_{Internet web site design & Canadian/U.S. Governments resources . Page and Graphic creation on a contract bases by Patrick Clark. Also includes links to Government infomation.}

Reference and
Information:

If you've been on the Internet for any length of time, you have no doubt found out that is not a problem of , a lack of information , but rather a situation of " too much information ". So here then is my short list of links which a proven to be useful over the years.

Some references are listed more then once due to their scope.

Please feel free to contact me comments, or would like to see a resource added.
Patrick Clark

If you can't find what you are looking for feel free to email me or try the "Google!" search engine it really is one of the best I have seen. For more information on "Google ", see the INFORMATION section of this page.

This page is broken up into six categories:

CANADA: Related Services or Information.
Searching (Search Tools) --- YES!!! YOU CAN FIND IT! and these tools will help.
EMPLOYMENT: Online Job banks and Employment Services.
Missing People Child Find & Missing Women/Men Help Organizations - Canada and U.S.
INFORMATION: Search Tools and other Resources.
READING: On line Books and Magazines.

Canada

Information Services Vancouver: "Information Services Vancouver (ISV) is committed to enabling British Columbians to access and use community resources through quality information and referral services." ISV provides a large range of information services, a great deal of which are free. If you just don't know how or where to get the information. This is an excellent place to start.
The Redbook on-line: The Red Book On-line provides immediate access to detailed descriptions of over 3,600 agency listings offering a variety of services. This is a searchable database provided by ISV.

Here are a few Canada or British Columbia search engins and directories.

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia -- Web Links

This a excellent compendium of Canadian Government resources. Major sections include:

Directories: Criss-Cross etc.
Business and Economics: Labour and Unions, Company Directories, Real Estate.
Political: Political Parties, Lobby Groups, Think Tanks.
And Much More.

Canuckster

This site is a little ways off from your search engin in a fun kind of way. -- Quote: " Human edited links of Canada - 100% Canadian Links on Canuckster, a Canadian search engine of un-categorized websites. Only Canada content here folks!" But the feature which makes this site stand out is that it is avaible in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Germen, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

CanadianSearch.ca

A very nice directory, broken down by province, that is also fully searchable. Well categorized and under each provincial section basic at-a-glace historical facts are presented. Quoting from the site description: " Canadian Business Directory Worldwide Business Search Engine. Contains Web Sites Worldwide Showing the world what Canada has to offer! "

Canadopedia

Canadopedia is the bilingual,French and English directory search engine of Canada.

SearchBC

You Guessed it. A search engine just for British Columbia. Has very useful sorting options, by city or town and site classification etc. Quoting from the site description: " Search engine for online British Columbia ( BC ) Canada. internet web sites, traveling, businesses, people, government, e-commerce, events & things to do! "

The Dominion:

Canada's Grass-roots not for profit free Newspaper: This publication features articles from across the world. Each issue is available in full, online as a downloadable PDF file.

One World,ca

A portal to media articles from around the world from a wide variety of sources. With emphasis on alternate perspectives to traditional media. Updated frequently and with emphasis on a grass-roots co-operative concept. Part of the OneWorld Network

ConnecTra:

A job resource with emphasis on persons with disabilities. Their focus is mainly the lower mainland in British Columbia Canada however they network their resources across North America and take a very positive approach to employment and personal development.

CanSeek.ca

This search engine apparently gives a high priority to Canadian content sites and also features a directory section based on The Opened Directory Project.

The Neil Squire Foundation

This nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for independence for individuals who have significant physical disabilities. Through direct interaction with these individuals, the foundation researches, develops, and delivers appropriate innovative services and technology to meet their needs. Based in Burnaby British Columbia, with regional offices in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick.

Canadian Internet Registration Authority

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority Home page is the place to go if you are thinking about obtaining a domain naming ending with "ca". This site also has a Who-Is service for finding information on the ownership of any CA domain.This site is in both English and French.

DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER-- MISSING WOMEN (Canada)

The Downtown Vancouver Missing Women Page (a.k.a. www.missingpeople.netThis site covers not only Vancouver Canada, but also many other places in North America. It serves as both a resource site with photos and a place were family and friends can share their thoughts via an on-line bulletin board.

The "Job Bank"

This is the Human Resources Development Canada If you just need to do a fast job search. This is the place to go. This site is in both English and French.

Canada411

Search the major Canadian White Page Phone listings; with over 10 million listings, including postal codes. This site is in both English and French.

SOURCES SELECT© Online

SOURCES SELECT On-line (SSO) serves journalists and others with serious information needs. SSO features the Sources directory -- 5,000 contacts from more than 1,000 organizations and companies offering expertise and views on over 12,000 subjectsThe Sources for Canadian information just keep getting better and better. While some parts of this page require a subscription, the free sections are still very useful.

Government of British Columbia

This is the Government of British Columbia's Home Page. Many good links covering all topics.

BC Government Directory Search Engine

Search the Government?... Well, yes. This British Columbia search tool will dig up the government people you want to reach.

B.C. Ombudsman Home page

An Ombudsman provides an independent and impartial review of issues and is accessible to the public at no cost. The necessity and importance of an Ombudsman to redress unfair actions or omissions of government bodies has long been recognized and honored by many courts, in particular the Supreme Court of Canada.

The University of Waterloo Electronic Library

The University of Waterloo has one of the best sites for both Canadian and American government information. If you need to know the "Who", "What", or "How" about government. This is the place to look.

Canada's SchoolNet

"This site focuses on bringing educators and students together to share educational resources, enhance learning, develop information technology skills, and encourage the use of technology in the classroom.". This site is in both English and French

Access the Justice Network

Need information on Canadian law and legal system? Well the "Justice Network" is a great place to find the answers. This site is in both English and French

FIRST NATIONS PERIODICAL INDEX

The First Nations Periodical Index contains journals of mainly Canadian Native content. This Index tool provides access to information about First Nations for students (high school or university), educators, instructors and researchers.

Voice of the Cerebral Palsied of Greater Vancouver

"The VCP is a self-help support society formed in the firm belief that Cerebral Palsied (CP) adults are the only experts on their own needs and aspirations. The VCP is controlled and operated solely by adults with Cerebral Palsy and other birth defects." The VCP has put up a vary useful site with links and resources reaching across Canada and the world.

The Association for the Neurologically Disabled of Canada

"(A.N.D. Canada) is a Canadian non-profit charitable organization. We dedicate ourselves to providing functional rehabilitation programs to individuals with non-progressive neurological disabilities. With the help of A.N.D., higher achievement is within reach. Our goal is to help the neurological disabled reach their full potential by treating the cause of the neurological disability rather than the symptom."
If you have any of the following disabilities you may find this site very helpful.

Stroke
Cerebral Palsy
Perceptual Problems
Brain Injury at Birth
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Attention Deficit Disorder
Speech, Reading and Learning Disabilities
Sensory Motor Disabilities (Fine and Gross)
Developmental Disabilities
Acquired Brain Injury
Down Syndrome

Autism
etc.This site is in both English and French

National Institute of Disability Management and Research

"The National Institute of Disability Management and Research is committed to reducing the human, social and economic cost of disability to workers, employers and society through education, training and research.". This site has the latest information on programs and training relating to the Work place.

Statistics Canada

"Statistics Canada is the country's national statistical agency". If you a looking for the latest -Stats- on Canada, including health statistics visit here. This site is in both English and French

The Canadian Library Index

Are you looking for That book or paper? Get ready to find it then.... From this site you can search all major Canadian libraries!

