In addition to providing links to primary transportation websites in the Chicago area, the commuting section also contains information on local road conditions. Before using public transportation, check out schedules, maps, or online trip planners at the CTA, Metra, or Pace sites. Quick maps and driving directions can be found under street maps and directions.
Check travel and vacation guides for help in booking a flight or for checking on flight arrivals and departures. Detailed information on countries and states useful for school or business reports can be found in the geography section.
Web resource 
Available with Skokie Public Library card 
Available in Library only
Commuting
Public Transportation
CTA: Chicago
Transit Authority
Find maps, fares, schedules, and phone numbers for Chicago busses and trains on the official website of the Chicago Transit Authority.
Metra
Use this website to find schedules, maps, and fare information for Metra, the Chicago metropolitan commuter train.
Pace
Find schedules and maps for Pace, the Chicago suburban bus service.
RTA Travel
Information Center
Enter a time of day, departure address, and arrival address and this site will provide an itinerary for travel across the Chicago area via CTA, Metra, and Pace trains and buses.
Traffic Conditions and Road Work
GCM Travel
This site provides detailed, up to the minute information on traffic conditions and roadwork in the sixteen-county corridor surrounding Gary, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
Getting Around Illinois: Road Construction
This interactive map provides information about current highway construction throughout Illinois.
National Traffic and
Road Closure Information
This site contains information on traffic conditions, construction-related road closures, and weather conditions in all fifty states.
Traveling
Public
From the Illinois Department of Transportation, this website provides information about weather and road conditions, Amtrak routes, road construction information throughout the state, and much more.
Geography
Country Profiles
CIA
World Factbook
Use this website to find maps and information on any country in the world. Available data includes climate, population, infrastructure, and more.
Country
Briefings
From Economist.com, this website provides news, economic statistics, government information, and forecasts for major countries.
Country
Profiles from BBC News
Choose from pull down menus to get an instant guide to history, politics, and economic background of countries throughout the world.
CultureGrams Online
CultureGrams provides country reports that deliver a perspective on daily life and culture, including the background, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people. Individual reports cover 187 countries and all fifty United States. It includes a worldwide photo gallery, famous people collection, and a unique recipe collection that offers five homegrown recipes from all countries in the database. Plus, sortable (create-your-own) data tables help put dozens of facts into perspective. Sections on "Customs and Courtesies" and "Lifestyle" make this a useful resource for travelers as well as students.
Gale Virtual Reference
Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of more than two hundred full text reference sources for research. Areas covered include Arts, Biography, Business, History, Literature, Medicine, and more. At one time, these reference materials were accessible only in print form from within the Library, but are now available online.
Skokie Public Library's guide to this database available
InfoNation
From the United Nations, this website contains a database that allows you to view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for the Member States of the United Nations.
nationmaster.com
This site provides detailed information, maps, and statistics for individual countries and regions. It also provides lists of the top- and bottom-ranking countries in a number of categories such as crime, economics, and education..
The World Bank Group: Countries & Regions
Use this website to find general information and economic data for countries throughout the world.
World Statesmen
An encyclopedia of nations, colonies, international and religious organizations, and other polities. Includes country facts, leaders, maps, anthems, flags, and links.
United States Information
50 States and Capitals
All sorts of information on the fifty states can be found at this site.
HomeTownLocator Gazetteer
Comprehensive United States gazetteer with data for 1.8 million physical and cultural features, census information for 98,000 local areas, and distance calculations for 177,000 populated places. The site also includes links to aerial photos and regional, local, and topological maps.
How Far is It?
Using data from the United States Census and a list of cities around the world, this website calculates the distance between two locations.
U.S.
Gazetteer
From the United States Census Bureau, this website allows you to enter a state's name, abbreviation, or a zip code to find towns, counties, or Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs).
USGS Board on Geographic Names
From the United States Geological Survey, this website provides the capability to search databases of Domestic Names, Foreign Names, and Antarctic Names. Entries include latitude/longitude, elevation, population, and postal codes for towns, cities, and other geographic sites.
Maps
Country Maps
All the
World's Maps
From EmbassyWorld.com, this site contains links to political, geographic, travel maps, and more for individual countries and many cities.
