24 Hour Library

Description: A national online enquiry service available 24 hours a day. Your questions are answered by trained librarians from around the country.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.

Read about the Enquire service
Use Enquire.
View the tips for using Enquire page.

Description: More than 1.5 billion names in over 4,000 collections covering the United States, Canada and the UK.
Key sources include:

• UK census from 1841 to 1901, with images of the original records.
• index to Births, Marriages and Deaths for 1837-1983.
• parish and probate records from the 1500s to 1800s, with some non-parish records from as early as the twelfth century.
• reference and finding aids such as surname dictionaries and gazetteers.

Where: from any library computer. Not from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.

Use Ancestry Library Edition. (This link will only work properly from a library PC).
Download a user guide.

Description: Documents defining nationally and internationally agreed specifications for construction, manufactured goods, technical processes and systems etc. They are used by a wide range of people in industry, research organisations and government departments to ensure the quality of British goods and services in the international market. Printing of British Standards can only be done by library staff and then only up to a maximum of 10% of any one Standard.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Home login not available.

Use British Standards Online from a library.

Description: Cobweb publishes a wide range of information on starting up, running, or supporting the development of small firms. It offers: small business ideas, opportunity profiles, how-to guides, reports, checklists and fact sheets. It provides development tools for tackling crucial aspects of business, including: compliance with rules and regulations, finding new customers, and business planning. Fact sheets on specific trades or jobs present useful careers information.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Submit.

Use Cobweb.

Description: The cyberLibrary is a comprehensive list of hundreds of free websites chosen, road-tested and described by librarians from public library services across south-west England. There are local links for every area as well as the best sites covering a wide range of topics.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: No Username or password needed.

Use Cyberlibrary.

Description: Infotrac offers access to 50 journals whose content covers a variety of academic, professional, and general-interest subjects. The Gale Database Menu makes it easy for you to select the database most appropriate for your search by providing an alphabetical listing of databases along with product descriptions.

To see a list of our chosen 50 journals you can either:

• View the complete list of journals as a pdf (49.3 kb), or
• On entering the site, select Continue, then select Advanced Search, scroll down and select Browse Publication Title.

Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Proceed.

Use Infotrac.

Description: A West of England web resource for job hunting, gaining new skills and planning career changes. Includes: book an advice appointment; ask an advisor now; find a local training course; match your skills and interests; write your own CV, and find a career (job profiles).
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: No Username or password needed.

Use iPoint.

Description: Issues Online is the UK’s first comprehensive reference source addressing contemporary social issues. With more than sixty topics to choose from, it provides a wide range of information including: articles with news and views on each topic, key facts, key statistics, lobby group links, newspaper archives, reference sites, research guides plus assignment/debate suggestions.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected select 'Issues Online Go!'. Then at the foot of the screen, under 'Public Library Users Log In', enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Log In.

Use Issues Online.

Description: This resource allows digital access to the John Johnson Collection, housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The Collection is widely recognised as one of the most important collections of printed ephemera in the world and generally regarded as the most significant single collection of ephemera in the UK. It was assembled by John de Monins Johnson (1882-1956), Printer to the University, who preserved more than 65,000 items covering aspects of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries of Britain's vulnerable paper heritage.
Where: from any library computer. Not from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.

Use the John Johnson Collection. (This link will only work properly from a library PC).

Description: 'Life in Great Britain' prepares people who are applying for UK Citizenship or an open-ended visa for the government test. The course material uses the Home Office publication 'Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey into Citizenship'. It is easy to navigate and has full English speech throughout. It can be used by individuals or with tutors. There are a series of random practice tests, with over 200 questions, with comprehensive coverage of topics in the Citizenship test. Applicants can judge their own performance, assessing their current knowledge before they take the Citizenship test. Learners' personal reports can be printed at any time. Users will need to devise their own Username/Passwords to ensure that tests remain confidential.
Where: from any library computer. Not from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.

Use Life in Great Britain. (This link will only work properly from a library PC).

Description: Naxos Music Library is the World's largest classical music listening service designed for students, instructors and patrons of public and academic libraries, as well as players and executives of orchestras. Our collection of over 264,000 tracks of music is continually growing, and not only from our own label but from leading independent labels.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Login.

Use Naxos.

Description: NewsBank Newspapers - U.K., and Ireland Full-text content of local and regional newspapers. Includes; Bristol Evening Post, The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, The Economist, The Evening Standard, The Express, The Express on Sunday, The Guardian, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Irish Independent, The Sunday Independent, The News of the World, The Observer, The Sun, The Sunday Times, The Times, The Western Daily Press.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Log in.
Other formats: The Reference Library stock daily newspapers and in general, are held for three months.