Searching

CanSeek.ca: This search engine apparently gives a high priority to Canadian content sites and also features a directory section based on The Opened Directory Project.
URL.Biz: This directory has a novel approach,one which could be very useful and tremendously popular. In order to maintain high rankings with this service a web site owner must provide on an ongoing basis articles relating to their field of expertise or business. Meaning that overtime people with the best resources will move to the top of the listings while the "fluff" is removed from the index altogether.
Canuckster: This site is a little ways off from your search engin in a fun kind of way. -- Quote: " Human edited links of Canada - 100% Canadian Links on Canuckster, a Canadian search engine of un-categorized websites. Only Canada content here folks!" But the feature which makes this site stand out is that it is avaible in 9 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Germen, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
CanadianSearch.ca: A very nice directory, broken down by province, that is also fully searchable. Well categorized and under each provincial section basic at-a-glace historical facts are presented. Quoting from the site description: " Canadian Business Directory Worldwide Business Search Engine. Contains Web Sites Worldwide Showing the world what Canada has to offer! "
Canadopedia: Canadopedia is the bilingual,French and English directory search engine of Canada.
SearchBC: You Guessed it. A search engine just for British Columbia. Has very useful sorting options, by city or town and site classification etc. Quoting from the site description: " Search engine for online British Columbia ( BC ) Canada. internet web sites, traveling, businesses, people, government, e-commerce, events & things to do! "
The Tutorial Times: Independent Search Engine for Tutorials. Although the articles covered by this search engine appear to be a little dated, it still is incredibly useful. Covering a wide area of topics and platforms you are sure to enjoy this engine.
Semiseek: If you enjoy building electronic projects and you'll find this site in valuable. Content within one site is everything related to semiconductors. Included is a search engine specifically designed for looking up semiconductors specifications. They also appear to be forever adding other search engines covering a wide variety of professional topics, so this is a site you want to keep your eye on.
MavenSearch: A directory and search engine for Jewish content related websites. Their directory section appears to be particularly well set up. The site also features a free monthly newsletter.
Network Solution's WhoIS service: Network Solution's WhoIS service is now one of the many services available for looking up information on the status and ownership of the major domains .com, .net, .org" etc.
Canadian Internet Registration Authority: The Canadian Internet Registration Authority Home page is the place to go if you are thinking about obtaining a domain naming ending with "ca". This site also has a Who-Is service for finding information on the ownership of any CA domain.This site is in both English and French.
HostIndex.com Web Hosting Directory: Now, here is a handy site. You can search and compare Web Hosting Companies using a wide range of criteria: Platform, Location, Price etc.
Vmyths.com: "Learn about computer virus myths, hoaxes, urban legends, and the implications if you believe in them. You can also search a list of computer virus hoaxes from A to Z" Next time you hear of a new virus on the loose, go here to find out if it's fact or just fiction. Also offers background on related topics.
SearchBlack.com: A search engine and web directory dedicated to the online African American community which includes forums, listings, community calendar, news, and more.
The Open Directory Project: All of the content in this service is reviewed by editors before being placed in that the listings. The high caliber of content means that other search engines actually base a portion of their listings on this site. Not only is this a great place to search for things but if you get a listing in here your site has a better chance of showing up in other engines. The editors of all volunteer positions and you may apply to be one for any of the many categories available.
Refer-It.com: So you have the need to make a some cash off your web site! But there are so many programs out there. How to you find the one you want? Well, check out this search engine: "Refer-It.com is the authoritative guide to Internet associate, referral, and affiliate programs. Refer-it also features resources, discussion forum, interviews, downloads, and article archive."
The Search Engine Guide: " The guide to search engines, portals, directories and online databases . " This web site has a great deal of information on how to use, get listings in, search engines. They offer a variety of useful e-mail based newsletters on various related topics. Of course they also have their own search engine.
Search Engine Watch: " Search Engine Watch is the authoritative guide to searching at Internet search engines and search engine registration and ranking issues. Learn to submit URLs, use HTML meta tags and boost placement. " If you want and keep up with what is happening on the Internet in regards to the search engines and how best to use them you must go to the site. Of the many resources I have reviewed this is by far the best .
www.seo-highrankings.com/ --Engine Optimization tools: If you're just starting out to promote your web site for the first time this web page is an excellent starting point. Features several free services and a wide variety of articles on the topic of web page optimization and search engine placement etc. Quote: " Search engine optimization tools, seo tools tips, ranking, web site promotion, seo help, free how-to-SEO. "
Meta Search Engine Directory.Com: Now, if you have lots of time on your hands and would like to try out a large number of Meta tag search engines, then check out this web page. It is updated frequently, so it is worth putting in your favorites list.
Of course here * still * is one of the best.: Here is a "Top-Notch" search tool focusing on education, science and research. If you're having trouble getting to the serious information, give Google! a try.

