Kelby Austrie
Advanced Business Writing
EN-305 52
Professor Gordon
10/25/12
Credo reference is an in-depth library database website with limitless options for furthering research. The website features many search options like; an encyclopedia search, a dictionary search, a quotation search, a quotation search, a crossword solver, and it even has a link for measurement conversions. The website also features an image search. Overall the website is very easy to use and can be used for any type of school related subject or leisure related subject. This is a website that I see myself using in the future and I highly recommend it.
On the right hand side of the page, the website features many search options each offering multiple resources. When you click on encyclopedia search engine, you are brought to a page that gives you several different categories to search through. There is a “general” category that list a few encyclopedias that cover broad topics, and there are specific subjects like; art, business, food and beverage, geography, history, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, social sciences, and technology. And underneath each subject there are lists of different encyclopedias that are based on those subjects. Since this is a business writing class, I clicked on the “Capstone Encyclopedia of Business” and I was taken to a page that had a list of specific headings in alphabetical order. The headings consisted of specific topics such as; affirmative action, baby boomers, depreciation, and much more. When I clicked on the affirmative action topic, I was taken to a page that described affirmative action in great detail. All in all, the encyclopedia section has a limitless amount of information that can help with any type of research.
Next, I clicked on the Dictionary search engine. Like the encyclopedia search engine, the dictionary search engine had many different categories. There category for English and bilingual dictionaries and several subject specific dictionaries such as; art, business, food and beverage, geography, history, language, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, religion, science, social sciences, and technology. Under the business subject I clicked on the “Dictionary of Business.” I was brought to a page with a massive list of business terminology in alphabetical order. For an example I clicked on “apportion” and I was given a dictionary definition. “To share out something, e.g. costs funds or blame.” The dictionary search engine can be extremely helpful for research projects and various assignments on any topic.
The biography search engine was a little different than the previous two. There was list of different books that contained biographies of different types of people. I clicked on “100 CEOs” and I was taken to a list of biographies that it contained. I clicked on a link that took me to Bill Gate’s biography and the page was set up just like a Wikipedia page. Wikipedia might actually be a more useful option for biographies.
The following search engine is the quotations search engine. There are eight different resources and each of them thousands of quotes of quotes from famous people throughout various time periods. I clicked on the “Bloomsbury Biographical Dictionary of Quotations” and I was taken to a page had a list of famous people who mostly lived in the 188’s in alphabetical order. I clicked on Jefferson, Thomas (1743 – 1826) and there was a quote that read “The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other.” This is a very powerful quote and it could be extremely useful if someone were to do a research paper on slavery.
The next search engine was a unique search engine and it was something that I have never seen before. It was a crossword solver, this may not be an important tool but it can be extremely useful to someone who likes to solve crossword puzzles. The search engine allows you to enter in the letters that you have solved, and for the empty spaces you put in a (?) and click search. After that, a large list of possible words are displayed. For example, I typed b?n?r? into the search bar and clicked “search,” the database then came up with seven possible answers; banere, bangri, baniri, bantry, bendre, benfro, and binary. Also when you click on any of the results you are given a dictionary definition of the word. This probably isn’t the most important resource for a research paper, but it is helpful for someone who likes crossword puzzles.
The last search engine on the right hand side of the page is the extremely useful measurement converter. It converts area, distance, energy, fuel consumption, power, speed, temperature, volume, and weight. This is an extremely useful tool because the majority of the world uses the metric system and converting certain numbers into American units.
The database also has an image search similar to Google where you type in a subject and multiple images related to that subject come up. What makes the image search on the Credo reference website a little different is that when you search your subject, the images that come up are taken directly from the dictionaries and encyclopedias within the database. For example, I typed in business and several images from business related encyclopedias and dictionaries came up.
All in all, Credo reference is an in-depth library database website with limitless options for furthering research. The website features many search options like; an encyclopedia search, a dictionary search, a quotation search, a quotation search, a crossword solver, and it even has a link for measurement conversions. The website also features an image search that takes images from within the database rather than the entire internet. Overall the website is very easy to use and can be used for any type of school related subject or leisure related subject. This is a website that I see myself using in the future and I highly recommend it.