Posted in Feature Post on August 24, 2009

The citizens of the United States voted for change. And change is what they’re getting from President Barack Obama. President Obama promised to reform the education system and make it more accessible to everyone. Here are some of his proposed education reforms and policies. See if any of them will affect you or your family.

  1. The Obama Plan – Obama is increasing the funding and support for two-year institutions. This provides more options for those seeking an alternative to more expensive universities, and also those seeking additional training for their jobs.
  2. The President has created a tax credit intended to help millions of Americans pay for tuition. This $2500 credit can just about cover an academic year at a two-year institution.
  3. The Pell Grant system is getting a nice overhaul. Obama has increased the Pell by $500 for this academic year and is raising the max Pell amount to $5,500 for next year, helping families with lower income send their child to college.
  4. In addition to the Pell Grant program, Obama is making the Perkins Loan program more ideally suited for students. In his words, he is “working to modernize and expand the Perkins Loan program by changing a system where colleges are rewarded for raising tuition and instead rewarding them for making college more affordable.”
  5. The President also hopes to enroll more Americans for at least one year of training at a college or university. In order to do so, he has invested $2.5 billion to identify and bolster initiatives that boost both enrollment and graduation rates.
  6. Obama Remarks On Higher Education – The system of student loans is getting a money-saving overhaul. Obama is seeking to switch all Federal Family Education Loans to Direct Loans, which will cut banks out of the process and save taxpayers millions. 
  7. Obama has also passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help out education in America. In addition to a number of other benefits, this act includes over $30 billion dollars to research and implement ways of making college more affordable and accessible.
  8. U.S. Push for Free Online Courses – How much more affordable can you get than free? Obama is enacting a plan that would provide high schools and community colleges federal funds to create online classes that would cost the students absolutely nothing.
  9. The unemployed may be able to have their cake and eat it, too. Obama is working with various states and colleges to enable the unemployed to pursue higher education and receive federal aid to do so, without having to give up their unemployment benefits.
  10. Obama calls for higher education revamp in US – Finally, Obama is encouraging colleges and universities to work in tandem with local businesses. The idea is to make college training more relevant to future job needs, and to provide an education that have an immediate, practical benefit upon graduation.

Do any of the education reforms meet your needs? Will you or your family members benefit from some of these changes? Or are you still hoping for a bigger change?

Posted in Feature Post on August 17, 2009

Writing a thesis paper can be one of the hardest parts of your academic life. Make the task a little easier by utilizing these top 100 resources for thesis writers. They contain the best in sites, dictionaries, online books, references, and even paid help.

Basics of a Thesis

Visit these sites before getting started to get the definition, types, the basics, and more.

    1. Dissertation: Also known as a thesis, Wikipedia has an extensive entry regarding both. You can even learn the different definitions by country.

    2. What is a Thesis? : Even if you already know the answer, this site is worth a visit for its tips on what separates a good from a bad one. It also gives you a thesis equation, brainstorming tips, five tests, and more.

    3. Secrets of Thesis Writing: Visit here for many tips on writing a thesis, including for academic, business, computer science, and other topics. You can also get help with ideas and writing.

    4. Thesis Writing Arena: Visit here for answers to many common questions concerning your thesis. They include editing, software, writing, and more.

    5. Budgeting Your Time to Complete a Research Paper: Dummies.com shows you how to prioritize when writing your thesis. You can also read related articles on the topic by clicking a link.

    6. 101 Things Not to do at Your Thesis Defense: Written by graduate students who went through the process, read this often times humorous article to learn what not to do. You can also get more similar articles on the site.

    7. Thesis Statement Creator: If you’re ready to give it a try, visit this site. Enter your topic, position, qualification, reason, put them all together, and get an instant thesis statement from this site.

    8. Thesis Builder: Similar to the above, answer four simple questions to build a thesis. The homepage also has other educational resources.

Best Thesis Sites

These sites specialize in helping in every aspect of your thesis paper from beginning to end.

    9. Sparrow Papers: This site gives tons of help in the form of useful articles for anyone working on a thesis. Highlights include The 15 Most Common Thesis Writing Mistakes, How to Write a Masters Thesis, and many more.