Employment

ConnecTra:: A job resource with emphasis on persons with disabilities. Their focus is mainly the lower mainland in British Columbia Canada however they network their resources across North America and take a very positive approach to employment and personal development.
The "Job Bank": This is the Human Resources Development Canada Job Bank. If you just need to do a fast job search. This is the place to go. This site is in both English and French.
misc.jobs.offered (Newsgroup): Normally, newsgroups on the Internet tend to be overrun with advertising. However in this particular newsgroup has excellent content drawn from major sources and the group itself receives a fair bit of traffic. The major focus of this group is not to post your resume, rather the bulk of traffic is made up of serious job offerings. This link will take you to the Google listings for this group.

NOTE: I have been noticing a major decline in the number of quality "job matching" services on the net. Career Mosaic one of the larger services in Canada closed for good recently. Guru.com was another major service to call it quits. Their URL has been bought by " emoonlighter.com " which looks like a similar service. But I have yet to receive any information on how good they are. However in the meantime, if anyone knows of a quality employment service regardless of the geographical location or coverage, please feel free to drop me a line, you'll be credited for the link and added to the resource page.

Missing People

DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER-- MISSING WOMEN (Canada)

Child CyberSEARCH Canada

This service offers a unique, printable ID, for your child. As well as a host of other resources.
PHONE:1-888-326-5352 This site is in both English and French

Our Missing Children.ca

Operates as " Canada's National clearing House for information relating to missing children ". Bringing together the many resources and agencies involved, under one Web site. Available in both English and French

People Finder

Address:

1-877-318-3576
(613) 993-1525
(613) 993-5430

People Finder is a free service to help you locate Old Friends, Lost Loves, Relatives, Veterans, Missing Persons, Genealogy Links, Former Spouses etc.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Suite 550
2101 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201-3077
PHONE: 1(703)235-3900
If you have any information regarding a missing child, please call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

The Official Polly Klaas Foundation Website

"The Polly Klaas Foundation was formed October 23, 1993, to continue the search for Polly. Following the discovery of her murder, the Foundation adopted a new mission:Make America Safe For Children"
The goals of the Foundation in support of our mission include:

Education, technical assistance and support for individuals and the public to prevent crimes against children
Assistance in the recovery of missing children
Support for legislative and regulatory protection for children

Information

XE.com - The Universal Currency Converter ®: That pretty much says it all. This online utility is available in two forms: the major currencies converter which has an abbreviated list of world currencies. Or the full version which lists all world currencies. Even though this site is all point and click, full version list so many currencies it can be somewhat overwhelming. However, if you're looking for some obscure currency this site has it all. Updates every few hours so all conversions are extremely accurate.
A Troubleshooting Guide to Windows XP (All Windows OS): Virus, Spyware, security information for Microsoft Windows computers. This site covers a wide variety of topics related to Microsoft Windows security in general. If you're using Microsoft Windows I highly recommend this site. Included are several freeware programs and many articles ranging in scope from basic computer virus awareness [also covers spy ware] to technical in-depth articles.
Virus, Spyware, security information for Macintosh computers: Even though Macintosh computers don't suffer the same rate of virus attacks and spy ware, virus occurrences are on the rise across the board. Here is the current Macintosh virus etc. resource listing at About.com.
What Is It?: What-Is-It? Is an "Information Technology" (I.T.) specific encyclopedia. This is a great site for looking up not only I.T. information, it also covers a wide range of related topics, Electronics, Digital Hardware, and Software.
People Finder: People Finder is a free service to help you locate Old Friends, Lost Loves, Relatives, Veterans, Missing Persons, Genealogy Links, Former Spouses etc.
The Acronym Finder: "An acronym is defined as a (pronouncable) word formed from each of the first letters of the descriptive phrase." So, just what does SPAM stand for anyway?... Find out with this useful and FUN tool
WWWomen! The Premier Search Directory for Women: " One of the most important uses of the Internet for women is as a convenient way to communicate, network, and share their thoughts, ideas, and questions with other women from around the world. " This site has a fantastic search tool for finding women's resources on the Internet. They are not kidding when they use the word "Premier". Also, on-site are a number of moderated discussion groups/rooms, Here just a few of the topics covered:

