Research Sites for Writers

There are many, many useful sites on the web. The sites here are a small sampling and they are all searchable so you can find what you need when you need it.

I am always looking for more reliable, searchable sites, so if you know of any, please let me know. I am also collecting sites of use to writers generally. (See sidebar.)

General Research Sites:

• How Stuff Works
  Want to know how an autopsy works? How about a rifle? A shark? An iPhone? It's all here, including photos and videos.
  
  
• Wikipedia
  The encyclopedia written by Internet users. You will need to check and recheck information gotten from the Wiki because it's not always reliable, but many articles have reference information that can easily be verified.
  
  
• Snopes
  This is the urban legend database. If you're not sure whether your character should reference an outrageous story because it might not be true, check Snopes. If you get email claiming you could win a million dollars by forwarding it to ten people, check Snopes. (Or don't bother. It's a hoax.)
  
  
• The Straight Dope
  If you're not familiar with The Straight Dope, you're in for a treat. Cecil's columns span a variety of topics including "What Are The Nine Eskimo Words For Snow?" and "Where Are All The Baby Pigeons?" Searchable archive.
  

Topic-Specific Research Sites:

• PubMed
  Database of the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine.
  
  
• Medline
  The "consumer" branch of the PubMed database. The information here is no less correct, but geared toward laypeople.
  
  
• The Graveyard Shift
  Lee Lofland's blog, which he calls his "guide to all things cops and robbers". Lee has great pictures of all law enforcement related stuff. (Not for the faint of heart, however, since today when I checked he had bullet wound pix up.)
  
  
• WebMD
  Where most people start their medical research. A great place to have your characters look if they need something. I've had varying reports of the quality of the information on WebMD, but there's no doubt that it's the best known of the web's medical sites.
  
  
• CrazyMeds (explicit)
  CrazyMeds is not a medically sanctioned site. The information there can be brutal, tasteless and inflammatory. If, however, you're looking for side effects and complications from neuro- or psycho-active drugs, it's the best place I've ever seen to get the information. It takes some getting used to, but is a valuable resource nonetheless.
  
  
• LawGuru
  I can't vouch for this site, so you might want to take the answers given with a grain of salt, but people tell me the answers are accurate. The link takes you to the "search previous answers" area, though you can pose your own questions on other parts of the site as well.
  
  
• The Catholic Encyclopedia
  This is a fabulous resource for all things Catholic. Searchable Bible.