The 50 States of the U.S.A. Including Colleges and Universities Pathfinder

Background Information

Reference materials are always a good place to start on your research on any topic to help you build background information

• World Book Online* (print or online) and other encyclopedias: Look up the name of your state (Oregon, Florida, etc.). Look for the headings in the article to locate specific information.
• CultureGrams States Edition* offers excellent reports on each state that you can use online or download and print.
  

Other Reference Materials

Some reference books offer more specific information about the states. Check with your school or public library for availability of specific titles.

• Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States (UXL, 1999)
• State Fact Cards – quick facts about the states
  

Non-fiction Books

Non-fiction history books focusing on the United States are usually in the 973-979 shelves. Check with your librarian to see if special sets of books about the states are shelved somewhere else. Here are some specific titles that might be useful.

• The Train of States by Peter Sis
• The 50 States by Patricia Levy
• The Look-It-Up Book of the 50 States by Bill Gutman
• Smart about the Fifty States by Jon Buller
• Don't Know Much about American History by Kenneth C. Davis
  

Websites

• KidsClick! has compiled a list of useful websites for each state.
• Stately Knowledge These web pages will help you find out the basic facts of any state in the Union, including Washington, D.C. With links to charts, games, and websites about specific states.
• United States Puzzle Drag and drop the states in the right place.

Colleges

• College Search Find enrollment numbers, what programs are offered and other info for all of the nearly 7,000 colleges and universities across the nation. Designed especially for younger students.
• Campus Tours Search for virtual campus tours and campus maps. Includes basic facts and statistics for each college.
• CollegeView Combines "a database of 3,300 two- and four-year colleges with engaging multimedia "tours," [giving] students and parents a complete picture of what college life is like." You can search by institution name or by other criteria.
  

Pamphlets and Brochures

You may contact a state's travel and tourism board for brochures, maps, guides, and other literature, often for free.

For college brochures and catalogs, look for links on college websites for “prospective students” or “admissions publications.”

*Online subscription databases are accessible from SMILE-Net
Please see library staff or a teacher for user ID and password