Women and Society
Women On line News Clips
Long Distance Relationships
Women On line
Women's Sexuality
Bisexual/Questioning Women
Lesbian Cafe
The Goddess Perspective
Job Seekers
Single Moms

Health & Fitness
etc.

BC Government Directory Search Engine

Search the Government?... Well, yes. This British Columbia search tool will dig up the government people you want to reach.

Voice of the Cerebral Palsied of Greater Vancouver

SOURCES SELECT Online (SSO) serves journalists and others with serious information needs. SSO features the Sources directory -- 5,000 contacts from more than 1,000 organizations and companies offering expertise and views on over 12,000 subjectsThe Sources for Canadian information just keep getting better and better. While some parts of this page require a subscription, the free sections are still very useful.

The Association for the Neurologically Disabled of Canada

"(A.N.D. Canada) is a Canadian non-profit charitable organization. We dedicate ourselves to providing functional rehabilitation programs to individuals with non-progressive neurological disabilities. With the help of A.N.D., higher achievement is within reach. Our goal is to help the neurologically disabled reach their full potential by treating the cause of the neurological disability rather than the symptom."
If you have any of the following disabilities you may find this site very helpful.

Autism
etc.This site is in both English and French

Reading

The Dominion:: Canada's Grass-roots not for profit free Newspaper: This publication features articles from across the world. Each issue is available in full, online as a downloadable PDF file.
One World,ca: A portal to media articles from around the world from a wide variety of sources. With emphasis on alternate perspectives to traditional media. Updated frequently and with emphasis on a grass-roots co-operative concept. Part of the OneWorld Network
Inner Learning Online: Study the anatomy of the human body. It’s fun, interactive and an ideal reference site for students or who just want to know more about the medical descriptions used by doctors and nurses. This is odd but very neat site. Just point and click your way through interactive drawings. But now (this is the odd part) they have added a section called " Automotive Learning Online " So now you can study the parts of a car if human anatomy isn't your thing.
The Shared Vision Magazine: The motto of this publication is: "Improving the Quality of life." and perhaps that best sums their articles and viewpoints. Ranging from Health to Personal Success stories, you will find this publication refreshing reading. Based in Vancouver, Canada
Scientific American: For the in depth articles on the leading edge of science and technology. This is a very nicely done site.
The Canadian Library Index: Are you looking for That book or paper? Get ready to find it then.... From this site you can search all major Canadian libraries!
The B&R Samizdat Express: By Richard Seltzer This is a HUGE site, not many graphics, but packed full of content and links! Just a few of the major topics covered include:

Poetry
Short Stories
Articles on Disabilities and the Internet
Sites for Blindness and Disability
Selected Educational Resources

Internet-on-a-Disk (newsletter of electronic texts and Internet trends).
etc.

Project Gutenberg: "The Project Gutenberg Philosophy is to make information, books and other materials available to the general public in forms a vast majority of the computers, programs and people can easily read, use, quote, and search. " Here is were you will find works of literature ranging from:
Frankenstein Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley to The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses by Robert W. Service
etc.

Send your Email to:

Patrick_Clark@compuserve.com