Reference and information resources

The library subscribes to many online services. Most of these will require you to log in with your library barcode to get into the members' area.

Our Web Catalogue provides more links to reference resources on the web.

General Reference

• Oxford Reference Online — dictionaries and reference books covering art to accountancy, politics to physics, and computing to classics, languages to quotations.
• Theory Test Pro  - a highly realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory test. It contains the official practice test question bank, hazard perception video clips and an online version of the Highway Code.

The Arts

• Grove Art Online art from cave drawings to the present day.
• Grove Music Online music from accelerando to Valentin Zubiaurre.
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Popular Music — not just Rock & Roll: comprehensive coverage of popular music of all genres and periods from 1900 to the present day.

Dictionaries

• Oxford English Dictionary - the definitive dictionary of the English language.
• Oxford Bilingual dictionaries
• Oxford English dictionaries and thesauruses

Citizenship

• Life In Great Britain - an online course to help people preparing for the Citizenship Test.

History

• The Guardian and The Observer archives — historical newspapers from 1791 to 2003.
• The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography — 56,000 biographies of people who shaped history.
• Who's Who and Who Was Who — the definitive directory of everyone who is anyone in Britain, and beyond, today.

Reference sources in the library

• Special collections
• Restricted and reserve collections

Online services only available on computers in libraries:

• Ancestry.com
• United Utilities street and sewer plans
• Which? Online

Business and media

• Ask About Business - a partnership between fourteen library authorities in the North West to support businesses, job-hunters and consumers.
• British Standards Online - including over 38,500 current, draft and historic British Standards, more than 16,000 of which are BSI adopted European and International standards.
• COBRA - a comprehensive information and research resource designed for business advisers and information professionals.
• NewsBank — electronic editions of local and national newspapers from the UK and around the world, including reports on hot topics.

Religion

• Oxford Islamic Studies Online — including commentaries and timelines.