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Use our free online resources
Library members can use our online resources for free.
About our free online resources
If you're not a member yet, you can find out how to join our libraries
You can use some resources in our libraries only, and some anywhere you like.
You can also access our e-book and e-audiobook services with your library membership.
Online resources available anywhere
You can access these online resources anywhere, for free, by following the links under each resource. To use them you’ll need to log in with your library card number.
Some of these resources will also ask for your library PIN. If you’ve forgotten your PIN, you can reset it online.
Find resources for:
- Language learning
- Reading recommendations
- Newspapers and magazines
- Music and performing arts
- Driving test help
- UK citizenship test help
- Oxford dictionaries
- Biographies
- Films, television programmes and videos
Language learning
Transparent Language Online
Build new vocabulary and practice language skills, available anytime, anywhere in over 110 languages.
To access Transparent Language Online create an account using your library card number.
Reading recommendations
Who Else Writes Like?
Wondering what to read next? Who Else Writes Like? is designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read.
Browse over 4,000 authors by genre or go straight to an author of interest, check up on characters and series or the latest prize-winning writers, and follow the links to authors' websites for additional information.
To access Who Else Writes Like? log in using your library card number.
Who Next?
With over 1,000 authors, and four age categories, Who Next? can suggest what to read next and guide your child’s reading progress from the ages of 5 to 14 and up. They suggest authors of children’s fiction who write similarly.
To access Who Next? visit the Who Next? website.
Newspapers and magazines
Times Digital Archive
A digital archive of copies of the Times newspaper (London) from 1785 to 2019, on the Gale Databases website. You'll be granted access to the Times Digital Archive automatically when you’re using a library computer.
To access the archive from home, you’ll need to log in with your library card number.
PressReader
Read over 7000 UK and international newspapers and magazines on the PressReader website or by downloading the PressReader app.
To access PressReader, you’ll need to select ‘Brighton & Hove City Libraries’ as your library service and log in with your library card details.
Libby
You can also access over 3,000 eMagazines and a selection of eComics using Libby, one of our e-book services.
Music and performing arts
Medici.tv
An educational video resource you can use to watch recordings of classical music, operas, ballets, and jazz performances for free.
To start using Medici, visit the website, click 'login' on the top right-hand corner of the page, select 'Brighton & Hove Libraries' and enter your library membership number.
The New Oxford Shakespeare
All of Shakespeare's works, in old English and modern text, including comparisons
To access The New Oxford Shakespeare collection, sign in with your library card number.
Driving test help
Theory Test Pro
Practice the UK's driving theory test, watch hazard perception video clips and study the Highway Code.
To access Theory Test Pro, create an account with your name, library card number and email address.
UK citizenship test help
GoCitizen
Practice tests and study resources for candidates preparing for the Life in the UK Test, or British Citizenship test
To access Go Citizen, create an account with your name, library card number and email address.
Oxford Dictionaries
Oxford Dictionaries
Oxford Dictionaries has definitions of words, phrases and expressions.
The Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary is widely regarded as the authority on the English Language and offers word meanings, history, and pronunciation of over 600,000 words.
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
Use the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland to browse the ultimate reference work on family names in the UK.
To access the Oxford Dictionaries, sign in with your library card number.
Biographies
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Over 60,000 biographies of people who shaped UK and Irish history until 2012. No living person is included.
Who's who
A directory of influential people in the UK and worldwide, published yearly since 1849.
To access the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Who’s Who, sign in with your library card number.
Online resources available only in libraries
You can use these online resources on any of our library computers. You can follow the links below each resource.
Find online library resources on:
- Historical newspapers and print resources
- Family history and genealogy
- Academic research and resources
- Consumer information
- Business and career information
- Films, television programmes and videos
Historical newspapers and Print Resources
British Newspaper Archive
An archive of local and regional newspapers from Britain and Ireland dating from 1603.
You'll be granted access to The British Newspaper Archive automatically when you’re using a library computer. You can create and log in with your personal ‘British Newspaper Archive’ account if you want to.
John Johnson Collection
An archive of printed material about Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries
You'll be granted access to the John Johnson Collection automatically on a library computer.
Family history and genealogy
Ancestry
You can use Ancestry to explore your family history. You can search a selection of:
- parish records
- UK censuses
- birth, marriage and death records
- other national and international databases
Findmypast-World
A family history website you can use to build and research your family tree. You can use the website to search:
- birth, marriage and death records
- censuses
- military records
Access to the 1921 Census of England and Wales is now available.
You'll be granted access to Findmypast – World automatically because you’re using a library computer. You can create and log in with your personal ‘Findmypast’ account if you want to.
Academic research and resources
Access to Research
Access to Research has academic articles about various topics including art, history, politics and science.
Consumer information
Which?
The UK’s non-profit consumer champion – browse their:
- product reviews and reports
- buying guides
- magazine research
To access Which? ask a member of staff to log you in.
Business and career information
A large range of business and industry databases are available to use at Jubilee Library in the Business and IP Centre.
You can access databases to help start and grow your company including:
- COBRA
- Kompass
- Mintel
Films, television programmes and videos
BFI Replay
BFI Replay includes 60 years of screen stories, digitised and preserved for you.
Relive, research and lose yourself in the past with thousands of digitised videos and television programmes from the collections of the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive and partner UK Regions and Nations Film Archives.
BFI Replay features thousands of videos and programmes from the 1960s to the 2010s.