    10. TadaFinallyFinsished: Visit this site for thesis and dissertation writing help. You can get help with getting started, staying motivated, choosing a topic, and much more.

    11. Master’s Blog: MasterPapers is a writing service, but it also provides a useful blog. Recent entries give help with gathering data, proposals, and essay guides.

    12. Thesis/Support Essays: Paradigm Online Writing Assistant provides many free articles for the thesis writer. They include subject, stating, supporting, and many others.

    13. Thesis Builders: Tom March helps students write their thesis in a variety of ways. You can get interesting tools such as a Thesis Builder, Topic-O-Rama, the Causinator, and the TubePrompter.

    14. Thesis and Dissertation Help: Type in the topic of your thesis to be connected with loads of help. You can also read the many useful articles or sign up for the free eCourse.

Best University Tools to Write Your Thesis

An option at many top universities, they often put out guides to help students better write their thesis. Get all the best in tips and tools for writing your thesis by checking out these sites.

    15. How to Write a Thesis: Stop here for an extensive guide on your thesis from Columbia University. Three sections include thesis structure, crosscutting issues, editing your thesis, and contain many sub-sections.

    16. Creating a Thesis Statement: Purdue University has many resources on the writing process, which is invaluable for your thesis. Get help with the outline, prewriting, introduction, proofreading, stasis theory, and more.

    17. Developing a Thesis: Comparing a thesis to a lawyer’s opening argument, Harvard University offers this free guide. Get many helpful do’s and don’ts by stopping here.

    18. How to Write a Thesis Statement: Indiana University explains what a thesis is, along with how to write a good one. Be sure to check out the “how to tell a strong thesis statement from a weak one” for more help.

    19. Developing a Thesis: See your thesis through the eyes of both the writer and reader by visiting this guide by Cambridge Language Consultants. You can also get many other writing resources on their site.

    20. Using Thesis Statements: The University of Toronto helps its students understand the most vital part of their dissertation. In addition to this article, you can also find help with thesis myths and general advice on essay writing.

    21. Specifications for Thesis Preparation: Intended as a guide for the students at M.I.T., it is also a useful basis for all thesis writers. You can get tips for graduate and undergraduate thesis, formatting, style, and even a checklist.

    22. The Senior Thesis: Written during the last part of their undergraduate education, the seniors at Princeton reflect on what a thesis entails in this short article. Get answers to common questions on this assignment.

Best Online Dictionaries

Check out these top free, online dictionaries to get expert answers on many complex and common terms.

    23. The Free Dictionary: Go beyond normal dictionaries on this site. You can also get a medical, legal, and financial dictionary, as well as in multiple languages.

    24. Merriam-Webster Online: Don’t leave your computer to look up a word in this leading dictionary by simply typing it in on their site. You can also get word games, crosswords, a spelling bee, downloads, and more.

    25. Webster’s Online Dictionary: Type your word in, select English or non-English, and enter to get an expert answer. You can also get a quote and word of the day, word of the hour, and even word of the minute.

    26. One Look Dictionary Search: With customizable searches, this dictionary is for you if you don’t quite know the word you are looking up. There is also a reverse dictionary with even more help.

    27. Dictionary.com: With nearly a million searches a day, this site is worth a visit. Highlights include the option to play back your word as an audio file.

    28. Your Dictionary: Similar to the above, this site also gives you translation sites for French, Spanish, Italian, German and hundreds of other languages. You can also get many other related tools, and you can even sign up for their free vocabulary builder.

Best Legal Online Dictionaries

Law students and others writing thesis papers involving this topic will enjoy these top legal dictionaries available at no charge.

    29. Law.com Dictionary: Enter your legal term, search the definitions, or choose a letter at this leading site. The main site also contains news, job information, and a law catalog.

    30. Law Dictionary: FindLaw is a website for legal professionals and provides this free dictionary. You can also get forms, information on law technology, marketing, resources for students, and more.

