Today, the Internet stands as the single most useful place for resources. If you are in front of the computer and logged onto the Internet, then you have access to the biggest library, providing you with information about everything. This is the reason why online dictionaries have marched ahead of traditional paper-based ones. Online libraries are predominantly taking the place of libraries in town and city centers, simply because they are easily accessible.
Online books and articles are at par with books and printed texts; in a few years time, these will be more accessible than any paper-based material. Daily newspapers and articles are being produced and published online every day. You can pick up grammar and editing techniques, and can even read your favorite books online – everything is just one click away.
Online Resources
Let us take each of these factors and see why the internet is such a useful place for information, and discover the reasons why people rely heavily on online resources. If you are doing any type of work online and that requires a dictionary, it would be quite a waste of time if you have to go back to your desk or bookshelf to look up that unfamiliar word in your dictionary, and you wouldn’t want to carry it with you everywhere you go, especially if it is a ‘Webster Monster’.
So, the easiest way is to use an online dictionary, which ultimately provides all the information a regular dictionary does. A website like dictionary.com allows you to search multiple dictionaries and references at the same time and shows definitions for multiple senses of a word, and for each sense shows synonyms, related terms, and usage examples.
There are websites that even translate words to other languages such as Spanish or German and give the meaning of the word in a specific language. There are other websites that give information on current topics which include, among others, environmental protection, finance, healthcare, information technology, insurance, law, medicine, transportation, and weather.
Libraries such as the American Library Online and the British Council online are fast making way for digital browsing of their libraries. Now you can virtually read through each book sitting in your own home, without having to even go into a library. Libraryspot.com gives you information on all online libraries, which can supply you with further resources on the Internet.
Ebooks and Online Publications
Ebooks are digital forms of an original or new book, such as paperback textbooks you can buy in any local bookstore. As most people are used to browsing online, e-books make for a more convenient read. E-texts can also be found on websites like JSTOR, where you can access articles on various subjects; the irony is that most of these articles aren’t available in print.
The only way to read them is online, so this adds hugely to resources that the web offers. The Internet also allows you to read your favorite books and novels; linking you to thousands of articles, magazines, periodicals and enabling media to be produced from writers, film makers, poets, students, and anyone who has access can reference many resources found.