Welcome to a guide to the very best of the Web. If you are overwhelmed by the number
of sites on the Internet or underwhelmed by the content - then help is at hand!
I have compiled a list of the finest sites on the web, sites that you bookmark and refer
to again and again.
These superior sites are divided into the following categories:
Education; Entertainment; Free Stuff; Information; Internet Guides & Tutorials;
Languages & Literature; News; Reference; Search Engines and Shopping Online.
If you know of an outstanding site that should be here, then please
e-mail me and I will add the site to the list - suggestions for a good website to add are always welcome. Why not bookmark this site, so that you can refer back to it after you follow the links.
This page was last updated in November 2003.
Alumni Directories - Find Old Classmates. A guide to sites where you can find high school alumni and college alumni online to plan class reunions, contact old classmates or just to keep in touch.
Argosphere. Strange name, but a good range of educational activities for children aged 3 to 14.
BBC Five Live Top 10 Essential Web Sites: BBC Radio 5 round-up of the "most useful and user-friendly sites in existence." Also has top ten website lists and links for: teach yourself sites; cult sites; love sites; search engines; Top 10 sites for men; Top 10 sites for women; Top 10 teen sites; fly-away websites; Top 10 sites for professionals; Top 10 non-shopping; Top 10 Lord of the Rings sites; Top 10 Harry Potter websites; Top 10 web time-wasters; Top 10 sports websites; Top 10 TV channel websites; Top 10 news websites and the Top 10 holiday websites. Some interesting and useful links here.
Encyclopedia Britannica Internet Guide. A searchable directory of the best web sites on the Internet in a variety of categories. Each site is star rated for quality and categories are mostly educational but also include sport, food and other 'fun' subjects.
An excellent resource and highly recommended.
Forbes Best of the Web. A useful guide to recommended web sites (in all categories, not just business related) from Forbes Magazine. Click on 'Forbes Favorites' to see their pick of the web.
Freepint Newsletter. Nothing to do with free beer, but an excellent free newsletter available online or by e-mail. Each issue focuses on a couple of topics and provides information on relevant web sites. A great idea and well worth subscribing to or printing out and reading. Back issues are available on the site as well.
Internet Resources Newsletter.
A similar newsletter to Freepint. Published monthly by Herriot Watt University in Edinburgh, but only available online.
Learning Sites Library. Blue Web'n is a searchable database
of outstanding Internet learning sites categorized by subject area, audience, and
type (lessons, activities, projects,resources, references, & tools). Blue Web'n does not
attempt to catalog all educational sites, but only the most useful sites -- especially online activities targeted at learners.
The LSE Hotlist.
The London School of Economics Guide to useful Internet sites.
Make your own Mr Men Great fun for kids (or adults who haven't quite grown up yet!!)
New Internationalist. Website of New Internationalist Magazine, which "exists to report on issues of world poverty and inequality; to focus attention on the unjust relationship between the powerful and the powerless in both rich and poor nations; to debate and campaign for the radical changes necessary if the basic material and spiritual needs of all are to be met". Includes articles from the magazine as well as a page for teachers and students, bringing together teaching resources and links to assist people who are learning about global issues. Highly recommended for an 'alternative' perspective on global issues and concerns.
Reference Desk . An amazingly comprehensive portal / reference site which includes links to a variety of resources including news, weather, sports, encyclopedias, facts on file, FAQs, and tutorials.
Scholarship Searches. A guide to sites where you can search for college scholarships online.
Yahooligans. Excellent kids version of Yahoo with an emphasis on education.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Games Domain. An essential bookmark for computer and video game enthusiasts.
Internet Movie Database. An amazing amount of film related content on this excellent site, with over 120,000 films listed. Perfect for film buffs, with reviews, daily
movie and tv news, plot summaries and lots more. Searchable.
Personal Ads. Where to find personal ads online with dating advice and recommended online dating sites.
Sporting Life. An excellent online UK sports magazine that is frequently updated. Covers all mainstream sport from horse racing to rugby (union and league); golf; boxing; cricket; Formula 1 and tennis as well as extensive soccer coverage. Well designed and easy to navigate.
FREE STUFF:
Competitions Cafe UK A good selection of free to enter online UK competitions and prize draws. Also a selection of UK freebies.
BBC Web Guide. An excellent guide to the best web sites in many categories, including: Arts & Culture; Business & Finance; Childrens; Education; Entertainment; Families; Living; Nature; News; Reference; Science; Sport and Travel. Highly recommended!
One World Web Site. An umbrella site for over 200 non-governmental organisations and charities. Provides an alternative
perspective on world news and offers weekly newsletters of news stories, paid and voluntary work opportunities and an 'editors letter'. A worthy and valuable site.
Scoot UK. An easy to search 'Yellow Pages' type of directory for the UK. Finds any UK Business address in seconds and for some you can even send them an instant fax from your PC screen. Their
film finder lets you know what's on at your local cinema and will also send you a weekly e-mail list of the films at a cinema of your choice. Not an exciting site, but an extremely useful one!
