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Electronic Resources in Public Libraries

Public libraries in the East Midlands subscribe to a wide range of electronic and on-line resources and databases. Subscriptions for a number of these titles are negotiated nationally through the Reference Online initiative brokered by the Arts Council England. As these are paid-for subscriptions, access is normally restricted by the library service to their own library members.

Many of these databases can be accessed 24/7 remotely, although some are only available in the libraries, because of licensing restrictions. Each library authority will have its own method of registration for these services, but access is usually through the membership number on the library ticket, and possibly also an allocated PIN.

An alphabetical listing of the resources can be found below, with links through to the subscribing libraries using the keys below each description.

LIEM Associate members in the East of England have been added to this listing in green:

19th Century BRITISH NEWSPAPERS

19th Century British Library Newspapers contains full runs of 48 influential national and regional newspapers representing different political and cultural segments of the 19th century British society.

20th Century PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers includes over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present, with supplementary material back to 1688. HCPP delivers page images and searchable full text for each paper, along with detailed indexing.

ANCESTRY

This site contains UK census records from 1841 to 1901, as well as birth, marriage and death records from the UK and the rest of Europe and the United States. There are also record sheets to download and use to help record which resources have been used in genealogy research, and who has been traced.

ART ONLINE (OXFORD)

Information on artists, architects, designers, images, and the access point for the following Oxford art reference subscriptions and publications: Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopaedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art terms. Grove Art is the ultimate authority on all aspects of the visual arts worldwide. It contains over 45,000 articles on every aspect of visual arts from Palaeolithic cave and rock art to the work of Frida Kahlo and Damien Hirst.

BDS catalogue

Search for the complete range of Books, DVDs, Games and Music discs currently available in the UK, or out-of-print.

Benezit Dictionary of Artists

With nearly 170,000 entries, Benezit covers both lesser-known and famed artists, images of artists’ signatures, historical auction records, and lists of museum holdings.

BFI Screen Online

British Film Institution Screen Online - access and view film and television clips on the BFI Screenonline website - billed as 'the definitive guide to Britain's film and TV history'

Books and Media

Online guide to books and authors in the media

Bowker Books in Print

Books In Print lists nearly all books that are currently available in English and in the United States from major publishers. A resource for bookstores, libraries, and publishers, it is available in a print version, but is most often accessed electronically. Books in Print listings are several million, a number that is only exceeded by Amazon.

BRITANNICA ONLINE

World-class encyclopaedia, in three versions:

Encyclopaedia Britannica (Adult)

Enjoy instant access to every topic imaginable in over 120,000 articles, a world atlas, thousands of images and videos, a dictionary and thesaurus, and a guide to the web's best sites.

Britannica Junior

The primary school pupil version of Britannica Online

Britannica Student

The secondary school pupil version of Britannica Online

British Newspaper Archive

The British Newspaper Archive is a partnership between the British Library and brightsolid online publishing to digitise up to 40 million newspaper pages from the British Library's vast collection. Search and find news articles, family notices, letters, obituaries, advertisements and more. Access is limited to library use only.

BRITISH STANDARDS

Covers all British Standards Institute publications for British, European and International Standards. Updated daily, the site includes around 40,000 current, draft and historic British Standards in bibliographic, citation and full text databases which are organised into discipline related modules.

Burke's Peerage

Guide to the genealogical history of the major royal, aristocratic and historical families of the U.K., Ireland and the U.S.A.

CANS

Citizen's Advice Notes Service: UK legal publication giving accurate and up-to-date information for the public on topics such as employment, housing, social security and immigration law in England, Wales and Scotland. It’s compiled from the key legislative sources and with full legal references.

COBRA - Complete Business Reference Advisor

A comprehensive and versatile resource for organisations advising or working with entrepreneurs or small business owners. It is aimed at business start-ups and SMEs (Small and Medium size Enterprises). Approximately 4,000 fact sheets, reports and guides can be accessed, for example: write a business or marketing plan; conduct research into a new market.

Companion to Western Art

This Oxford Art Online site contains over 2,600 entries with 1,700 artists and their work and with articles on topics of contemporary interest, including art movements, theory, and criticism. In addition to regional and cultural surveys, it also lists all relevant museums and galleries under the city of their location, such as Barcelona and Moscow.

CREDO REFERENCE (Formerly Xreferplus)

An online general reference library providing learners and researchers with access to 550 reference books that can be searched simultaneously. The full-text content covers every major subject from the world's best publishers of reference, including Hutchinson and Macmillan Encyclopaedias and Black’s Medical Dictionary.

