Online Reference Room

This Online Reference Room is free to use for library members

The resources can be accessed from any computer with Internet access.
For remote access, click on a resource logo and when asked for a card number or barcode, type your library card number (beginning with DD), with no spaces; OR (only where indicated below) type the letters LEI followed by DD and the number.
If you have problems accessing any of the resources, please check our help page for advice.

NEW: Grove Art Online art encyclopedia covering all aspects of visual art.

Also available: the Exodus database of careers information.

Also available: Life in Great Britain (citizenship test preparation) is now available to library members from any computer with Internet access.

The following are also available on computers in our libraries only:

Ancestry Library Edition (family history) - is now in all of our libraries
Theory Test Pro (online driving theory test practice) - in all libraries
COBRA (Complete Business Reference Adviser) - in Leicester Central Library

Encyclopedia Britannica Online

For users of any age

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Over 50,000 biographies of people who have shaped all aspects of British history. Now has direct links to entries in Who Was Who. Type the letters LEI in front of your library card number for access.

Who's Who and Who Was Who

The latest edition of Who’s Who, plus Who Was Who from 1897 onwards. Now with direct links to entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Type the letters LEI in front of your library card number for access.

Grove Music Online

Articles on composers, performers, conductors, individual works, instruments and notation, musical forms and genres. Type the letters LEI in front of your library card number for access.

NewsBank

Searchable archive of UK national and regional newspapers (including the Leicester Mercury).

Times Digital Archive

Full digital images of every copy of The Times newspaper from 1785-2006. Please note: this can only be used by a maximum of 2 people at the same time

Oxford English Dictionary

Guide to the meaning, history and pronunciation of over half a million English-language words, both present and past. Type the letters LEI in front of your library card number for access.

Oxford Reference Online

Fully searchable online library of books on a range of different subjects, with illustrations, timelines and colour maps. Type the letters LEI in front of your library card number for access.

Issues Online

Online summaries of contemporary social issues, with key facts and figures, research guides and news reports. Over 60 topics to choose from - useful for school projects.

John Johnson Collection

A collection of printed ephemera offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

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