Use Newsbank.
Instructions for using Newsbank. (pdf, 86 kb.)

Description: Oxford Art Online offers access to the vast content of Grove Art Online and Oxford art reference in one location, allowing users to access more than 23,000 subject entries, 21,000 biographies, 500,000 bibliographic citations, 40,000 image links and 5,000 images contained within Grove Art Online. Thematic timelines and learning resources also provide users with powerful tools for navigating the content, and context-sensitive help pages are available throughout the site to guide users through the features and functionality.
Where: From any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected fill in the Library Card Number box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Login.

Use Oxford Art Online.
Instructions for using Oxford Art Online. (pdf, 336 kb.)

Description: 50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2004.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected, fill in the Library card Login box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Go.
Other formats: Latest edition available in book format in the Reference Library.

Use Oxford DNB.
Instructions for using the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (pdf, 347 kb.)

Description: The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected fill in the Library Card Number box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Sign in.

Use Oxford OED from a library.
Use Oxford OED from home.
Instructions for using the Oxford English Dictionary. (pdf, 190 kb.)

Description: Oxford Music Online is a new gateway that offers users the ability, for the first time ever, to access and cross-search the vast resources of Oxford's music reference in one location. Oxford Music Online also features Colin Larkin's landmark Encyclopedia of Popular Music — online for the first time by popular demand. The most comprehensive reference work devoted exclusively to popular music, the Encyclopedia is the authoritative biographical encyclopedia of rock, pop, and jazz artists, covering popular music from 1900 to the present.
Where: From any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected fill in the Library Card Number box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Login.

Use Oxford Music Online.
Instructions for using Oxford Music Online. (pdf, 328 kb.)

Description: The Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource. The Core Collection contains over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. It is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of these books, giving subscribers unprecedented access to a comprehensive information resource.
Where: From any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected fill in the Library Card Number box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Login.

Use Oxford Reference Online.
Instructions for using Oxford Reference Online. (pdf, 234 kb.)

Description: Did you know that when your GP decides that you need to see a specialist for further treatment, that as well as your local NHS hospitals, you can now have your treatment at any clinically appropriate NHS hospital or clinic in England?
Once your GP has decided that you need to be referred, you can discuss with your GP, or a GP practice staff member, which hospitals and clinics you would like to choose from. This step is important as your GP practice needs to shortlist the clinically appropriate choices for you to choose from. Please note that not all hospitals provide all services.
You can evaluate hospitals online to help you make your choice. Consider your needs and compare each hospital using the information you have, bearing in mind what is most important to you.
Finally you can use the Choose and Book facility to make your chosen appointment date.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Access: You will need your 'Reference Number', your Year of Birth and your Password (given to you by your GP).

Use Patient Choice.

Description: Theory Test Pro is a realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory test. It contains all the official test questions licensed from the DSA - the people who set the tests. Pass your driving theory test on your first attempt. Enjoy unlimited access to the official questions, in the same format as the official test. Includes online version of Highway Code. Sign up and take a free mock theory test.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: No Username or password needed.

Use Theory Test Pro.

Description: Complete facsimile copy of the Times newspaper from 1785-1985. All the text is fully indexed and searchable - advertisements, captions for photographs and illustrations, personal notices, sports results, wartime casualty lists.
Where: From any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected fill in the Library membership number box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Proceed.
NB - our license only allows 2 people to use the service at the same time. Please try again later if you cannot log on straight away.
Other formats: The Reference Library stock daily newspapers for the last three months. The 1785 edition onwards is available on microfilm. The 1986 edition onwards is available on Newsbank.

Use Times Digital Archive.
Instructions for using the Times Digital Archive. (pdf, 175 kb.)

Description: Who’s Who, published annually since 1849, is among the world’s most recognised and respected works of reference. It contains over 33,000 short biographies, continually updated, of living noteworthy and influential individuals. Approximately one thousand new entries are added every year.
Who Was Who has proved invaluable in identifying not only those who shaped the events of their time but others, now forgotten, who were familiar names to the journalists and diarists who recorded the events of the day.
Where: from any library computer or from home.
Library access: No Username or password needed.
Home access: Once connected fill in the Library Card Number box - enter your Library card number with no gaps. If there are letters before the number, please enter the letter 'P' but ignore the letters 'AN'. Then select Go.

Use Who's Who (and Who Was Who).