The Hunger Site. Make a FREE donation to charity just by clicking a button - your donation is paid for by sponsors. Also contains links to information on world hunger.
INTERNET TUTORIALS & GUIDES:
Internet Guides and Advice. A list of links to training guides, tutorials, advice and search engine techniques.
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE:
Linguanet's Virtual Language Centre. Has extensive information on language learning and training as well as a discussion group and inquiry service. Also has links to loads of other language related sites. Recommended.
Luminarium. Award winning site of scholarly information and resources on Medieval, Renaisance and 17th-century English Literature.
BBC News. Like their television and radio news services, the BBC's online news is comprehensive and well presented. One of the best News sites on
the Net with good background features and archives.
CNN News. An extensive amount of news and related information is available on this site from the American Cable News Nework. First-rate coverage of world events and U.S. News
as well as a wide variety of other topics, from Weather, Sport, Science, Travel, Fashion, Showbiz News and Health.
Crayon. Not a news source itself, but rather a resource that allows you to create your own online newspaper (with a title of your choice!) from a variety of Internet sources. You decide what
goes into your newspaper according to your interests. Cartoons, sports, and computer news are amongst items that can be included alongside world news. Good fun and well worth a visit.
NewsNow. An outstanding news site where news is updated every five minutes and stories are delivered in a seperate window.
News Unlimited. An excellent source of UK and world news from the Guardian.
SEARCH ENGINES:
Alta Vista. Now includes the ability to translate web pages into another language at the click of a mouse with quite effective (though often amusing) results.
Ask Jeeves. A unique search engine that allows you to ask a question in plain english (eg: "Where can I find the best web sites?") and searches
several search engines for the answer. A great site, although a bit 'gimmicky' it's well worth trying.
Dogpile. Oddly named 'meta search engine' that searches many
different search engines and provides the results from a few at a time, allowing you to check the results from more search engines if you wish. A very thorough way to search the Net. Highly recommended and well worth bookmarking.
Google. Probably the best search engine in the world, Google has an uncanny knack of finding what you want almost every time. If you only use one search engine, make it this one - Highly recommended.
List of Search Engines. For a useful list of links to international, national and meta search engines, try this page from Nottingham University.
Metacrawler. Another good 'meta search engine' that searches seven of the top search engines and compiles the results into a rated list. Searches
and combines the results from Alta Vista; Excite; Infoseek; Lycos; Thunderstone; Webcrawler and Yahoo in seconds. An impressive site, the only complaint being that sometimes it 'forgets' to search Alta Vista! Also it is nowhere near as thorough as Dogpile.
Northern Light.. A useful search engine, which offers custom folders, to narrow down your search.
Open Directory. An excellent directory with volunteer editors for each category.
Search Engine Watch. Not a search engine, but an excellent guide to internet searching and search engines, includes tutorials, search tips and new developments.
Searching the Internet. A good set of links to tutorials and tips on searching the internet and finding what you are looking for.
WiseNut. A new up and coming search engine with a nice 'clean' design. Has a unique 'Sneak-a-Peek' feature where you can see the web pages from the results 'inside' the same page as the search results.
Yahoo and Yahoo UK & Ireland. Although more of a directory than a search engine, this is the most popular and well known way to search the Internet. Has a good reputation and is ideal for when you are looking for information
in a particular subject area. Adds value by offering excellent news, weather, travel and finance sectors and has local versions in Australia and New Zealand; Canada; China; Denmark; France; Germany; Italy; Japan; Korea; Norway; South-East Asia; Sweden and the UK & Ireland site above. The original Yahoo
in America is also complimented by a number of regional city Yahoos. An outstanding resource.
SHOPPING ONLINE:
Amazon. Vast online bookstore with up to 50% off books as well as videos, music, electronics and toys.
Amazon UK. UK branch of amazon, selling books, music, videos and software again with up to 50% off.
Blackstar UK. Online UK DVD and Video shop renowned for it's excellent customer service and huge selection.
Discount Bedding. Save money on bed linens at these recommended online stores, including Linensource; Speigel and Overstock.
Printer Ink Refills. Provides links to recommended online stores for printer supplies, including printer ink refill cartridges compatible with all major brands.
If you are looking for a Quick Auto Insurance Quote Online - this site works with hundreds of partner companies that provide fast online insurance quotes based on information that you supply.
FURTHER READING:
The Internet & World Wide Web: The Rough Guide. A superb, pocket sized book, that covers e-mail, mailing lists, ftp, newsgroups, the Web, search engines, how to
create your own Web page, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), online gaming and a guide to over 600
useful web sites. An amazingly useful, inexpensive and easy to understand book. Paperback. 455 pages. For more
details on this title see Amazon.com.
Also available in the UK from amazon.co.uk.
Web page by M Southgate. Edinburgh EH3 6RY United Kingdom. Page last updated November 2003.
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