES.

1. Yahoo! Answers
Ask questions and get answers from other people in the community.

2. Google Maps
Provides directions, interactive maps, and satellite/aerial imagery of many countries. Can also search by keyword such as type of business.

3. StumbleUpon
A web browser plugin that allows users to discover and rate webpages, photos, videos, and news articles.

4. Thesaurus
Online version of Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, 3rd edition.

5. Wiki Answers
Questions and answers in a shared, wiki format.

6. The Internet Archive
Nonprofit organisation established to preserve Web sites by taking regular “snapshots”. The Wayback Machine provides links to older versions of a webpage. There are special collections, for example on Web pioneers.

7. The Free Dictionary
English, Medical, Legal, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine.

8. LEO English-German Dictionary
Allows two-way searches for over 400,000 words and phrases. Several options available.

9. Stack Overflow
A language-independent collaboratively edited question and answer site for programmers.

10. WordReference.com
Dictionary containing English to/from Spanish, French, German, and Italian, and a language forum.

11. World Wide Web Consortium
International industry consortium founded in 1994 whose purpose is to develop specifications, guidelines, software, and tools to promote the Internet’s evolution and ensure its interoperability.

12. MapQuest
Find directions for and explore towns and cities worldwide. Display addresses on a map, view nearby businesses, get driving directions and maps, and plan a trip with city information. Also includes aerial photographs of selected areas.

13. National Library of Medicine
US national provider of health-related library and information services.

14. Wikipedia
A free encyclopedia built collaboratively using Wiki software. (GNU Free Documentation License).

15. WhitePages.com
WhitePages.com allows you to find people, business listings, phone numbers, addresses, area codes, ZIP codes and postal codes.

16. Urban Dictionary
A veritable cornucopia of streetwise lingo, posted and defined by its readers.

17. Merriam-Webster
Publisher of American English dictionaries and reference sources.

18. How Stuff Works
HowStuffWorks.com is an award winning site covering thousands of topics within its own 10 channels: Auto, Computer, Electronics, Entertainment, Health, Home, Money, People, Science and Travel.

19. Wiktionary
Collaborative project for creating a free lexical database in every language, complete with meanings, etymologies, and pronunciations

20. YELLOWPAGES.com, Inc.
Offers searching United States and International business listings and includes business and consumer centers. They wrote the book on local search.

Source: Alexa

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