Crockford's Clerical Directory

Biographies of over 25,000 Anglican clergy in the UK. Details of English, Welsh and Irish benefices and churches

CRONER-i Health Safety and Environment

The latest information on health, safety and environmental legislation, including: Ready-to-use model policies; Employee factsheets on key issues; Adaptable sample forms and records. A wide range of topics are available such as: Accidents and first aid; Chemical hazards; Fire; Machinery and work equipment; Occupational health.

CUSTOM UK (INFOTRAC)

Journals and newspapers full-text database, with archives from 1995, including: Express, Sunday Express, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Observer, Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Times, Sunday Times.

Dictionaries Pro

Oxford Dictionaries Pro offers quick search access to definitions of words, phrases, and idioms, with expert guidance on style and usage, grammar, and spelling; plus specialist guides for legal and technical writing.

EISODOS

The Migrant Communities Information Resource -Information for refugees, asylum seekers and EU migrants. Also for professionals working with people coming into the UK.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF GLOBAL CHANGE (OXFORD)

Encompassing tsunamis, elephant conservation, ocean pollution, mining regulation, and permafrost melt, the 300 authoritative articles in this unique and wide-ranging encyclopedia investigate all types of phenomena that change life on Earth.

ENQUIRE

Enquire is a free nation-wide live question and answer service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It connects to a Librarian who is trained to find answers to questions on any subject. It works like instant messaging or 'chat', so you can ask questions, just as if you were in the library or on the phone.
(Enquire is a UK collaborative of over 80 public libraries throughout England and Scotland staffing the service Monday − Saturday 9am-5pm. After these hours, you will be connected to one of our partners in the USA.)

EXODUS

An online introduction to living, working and studying in different countries, with country profiles, details of training programmes and information about voluntary work. Useful for anyone moving abroad to live, work or study; or anyone moving to the UK for the same reasons.

FIND MY PAST

Formerly ‘1837 online’, Findmypast.com contains millions of family history records online, with a variety of family history sources, including the General Registrar Offices Indexes of Births, Marriages & Deaths and selected Census records. Find My Past makes it easy to research UK ancestry and create a family tree.

GoCitizen

GoCitizen.co.uk is an online study resource for candidates preparing for the Life in the UK test or British citizenship test.

GRANTnet

A comprehensive database of over 4,000 UK and EU funding sources for voluntary and community groups, social enterprises and small to medium-sized businesses.

GROVE Encyclopaedia of Classical Art & Architecture

Comprehensive reference resource for the visual arts of the Classical period, featuring biographies of artists, rulers and philosophers and thematic entries on architecture, ceramics, metalwork, mosaics, painting, sculpture, renowned works of art, archaeological sites and stylistic developments.

GROVE Encyclopaedia of Decorative Arts

This covers thousands of years of decorative arts production throughout the world. Included are hundreds of entries on artists and craftsmen, the qualities and historic uses of materials, as well as concise definitions on art forms and style, plus a wealth of comprehensive articles discussing the history of armour, jewellery, textiles, and ceramics.

GUARDIAN and OBSERVER archive

Archives for two well known national newspapers:The Guardian 1821 – 2003; The Observer 1791 – 2003.Search by keyword to help with family history, research or homework.

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

Covers House of Commons Sessional Papers from 2004 to the present day.

ISSUES ONLINE

Web-site of Independence Educational Publishers, providing information on a broad range of topics relating to our changing society. Useful for teachers and students alike. Access is provided to: factsheets, newspaper reports and features, magazine articles, journal and book extracts, extracts from Government reports and statistics, pressure-group literature, statistics, including tables and graphs, cartoons and illustrations.

JOHN JOHNSON COLLECTION

A collection of printed ephemera offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

KnowUK

A directory giving information about the people, institutions and organisations of the UK from over 100 key reference titles such as Whitakers Almanac, Ask Hollis, Who's Who, and Which Guides. Information about the local area can be searched for. Areas covered include arts, media, biography, education and government.

KOMPASS UK

Kompass provides privately collected business information that may be used for sales, marketing, procurement and research. Information in directories, mailing lists, CDs, online or via an internet feed can help find suppliers of products or services, generate sales leads and create marketing lists.

LaxtonsLive

Online collection of building works prices, suitable for the self-employed professional up to the largest of organisations.

LIFE IN GREAT BRITAIN

Life in Great Britain offers Citizenship information and help to prepare for the Citizenship test. It is the official Home Office test book and an essential guide for those wanting to apply for British citizenship or settlement.

MINT UK

A fresh approach to company information. It’s designed for end users to help them research businesses. It gives access to a wide range of information covering all limited and many unlimited companies,with access to detailed financial data as well as directors information, business news and market research reports.

Music Online (Alexander Street Press)

Online collection of music recordings, scores, reference and video in the following genres: Classical, American, World and Jazz.