    31. US Legal Definitions: U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. brings you this site full of legal definitions and a legal terms dictionary. Once you find what you are looking for, you can also get associated news and/or court cases.

    32. Legal Dictionary: The main source of this site is “West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, Edition 2,” which contains over 4,000 entries. Type in your search, or view the numerous popular searches to give you ideas.

    33. JURIST Legal Dictionaries: Part of Law.com, this is a dictionary of basic U.S. legal terminology focusing on legal procedure. You can also find other law related links on the homepage.

    34. One-L Dictionary: Students who are just beginning to study law or those who need basic terminology will find this site useful. Harvard Law School provides it at no charge to help all of their first year students.

Best Medical Online Dictionaries

Whether you are including a specific disease or condition in your thesis or have a broad medical topic to discuss, these top medical dictionaries are sure to help.

    35. MedicineNet: This medical dictionary provides expert answers to medical terminology. You can also get help with different diseases, procedures, tests, medications, and more.

    36. Online Medical Dictionary: The experts at WebMD help you find definitions for various medical terms. Other search tools include symptoms, doctors, and a food-o-meter.

    37. MedlinePlus: A service of the National Institute of Health, anyone can utilize this Google like search. If you are unsure of how to spell your medical term, enter the first few letters followed by an “*.”

    38. Taber’s Medical Dictionary Online: This site features over 60,000 medical entries, with 1,000 images, and 30,000 audio pronunciations. You can also get nursing terms and the program on your mobile device.

    39. MediLexicon: In addition to the dictionary, you can also get over 200,000 common medical abbreviations. Other resources include medical news, a drug search, information on equipment and instruments, and even a specialized ICD-9 search.

    40. National Library of Medicine: Technically not a dictionary, if you know the term, you can get tons of information on it. Other useful tools include the library catalog, history of medicine, the latest research, and even an online journal.

Best Specialty Online Dictionaries

If you have a specific topic or area of interest, these online genre dictionaries are a great resource.

    41. Foreign Word: Get a useful online dictionary and other translation tools on this site. Simply type in your word to translate into any language from Afrikaans to Yiddish.

    42. Biographical Dictionary: Established in 1997, this site has gathered biographies on thousands of people from both the past and present. You can search, browse, see biographies by birthday, or even take the challenge.

    43. Verdict Search: Ideal for legal searches, this site contains over 140,000 cases from across the nation. You can sign up for their services, do a free web trial, or read many of their useful articles at no charge.

    44. FOLDOC: The Free Online Dictionary of Computing contains tons of terms on information technology. Type in your search, browse the contents, or get something random.

    45. Urban Dictionary: Want to know the slang version of a word or to see if your terminology is correct? Then try this online dictionary with over four million definitions of modern and former word usage.

Best Online Thesauruses

Go beyond a mere definition, get rid of frequent word usage, and mix up your writing with these free, thesauruses.

    46. Thinkmap: The visual thesaurus, you can get answers for your search as map. There is even a Behind the Dictionary feature where experts discuss language.

    47. Wordsmyth: In addition to the thesaurus and dictionary, you can get many useful tools such as a Glossary Maker, Quiz Maker, and even a Beginner’s Dictionary. You can also download the free toolbar from the site.

    48. FreeThesaurus.net: This simple search contains over 30,000 main entries with over two million synonyms. You can even add their free plug-in to Internet Explorer 7.

    49. Phrase Finder: Get the meanings and origins of over 1,200 English sayings, phrases, and idioms from this UK based site. There is also a forum where you can ask a question or search through the answers.

    50. Rhyme Zone: Want to add some rhythm to your thesis or know what the word sounds like? Then enter it into this thesaurus, which also features quotations, famous documents, Mother Goose, Shakespeare, and more.

    51. Synonyms Thesaurus: Get antonyms and definitions along with synonyms from this site. It also has links to other helpful educational resources.

    52. Roget’s Thesaurus 1911: Get the nearly hundred year old synonyms of your word by trying out this feature from the University of Chicago. You can also get other research tools on the site.

Best Online Encyclopedias to Help You Write Your Thesis

No need to travel to the library or even leave your home with these top encyclopedias.

