Virtual Reference Library
Welcome to your virtual reference library. The Virtual Reference Library is a wonderful free online resource.
These resources are normally only available on subscription, however we have made them accessible and free of charge to all our library members.
You can search the online resources in the subject groups listed below. Some are only available on the computers at the library, but many are also available at home using your library membership number.
When entering your library membership number, please include the BHA prefix and do not include a space.
General reference, dictionaries and encyclopaedia
Britannica Junior Encyclopaedia has been created especially for readers at the primary school level. Thousands of shorter articles cover subjects for school and fun, from nations of the world to animals and sports. Ideal for students between the ages of 5 and 11.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Britannica Student makes the authoritative content of our encyclopaedia lively and easy to read. Ideal for students between the ages of 12 and 18 years.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
With over 73,000 articles, Encyclopaedia Britannica is one of the most complete and accurate information sources in the world. It contains both short and book-length articles on every subject. Use this powerful resource to search or browse for information in encyclopaedias, magazines, videos, and Web sites
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Updated daily, the site includes over 38,500 current, draft and historic British Standards, more than 16,000 of which are BSI adopted European and International standards.
Access: this service is available in all libraries. If you are using this resource in a library, you can simply click on the above link and go straight in to the resource. For legal reasons, you can only print 5% of a British Standard. A member of staff will need to log into the BSI site in order to print your selected pages.
Credo Reference is a giant online reference library that provides access to a selection of reference books, including encyclopaedia, dictionaries, thesauri and books on quotations, biographical information, art, literature and law. Search by keyword across all books, search by category or search a single volume. You will need to enter your library membership number to access these resources.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
The Oxford English Dictionary is widely acknowledged to be the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world. It also traces the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of sources – from classic literature and periodicals to film scripts and pop songs.
Access: enter your library membership number (with the first 3 letters in CAPITALS) to access this resource.
Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers. It is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, plus detailed information across a broad subject range from titles in the world-renowned Oxford Companions Series
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
The Oxford Language Dictionaries Online site offers essential language resources online: fully searchable, completely comprehensive bilingual dictionaries, and unique study materials that provide extra help with learning and using an expanding range of languages.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Oxford Biblical Studies Online provides a comprehensive resource for the study of the Bible and biblical history.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Nearly 3,000articles and chapters by leading scholars and specialists, primary source documents with editorial introductions, learning resources and more.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Which? magazine's website provides access to reports, buying guides and Which? magazine's recent research.
Access: this subscription service is only available in the library, so a member of staff will need to log you in.
Biographies
The essential directory of the noteworthy and influential in all walks of life, in the UK and worldwide, published annually since 1849, also includes Who was Who.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
The ODNB provides access to over 56,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2004. No living person is included. It covers people who were born and lived in the British Isles, people from the British Isles who achieved recognition in other countries, people who lived in territories formerly connected to the British Isles at a time when they were in contact with British rule, and people born elsewhere who settled in the British Isles for significant periods or whose visits enabled them to leave a mark on British life.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Arts & Humanities
Oxford Art Online is an innovative new gateway that offers users the ability to access and search the vast content of Grove Art Online and Oxford art reference in one location.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
The new home of Grove Music Online currently includes: The Encyclopaedia of Popular Music,The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Grove Music and The Oxford Companion to Music.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource.
Business information
Marketline Business Information Centre (MBIC) provides business information and includes 2500 market reports, 10000 company profiles and 700 SWOT analyses, covering over 50 countries. Company information includes an overview and business description, history, major products and services, key employees, locations, subsidiaries and top competitors. The information covers a range of subjects and is also linked to the latest newswires supported by comments and opinions from a team of in-house analysts. Available in Jubilee Library only.
Access: available in Brighton Library only - use the link above to go straight in. General reference, dictionaries and encyclopaedia
Online access to careers information. There are 530 leaflets covering over 1200 jobs, careers and lifestyle topics to provide the most current information available. All leaflets are thoroughly researched and revised annually by subject experts. Available in Brighton Library and Hove Library. This service is only available in the library, so a member of staff will need to log you in.
Access: this subscription service is only available in the library, so a member of staff will need to log you in.
EXODUS is a comprehensive and easy to use database of international careers information. It provides an all in one gateway to opportunities around the world, including information about Gap Years, studying, working, wolunteering and living in countries worldwide.
Access:this subscription service is only available in Brighton Library and Hove Library.
Genealogy
A member of staff will need to log you in.Ancestry.com is the largest family history site online with over 4 billion names in worldwide historical records, family tree services and genealogy.
Access: this subscription is only available in the library, click the link above to access.
Grants & funding
Assistance and grants for people in need. PIN keeps track of charitable trusts and foundations that give grants to individual people in the UK. Some of the funders in PIN are interested in funding for educational purposes, some for social needs like poverty, ill-health and disability.
Assistance and grants for groups in need. GIN keeps track of charitable trusts and foundations that give grants to voluntary organisations and community groups in the UK.
Access: this subscription is available in all libraries and from home. You will need to enter your library card number if accessing this from home. You may wish to watch the short help video before you search the database.
Newspapers and periodicals
BRAD (British Rate and Data) is an online media database of newspapers, consumer and business periodicals and e-zines which carry adversitising. Information provided includes circulation figures, frequency of pulication and advertising rates. BRAD also covers independent cable and satellite televesion companies.
Access: this subscription service is only available in Jubilee Library, so a member of staff will need to log you in.
Full-text content of local and regional newspapers, some covering 1998 onwards.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource
Search the Times newspaper online in its orignal published context. This is a digital version of the microfilm of every issue of the Times (London) from 1785 to 1985.
Access: enter your library membership number to access this resource, but please use capitals for the letters, eg BHA not bha.
Other online services include
ESCIS (East Sussex Community Information Service) for searching community groups and services througout Brighton, Hove and East Sussex
Findit! an online gateway to library collections in public, academic, health and specialist libraries in ENgland and NOrthern Ireland
The People's Network website, a national face for public libraries enabling you to ask librarians questions in real-time, search the web effectively and explore books.
City Direct and A-Z of everything you need to know about Brighton & Hove CIty Council
Contact us to discuss any query you may have about these reference resources
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