MUSIC ONLINE (OXFORD)

Oxford Music online, as well as incorporating Grove Music Online, now has in addition the Oxford Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Companion to Music. Grove Music is the ultimate authority on all aspects of music world-wide – from classical to hip hop and baroque to blues. Over 45,000 specially commissioned articles by 6,000 contributors on people and places, instruments and techniques, genres and style.

NAXOS

This site provides access to over 332,000 tracks (more than 23,400 CDs) including classical, jazz, folk, world, Chinese music. Whilst listening, notes can be read on the work being played, as well as biographical information about the composers / artists.

NEWSBANK

Online access to news articles in both broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. News articles are complemented by additional sections including obituaries, literary criticism, people, editorial pieces and book/film/art reviews.

NewsStand

Full text of national and regional UK newspapers and magazines in a single searchable database.

Nielsen BookData Online

BookData Online is a database of books and related products. As well as fast and efficient search and discovery of up to date, comprehensive and content-rich product information, this service also provides the facility to order from all UK book suppliers, track orders online, and obtain real-time price and stock information

OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY

The lives of over 55,000 people who have shaped the British past over 2,500 years – from Julius Caesar and Boudicea to Princess Diana and Sid Vicious.

OXFORD ENCYCLOPAEDIA of BRITISH LITERATURE

The Encyclopedia provides comprehensive coverage of literature from the Abbey Theatre to Israel Zangwill, covering the entire history of literature in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in the major literary languages (Anglo-Saxon, English, Welsh, Scots, Irish, and Latin).

OXFORD ENCYCLOPAEDIA of CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Comprehensive coverage of children’s literature from the medieval chapbooks of moral instruction to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books; including 3,200 A-Z articles by over 800 distinguished contributors from around the world.

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

A definitive guide to the meaning, history and pronunciations of English words, widely acknowledged as the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world. It also traces the evolution of more that 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years through 2.5 million quotations from a wide variety of sources – from classical literature and periodicals to film scripts and pop songs.

OXFORD LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES ONLINE

Oxford Language Dictionaries online provides fully searchable, completely comprehensive bilingual dictionaries, and unique study materials that provide extra help with learning in French, Spanish, German and Italian.

OXFORD REFERENCE ONLINE

A vast online reference library available 24/7. It combines in depth content offered by titles in the acclaimed Oxford Companions series with authoritative, quick reference coverage of the full subject spectrum. It is possible to search over one million entries across 25 subject areas. There is also a 'Timelines' link to events in 20th century.

Periodicals database

This GALE Cengage database covers indexes to 153 periodicals, and some full text coverage, including Autocar, the Bookseller, BMJ, Computer Weekly, Ebony, Flight International, History Today, Investor’s Chronicle and Marie Claire amongst others.

Rock's Back Pages

Archive of music journalism; thousands of classic articles on artists from Aaliyah to ZZ Top, spanning 50 years.

SEQUELS ONLINE

An easy to access replacement for the publication used widely in bookshops and libraries. The information remains the same, with more out-of-print titles listed; it is updated weekly.

Theory Test Pro

Theory Test Pro is a realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory test. It contains the entire official test questions licensed from the Driving Standards Agency.

TIMES DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Researchers can search through the complete digital edition of The Times (London), using keyword searching and hit-term highlighting to retrieve full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper (1785 – 1985) is captured, with all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.

Transparent Languages

A personalized language learning system, offering over 70 languages from Afrikaans to Zulu

UK Newstand

Enables users to keep up-to-date with day-to-day information, providing access to a range of established newspapers and magazines for a range of views on any story or subject.

VIRTUAL REFERENCE LIBRARY

Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

WHICH? ONLINE

This provides full access to all Which? Magazines – Gardening, Computing, Holiday, Good Food Guide, and additional features including Product Picker and consumer forums. Please note: access is only available via libraries rather than externally from a home pc.

Who else writes like.....?

‘Who Else Writes Like…?’ is aimed at helping find new authors to read based on those that readers enjoy already.

Who next....?

When children ask: 'Who can I read next?' or 'Who writes like my favourite author?' find the answers here.

WHO’S WHO & WHO WAS WHO

Search for information about famous and influential people of today and from the past, going back to 1898. This was the first biographical book of its kind and is among the world’s most recognised and respected works of reference with over 33,000 short biographies of living noteworthy and influential individuals, from all walks of life, worldwide. Approximately one thousand new entries are added every year.

WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPAEDIA

World Book contains over 25,000 articles and 27,500 illustrations, photos and charts, as well as a dictionary and interactive atlas. Especially useful for children and teenagers with articles supporting the National Curriculum.