    53. Encyclopedia.com: Stop here first to search 49 encyclopedias and 73 combined dictionaries and thesauruses. You can also choose which particular encyclopedia to search, or browse their featured topics.

    54. Encyclopedia Britannica: Although there is a paid membership option, visitors can still utilize this leading reference tool. You can browse by subject, or simply type in your search to get an expert answer.

    55. Infoplease: Enter your search term and choose from almanac, encyclopedia, and others to get information. There is also a Fact Monster for kids and other related resources.

    56. Encyclopedia Mythica: Visit here for a vast resource on mythology, folklore, and religion. Popular areas include Greek, Roman, Norse, Celtic, and Native American mythology.

    57. Webopedia: Visit here if you are looking for computer and internet terms. Visitors can view the top fifteen terms, get pronunciation, and more.

    58. New Advent: A Catholic encyclopedia, you can get tons of information on many religious related terms. They also have texts of many important church documents such as the Bible and “Summa Theologica.”

    59. 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica: Want to know how your thesis topic was discussed in the past? Then try this online encyclopedia from 1911 as a search or by subject.

    60. Encyclopedia of Life: Currently in the process of getting detailed information on all 1.8 million known species of life, this site is worth a look. Get it in different languages, search the database, or view the features.

    61. World Book: Choose from the student, advanced, and other versions of this encyclopedia to find your answers. There is also a French and Spanish version.

    62. World Book Kids: Intended for younger students, it can still provide simple and easy to understand definitions. The site also has other useful items for children.

Best Online Reference Tools

Use these sites to get the most out of your online research for just about any thesis topic.

    63. Wikipedia: Always a good place to start, you can find information on just about any subject in many languages. At the bottom of each article are links to site sources if you are unsure about the content.

    64. JSTOR: Students at participating institutions can access this site and browse the many publications available. You can also get the site in several different languages.

    65. Biography: A leading show on the A & E network, you can find thousands of biographies online, free for the viewing. You can also view full episodes, get photo galleries, view the Bio’s Best collection, and more.

    66. IngentaConnect: Stop here for tons of free academic searches. The site currently contains 4,547,834 articles, chapters, reports, and more for your thesis needs.

    67. Intute: Anyone writing a thesis concerning the social sciences should pay this site a visit. It contains headings such as anthropology, business, government policy, statistics, and others.

    68. Science Direct: If your thesis is science based, give this site a look for its over nine million articles. You can view by physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences.

    69. The History Channel: Students of history will find many useful items to write their thesis with the help of this site. Choose from a variety of history related topics and shows, or view “this day in history” for more information.

    70. Classical Archives: Writing a thesis on music or just need something uplifting to listen to? Then become a member of this site to get access to over 620,000 tracks, and there is even a free trial membership.

Best Online Libraries to Write Your Thesis

If your local library doesn’t have the material you need or the book you want is always checked out, stop by these top digital libraries to view thousands of books online at no charge.

    71. Library of Congress: The leading library in the nation, the digital collections allow you to access various items. Choose from history, arts, historic newspapers, photos, and more.

    72. Bartleby.com: Stop here for tons of classical and modern works, including reference books. Select from such books as the U.S. Factbook, the Holy Bible, Harvard Classics, and many others.

    73. The WWW Virtual Library: In service since 1991, this site has amassed an impressive amount of publications free to view. Sub libraries include the arts, business, engineering, law, and more.

    74. Google Books: Get actual copies of books available to view online for free at this site. Choose from non-fiction, classics, highly cited, and more.

    75. Perseus Digital Library: A project at Tufts University, you can view many classic Greek and Latin texts online at no charge. Popular choices include Caesar, Cicero, Vergil, and Catullus.

    76. Project Gutenberg: Since 1971 they have been trying to get as many texts available online as possible. Thirty years later, there are now over 100,000 pieces to choose from.

    77. iBiblio: Sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this site is similar to the above. You can browse through many different subjects, or check out the eBooks, journals, archives, and historic items.

    78. Voice of the Shuttle: This project was started in 1994 by the University of California, Santa Barbara. Browse through their many works or sign up for an account.

