General reference
For licensing reasons,
some of our resources are only accessible from computers in
particular libraries.
Subscriptions
Britannica Online (BOL)
Our subscription
provides access to three age-specific encyclopaedias. Click on the
most suitable link for your need in the list below.
Please note: Your
borrower number needs to be entered using a capital D.
Gives you access to 580+ top reference books from some of
the world's biggest publishers - everything from art to technology
and much much more.
Tells the stories of over 50,000 people who shaped the history
of the British Isles and beyond. It also includes over 10,000
portrait illustrations, and the complete text of the 33-volumes of
the first edition of the Dictionary of National Biography.
A database of encyclopedias and specialised reference
sources as eBooks.
'With up-to-date online dictionaries, thesauruses, and language
reference content based on the largest language research programme
in the world, Oxford Dictionaries Pro is an extensive, integrated,
smart-linked English language resource. It 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.'
Widely acknowledged as the most authoritative and comprehensive
dictionary of English in the world. It also traces the evolution of
more then 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years through 2.5
million quotations from a wide range of sources.
Fully searchable bilingual dictionaries and unique support
materials for learning and teaching, plus access to Oxford’s
top-of-the-range unabridged bilingual dictionaries in Chinese,
French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian.
Provides access to 100+ of Oxford University Press's reference
books: a total of 1.5 million individual entries and 3000+
illustrations, maps and diagram.
Who's Who is the essential directory of the noteworthy and
influential in the UK and worldwide. Who Was Who includes over
100,000 entries from the archives of Who's Who dating back to
1898.
Other useful websites
BT
Phonebook - Search BT phone directories for the whole of
the UK.
Historical
currency converter - Find out how much an amount of
today's money would have been worth in a particular decade or how
much yesterday's money is worth today.
Measuring
Worth
If you want to know what a monetary value in the past is worth
today, the Measuring Worth calculators can provide several
alternative answers with a guide to the best choice.
Thomson Local -
Search Thomson UK directories.
Yell - Search the UK Yellow
Pages directories
