Quotation
A judiciously selected quote is often an excellent way to begin a project or essay. In a few brief words, the best quotes can stimulate interest and curiosity in the reader, and if well-chosen, it will set the reader on a train of thought that is conducive to  understanding the central theme of your essay. The best quotes are ones that distil often-complicated ideas into a simple or witty phrase; they can be used at tricky points in the essay when you feel that you require a little help communicating an idea. Another opportune time for quotation use is when your essay refers to a famous personage; a quote will help bring that person’s character and beliefs to life in the reader’s mind.
NB – (i) Quotes should be used sparingly; the essay is primarily a product of your intellect.
(ii) Selected quotes should be completely relevant to the theme of your essay; otherwise they are simply a waste of space and confusing for the reader.

Theotherpages.org - Over 24,500 entries, which are helpfully broken down into several groupings such as: great leaders, sarcasm, proverbs, aphorisms, malapropisms, etc.
Also on this site is Poets’ Corner, with a collection of over 6,700 works categorised by author, title and subject.

Dictionary
Martagon, belection, zoster…? No, me neither. Thank the stars for dictionaries. However, they have vital uses other than finding the meaning of a word. One of the first things an assessor looks at when marking an essay are the basics of spelling and grammar. Poor spelling and grammar tends to put him/her in a nasty mood and that can’t be good for your final mark! More and more institutes of higher education are bemoaning the plummeting the standard of grammar among students; so make use of the style guide also in the site below.
NB – One trap students should avoid falling into is overuse of the thesaurus. If you know a word that conveys what you’re trying to say effectively, do not try to over-complicate things by finding a ‘fancier’ version – why say agglutinative, when you can just say sticky? - simplicity is everything!

Dictionary.com - A very easy-to-use site that provides a comprehensive dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopaedia service.
Links are also provided to dictionaries in what seems like every language on the planet, including Wolof (used in Senegal and the Gambia) and our very own Gaeilge (listed under Irish). For the law and medical students out there, special dictionaries are also provided for you on this site.
Dictionary.com provide their very own English language style guide, and links to other useful language usage resources.

Reference
Students will often find themselves referring to something in their essay not directly related to course material. This peripheral information may be only vaguely known, and so the student is hesitant to refer to it, even though it will greatly benefit the essay. At this moment the reference site is an important tool, you can quickly check your facts, correct them if necessary, use the information and carry on with your essay after only a short delay.

Bartleby.com - Not many sites allow you to read Crime and Punishment in its entirety, browse the orations of the philosophers of ancient Greece, and find out what the Ebola virus is, all in one place.
Bartleby.com is an incredible information resource that grants the student virtually unlimited access to reference books, including encyclopaedias, dictionaries, thesauruses, quotation collections, works on English usage, criticism and more. Also provided are entire works of the world’s leading fiction and non-fiction authors, essay collections, and a huge resource of poetry. Basically if someone’s written it and it was fairly good, there’s a good chance you will find on Bartleby.com.
This site really is an extremely useful tool, for students in arts and humanities in particular.

Study and Essay-Writing Techniques
There are certain skills a student requires to succeed academically at college – reading & writing skill, study techniques, managing projects, taking tests, etc. – and usually these are acquired with (sometimes painful) experience. You can give yourself a head-start by making yourself familiar with the information provided by the website below.

Studygs.net - This site is a goldmine of information for every aspect of academic learning. Guidance is provided under the following fifteen headings (with specific examples):

Preparing – Managing time and stress, and dealing with procrastination
Learning – Learning as an adult and exploring your own learning style
Studying – Learning effective study habits
Classroom participation – Mastering the valuable skill of taking notes in lectures
Learning with others – Acting on tutor feedback
Online learning – Evaluating website content
Reading skills – Techniques for reading critically and reading difficult material
Preparing for tests – Test preparation and overcoming exam anxiety
Taking Tests – Tips for test taking, including essay-based and oral exams
Writing Basics – Drafting, revising and proofreading
Writing Types – Writing for a deadline and writing for the web
Research – Writing research papers and researching on the Internet
Project Management – Developing case studies and advice on public speaking
Math – Guide to math tests and solving math problems
Science & Technology – Writing lab reports and scientific papers, the scientific method