Online Resources

Islington Libraries subscribe to a range of premium online information resources that can be used for free by library members on any internet enabled computer. Just click on the links below. If you are not using a library computer you will need to enter your membership card number when prompted (not including any spaces). Please note that Ancestry and Westlaw are only available from a library computer.

Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and General Reference

• Oxford English Dictionary
  The OED 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, past and present. To access the OED free from a home or office computer using your Islington library card, just click on the link above and fill in your library membership number where indicated. To use the OED in one of our libraries, please click on the following link: www.oed.com

• Britannica Junior (for ages 5-11)
• Britannica Student (for ages 12-18)
• Britannica Library Edition (for all ages)
  Encyclopaedia Britannica is the best-known comprehensive reference resource, here available online in three different versions. Excellent for homework or general reference use. Discover articles, video clips and loads of other material to help with projects or just for fun.

• Oxford Reference Online
  ORO brings together over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works into a single, cross-searchable resource.

• Issues
  Issues Online is the UK's first comprehensive reference source addressing contemporary social issues. 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 and glossaries plus assignment/debate suggestions. Superb resource for homework on social topics.

• Oxford Language Dictionaries
  French, German, Italian and Spanish bilingual dictionaries available online. These fully searchable comprehensive dictionaries also include unique study materials which provide extra help with learning and using these languages.

• Oxford Islamic Studies
  Oxford Islamic Studies Online brings together the best current work in the field, and promotes informed understanding of the Islamic world. Comprising over 3,000 entries, primary sources, images and maps, and timelines, this authoritative source provides a first step for anyone needing information on Islam.

People

• Ancestry
  Uncover your family history with Ancestry. Contains all UK census data from 1841 to 1901, plus birth, marriage and death records. (Only available from inside Islington libraries).

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  The ODNB details the lives of over 55,000 people who have shaped British history over the last 2,400 years - from Julius Caesar and Boudicca to Princess Diana and Sid Vicious. Includes 10,000 portrait illustrations.

• Who's Who
  Who's Who - the essential directory of the notable and influential, plus Who Was Who - more than 100,000 entries from the archives of Who's Who dating back to 1898.

Art and Music

• Oxford Art Online
  Oxford Art Online combines Grove Art with the Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, to create the most extensive and easily searchable online art resource available today, a virtual art reference library of unparalleled scope and depth.
• Oxford Music Online
  Oxford Music Online combines Grove Music Online with the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, the Oxford Companion to Music and the Oxford Dictionary of Music to make available the vast resources of Oxford's music reference in one cross-searchable location. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music is the most comprehensive reference work devoted exclusively to popular music. This authoritative biographical encyclopedia of rock, pop, and jazz artists covers popular music from 1900 to the present.
• Grove Art Online
  The award winning Grove Art Online is the most comprehensive online reference resource on all aspects of the visual arts worldwide, from prehistory to the present day. Thousands of high quality art images are included.
• Grove Music Online 
  Grove Music Online is the ultimate authority on all aspects of music worldwide - from classical to hip-hop and from baroque to blues. This excellent resource incorporates over 3000 links to related sites, including sound archives, illustrations and musical examples.

e-books - Public Library Online

 

Library users can now access a range of popular books online. You can choose from over 50 books grouped into shelves:

• crime fiction
• teen fiction
• autobiographies
• childhood
• book groups

Welcome to the Public Library Online - an online access subscription service offering themed digital bookshelves from a range of publishers offering the best fiction and non-fiction for adults and children

No complicated downloads, DRM or decisions on which device to buy, simply access the books using your existing computer or internet enabled mobile phone in the library and remotely from home or elsewhere.

To access the service from an Islington library computer just click here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/plo/islington.asp

To access the service from outside of Islington libraries you will need to have your library membership number to hand.

 

Quiz 

• UK online library quiz
  Enter this competition- use the Oxford online resources listed above to answer 5 simple questions and you could win either £50 of books or an i Pod shuffle! 

Newspapers and Journals

• Times Digital Archive
  The TDA 1785-1985 gives access to 200 years of The Times (London). The Times is the 'world's newspaper of record' and covers all major international historical events, from the French Revolution to the Falklands War. Search the full text of the entire newspaper, including articles, editorials, advertising, and images.

• Newsbank
  Newsbank database contains the full text of two dozen UK and Irish newspapers, including the Evening Standard and the Economist magazine, as well as a handful of other world titles. Most have a back file to 1998, some longer, and include the current edition. 

Citizenship

• Life in Great Britain
  Practice for your British Citizenship test using Life in Great Britain self-learning course. This resource includes official course material plus tips and useful background information to help you prepare for the test. You can also take practice tests. This package asks you to create a username and password when you first log in. You will also need your library membership number (on your card) to log in.

Other useful resources

• Enquire
  Enquire is a live question and answer service available 24 hours a day, every day. It works like instant messaging or chat room technology, allowing you to put questions to trained library staff in Britain or North America, just as they would if you were talking to them face-to-face or on the telephone. The service is free and anyone can use it.
• Internet Research Guide
  Free research guide from Britannica designed to keep your family safe when conducting online research and to make sure they are getting the best out of research tools and websites available online.