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Our Six Favorite Online Quotations Databases
for Business Users
Ric Moxley
QuoteLand.com
http://www.quoteland.com
Considering that this site is managed by a staff of just two (David
Borenstein and Adam Lewis), this is an impressive quote collection! It does
not purport to be an exhaustive collection, but I find myself frequently
returning to it for good business writing quotes. Perhaps its usefulness in
finding valuable quotes for business use is in their mission statement: to deliver
useful, on-topic, quotes for people's work. Its topical lists are logically done and
helpful when seeking quotes to match a theme. The site search engine is
effective, searching topics, text strings within the quotes, and author
names. Unfortunately, for those who like to use Boolean searches, it isn’t
supported. However, the search engine can work with wild card characters.
Quotes for All
http://www.quotesforall.com
Quotes for All is in our favorites list because of the nature of the
collection rather than the size (certainly not its design). When you need
quotes by specific well-known personalities, this site is excellent. I
particularly appreciate its special collections: Quotations of US
Presidents and Quotations of US Presidential Candidates 2000. The site could benefit from a search
engine and a topical listing of quotes. But then, Quotes for All is not a
primary company. It is maintained by Planthink Concepts, a company devoted
to advancements in automotive safety.
The Quotations Page
http://www.quotationspage.com/
The Quotations Page is another quote site that didn’t make it onto this
list for its design. But then, why should it? A quote resource should be
functional above all else. And that is what you get with this valuable quote
site: a fine and usable resource. It is not only noteworthy for the size of
its collection (a searchable database of over 15,000 quotations), but for
its powerful search engine, which searches not only quotationspage.com, but
also nine other online quote sites. Other valuable features include a
database of book reviews and a forum for discussion of quotation-related
topics, a Quotes by Subject section, and biographies for over 1,000 of their
quoted authors.
Famous Quotations
http://home.att.net/~quotations/index.html
This
site has an unusual interface, requiring you to scroll down the page to
find the meat of the site. It has
both a subject index and author index. One of my favorite features on this
site: their multisite quotes search engine, adding the power of nine other
collections to your search. The type
of quotes here will require a bit more digging, as it clearly doesn’t target
quotes useful in business settings. However, the size of the collection and
its many organizational features makes the site a winner.
John Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
http://www.bartleby.com/100/
This
is a free online version of the tenth edition of this well-known but aging
collection of over 11,000 searchable quotations. When you need a classic,
you will find it here. The site boasts a subjects index, an author index,
and a title index. Its search engine is effective. Many worthy quotes have
been made in the 80-plus years that have passed since this collection was created.
You won’t find those here. But, compared to searching Bartlett’s in print, this site is a valuable resource and
worth book marking.
Yahoo! Directory of Quotations
http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/quotations/
When none of the other references listed provide what I need, I
go here. The Yahoo! directory is expansive, listing well over 100 quote
sites. Many of them may not help you if your needs are strictly for
speeches or business writing though, and the search engine does not search quotes:
just quote site keywords and metadata. Typing “Ask not” — which should
bring up many instances online of John F. Kennedy’s most famous quote,
results in “no sites found.” Its lists of sites however is useful.
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