Best Downloads to Help You Write Your Thesis

Get the most out of your browser or computer by checking out these free downloads to help with your thesis.

    79. A LOT Dictionary Toolbar: Why bother constantly opening new tabs and windows when you can download this toolbar that works with your browser? It contains spell check, word of the day, help with writing software, and a dictionary.

    80. WordMonkey Dictionary: This toolbar is for those who have iGoogle. The gadget contains the definition for millions of English words, phrases, and more.

    81. NAR Dictionary: Use this free download as a dictionary or translation tool without having to type or paste a word. Available only for Windows.

    82. Multilingual Translator: If you can stomach the ads, this free software might be for you. It can easily translate any sentence from and to numerous languages.

    83. Read It Later: This Firefox add-on allows you to save your internet searches as one file to be read at your convenience. You can also send your saved searches to the computer or device of your choice.

    84. gTranslate: Another add-on for Firefox, it translates selected text into a variety of languages using Google translator. It can even identify the language you are selecting from for a reverse translation.

    85. Easy Translator: Another translation download, this one is for Mac users. It contains 41 languages for you to utilize in your research and thesis.

    86. Bookpedia: This download lets you search Amazon, The Library of Congress, several international book sites, and numerous library and university servers for information about a book. It also helps students and thesis writers organize all of their books on one simple program.

Best Thesis Writing Software for Mac

Those with a Mac and some money will enjoy these writing and reference softwares to help in their thesis.

    87. 2009 World Book: If you liked the site, you’ll love the software for its extended and update entries. It currently sells for $49.95 and has options for iPhone.

    88. Inspiration 8: This software helps students plan, research, and complete such projects as a thesis paper. For $69.95 you can get features like diagram to outline, templates, integration of video, and more.

    89. StoryMill: Manage your thesis writing process like never before for $49.95. Part processor and database, it is meant for novel writers but has many useful tools, such as word frequency tracker, for thesis writers.

    90. Mind Habits: Thesis got you stressed? Then spend $19.95 on this software that helps you enjoy reduced stress, boosted self-confidence, and improved work performance.

Best Thesis Writing Software for PC

Intended for all sorts of personal computers, stop by the below to see if their software is right for your thesis.

    91. Thesis/Dissertation Writer: Part of the Wizard of Words software for $75.00, it helps you create your thesis from start to finish. It allows you to select your style and generates useful things like title pages, a table of contents, and much more.

    92. Styleease: A top choice for many academic papers, this software can also help for your thesis. It allows you to choose a style, and helps you create bibliographies and citations easily.

    93. Thesistant: This free software is available as a download for Windows. It helps you generate bibliographies, organize references, and more.

Online Services to Help You Write Your Thesis

Still need help writing your thesis? Then check out these top consultants to learn more, get useful tips, or even a quote on help with your thesis.

    94. Minimax Consulting: Visit here to get more information on their personalized and specialized services. You can also get a free complimentary dissertation tutorial as a pdf.

    95. Thesis Blog: Learn more about their thesis writing services by checking out their website. You can also view samples, read useful blog entries, and even chat live with a representative.

    96. WordsRU: This site offers dissertation help with all aspects of your paper and is as close as clicking on ‘detailed quote request’ and uploading your document. They also offer a variety of other writing services.

    97. The Academic Editor: Visit here for help and a consultation on your thesis paper. You can get a free quote by calling and they also have a price guarantee.

    98. EssayTown: This site will help your write your thesis statement with services starting at $49.99. You can also get free writing help in the form of articles and tips.

    99. PhD-Dissertations: Since 1998, this site has helped master, doctoral, and post-graduate students construct a thesis or dissertation on a variety of topics. Prices for services are easy to find and there is much more information on the site.

    100. Custom Thesis Writing Help: This company provides all kinds of thesis help such as thesis paper help, thesis statement help, and more. Prices start at $10 a page and include free revisions.

No matter if you are just starting out or about to send off that thesis paper. These top 100 thesis sites can help you with everything from brainstorming to editing to finalizing.