Pay Attention, Students: Link, Look and Learn

It's great to get a new laptop, music player and cellphone for heading back to school. But here's a tech item you can use free: a list of websites on a variety of academic topics. Most include links for exploring subjects in detail. Cut this article out and tape it up in your dorm room, your apartment, your Mom's basement or wherever you do your studying. First up: a group of sites you definitely want to bookmark no matter what classes you'll be taking this year.

ACADEMIC ALL STARS

www.ipl.org -- Tough to say enough good about the little known Internet Public Library site. It was started by the University of Michigan and provides links to online pages in numerous academic fields. And it will probably get even more comprehensive because 14 other schools have signed on to join the project.

www.sparknotes.com -- The primary mission of this site from Barnes & Noble is to feature study guides to novels and nonfiction. But it also has free reference guides to other topics such as biology, math and physics.

www.howstuffworks.com -- Provides a look at the inner workings of the mundane (pencil, hair dryer) and complex (brain, atomic clock). Great for science reports.

www.ask.com -- Takes questions in plain language. Works best with simple queries such as, "When was Benjamin Franklin born?"

www.google.com -- Still the best search engine.

ANATOMY

www.anatomyatlases.org -- "Atlas of Human Anatomy" offers fantastic images of human body parts.

www.bartleby.com/107 -- This is the 1918 version of the classic Gray's "Anatomy of the Human Body." Still a handy, basic guide.

www.innerbody.com -- Interactive site that's used to identify body parts (not just skeletal but also digestive, muscular and other systems) and to learn about their functions.

ARCHEOLOGY

archnet.asu.edu -- Arizona State University's list of links to museums and other resources, organized by geography and topic.

www.cyberpursuits.com/archeo -- Assorted links, organized by region.

ART HISTORY

www.metmuseum.org/toah -- The Metropolitan Museum of Art's timeline of art history, from Mal'ta carvings in Asia in 20,000 BC to video installations by Bill Viola that the museum purchased in 2001.

witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html -- Extensive links to art periods, artists and museums.

artchive.com -- Not the easiest site to navigate but worth the trouble. The online guide provides images of works by prominent artists.