Color
Landform Atlas of the United States
This site provides relief maps, county maps, and satellite images for all fifty states.
Maps and Geography
This Subject Guide from NationalGeographic.com allows you to search for political, satellite, and geographic maps in the MapMachine Online Atlas.
multimap.com
This site provides detailed maps for locations around the globe, including some very good maps and aerial photographs of Great Britain.
TerraServer
TerraServer from Microsoft provides detailed aerial photographs, relief maps, and topographical maps for the United States.
TopoZone
This collection of interactive topographical maps for the entire United States contains the complete collection of USGS Survey Maps.
Worldmapper
Worldmapper is a collection of world maps where territories are resized on each map according to the subject of interest. There are now nearly 700 maps in all representing the size of countries statistically according to data in topic areas including income, health, education, and religion.
Local Maps
Division of Maps and Plats On-Line Kiosk
From the City of Chicago's Bureau of Maps and Plats this site allows users to key in an address and find a plat map, an aerial map, and a footprint map that shows all of the surrounding buildings, their shapes and addresses. In addition it has wonderful links to a wide array of city maps.
Street Maps and Directions
Google Maps
Google provides interactive maps that are draggable with interchangeable satellite photos and directions.
MapQuest
Enter a street address or intersection and MapQuest will create large, printable maps for world cities.
Maps On Us
Use this website to map addresses in the United States.
MSN Maps & Directions
Microsoft's guide to maps and directions provides mapping capabilities throughout the United States and the world.
Travel and Vacation Guides
Multipurpose Travel Sites
Expedia.com
Expedia.com is a compendium of all types of travel information including airline and hotel deals, travel guides to locations around the world, airline and train schedules, and much more.
Orbitz
Search for deals on air fares or get travel information on this website developed through the joint effort of the "World's Leading Airlines."
Travelocity.com
Use this website to find airline flights, hotel rooms, rental car agencies, vacation packages, and travel news for locations around the world.
Airlines and Trains
Airline
Toll-Free Numbers and Websites
This simple directory provides Web links and toll-free phone numbers for airlines throughout the world.
Amtrak
Use this website to find schedules and fare information for passenger train travel in the United States.
The Chicago
Airport System
Use this handy website to obtain flight and other service information related to O'Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport, and the Chicago-Gary Airport Authority.
FlightArrivals.com
Get real time arrival, departure, and delay information for commercial airline flights operating to, from, and within the United States.
Destination Guides
CultureGrams Online
CultureGrams provides country reports that deliver a perspective on daily life and culture, including the background, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people. Individual reports cover 187 countries and all fifty United States. It includes a worldwide photo gallery, famous people collection, and a unique recipe collection that offers five homegrown recipes from all countries in the database. Plus, sortable (create-your-own) data tables help put dozens of facts into perspective. Sections on "Customs and Courtesies" and "Lifestyle" make this a useful resource for travelers as well as students.
EnjoyIllinois.com
This official state tourism page from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity contains information about events, attractions, dining, and accommodations in Illinois. Site visitors can also order state travel brochures and kits.
Festivals.com
Search by location or keyword to find information about festivals and events around the world.
fodors.com
From the famous travel guide publisher, this site has everything you need to plan a trip for destinations around the globe including hotel and restaurant indexes, online reservations, and forums to find advice and ideas from other travelers.
GORP
GORP offers information on outdoor recreation such as hiking, biking, rafting, camping, and fishing; with information on attractions, outdoor gear, adventure travel, national parks, and wilderness areas.
IgoUgo
Billed as "a community of real people sharing their travel experiences," IgoUgo contains personal travel journals for destinations around the world, photos, and information about activities, accommodations, and restaurants.
Lonely Planet Online
This online companion to the Lonely Planet series of travel guide books contains information about locations around the globe including some of the most exotic and out-of-the-ordinary spots.
ViaMichelin
This online version of the famous Michelin Guides covers European travel and provides hotel and restaurant reviews, maps, and general tourist information.
Trip Planners
Cruise411
This site provides cruise ship information including dates of sail, ship photos and deckplans, ratings of cruise lines, and much more.
RVers Online
A guide for recreational vehicle owners, this site contains park directories and helpful articles on equipment, products, and services.