Reference library online

General reference Family history Literature, music and entertainment Services for businesses Newspapers and magazines Learning

General reference

Access to research

(Only in libraries)
Free access to over 30 million academic articles from a huge range of journals. Subjects include art, architecture, business, engineering, history, languages, politics, philosophy, mathematics and the sciences.

Watch an introduction to Access to Research

Britannica online

(Use your library card number to login)
Online version of the complete Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Available in three levels: Junior (for age 6-10), Student (for age 10-15) and Adult (for age 15+).

Watch an introduction to Britannica online

Dictionary of National Biography

(Login with "hertsb" and your library card number)
An illustrated collection of biographies of over 55,000 men and women who shaped Britain, from earliest times to present.

Go Citizen

(Use your library card number to login)
Official study materials to prepare for the Life in the UK or British Citizenship tests.

Watch an introduction to Go Citizen

Oxford Dictionaries Pro

(Login with "hertsb" and your library card number)
Definitions of words and phrases with expert guidance on style, usage, grammar and spelling. Now includes French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Portuguese dictionaries

Oxford English Dictionary

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The definitive English dictionary that lists the meanings, history and pronunciation of over 500,000 English words.

Watch an introduction to Oxford English Dictionary

Oxford Reference Online

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A selection of searchable reference titles on a variety of subjects. Includes encyclopedias, dictionaries and books of quotations.

Theory test pro

(Use your library card number to login)
Practise the official UK theory driving test for cars and motorcycles. Available in over 60 languages.

Watch an introduction to Theory Test Pro

Who's who and who was who?

(Login with "hertsb" and your library card number)
A huge range of short biographies of noteworthy and influential people.

Family history

Ancestry Library edition

(Only in libraries)
Research your family history for free in your local library.

Watch an introduction to Ancestry

Find my past

(Only in libraries)
Research your family history.

Watch an introduction to Find my past

Hertfordshire names online

Access many of our indexes to local and family history sources, such as pre-1837 marriages, wills, newspapers and magazines, tithe awards and records about the poor.

Literature, music and entertainment

BFI Replay

(only in libraries)

BFI Replay features 1000s of films, television programmes and videos from the past.

Naxos Music Library

(Use your library card number to login)

Streaming music website, focusing on classical music, also with jazz, world music and classic rock.

Our licence allows for 10 users to have access at the same time. If access is denied, please try again at a later time.

Watch an introduction to Naxos Music Library

Who else writes like?

(Use HEL- followed by your card number to login. The – is important)

Find an author whose books you like and see which other writers are recommended. You can also browse by genre or explore prize winners.

Newspapers and magazines

Press Reader

(Card number to log in)
Read over 4000 newspapers from 100 countries in 60 languages.

By default, your full name is visible to other Hertfordshire customers on PressReader. You can change your user name and edit your privacy settings.

Watch an introduction to PressReader

Magazines with Libby

(Login with your card number and PIN)
Read more than 370 popular magazines, all in full colour.

British Library Newspapers

(Use your library card number to login)
Search over 240 historical newspapers from across the country.

British Newspaper Archive

(Only in libraries)
100s of local and regional UK newspapers from 19th and 20th century. You'll need to create an account but you'll have free unlimited credits when you use this in the library.

The Illustrated London News 1842 - 2003

(Use your library card number to login)
Access the entire 160 year run of the newspaper with 260,000 searchable pages and more than 1.5 million high quality colour images.

The John Johnson Collection

(Login with "hertsb" and your library card number)
An archive of programmes, playbills, prospectuses, popular prints and advertising materials from 18th, 19th and early 20th century.

Sunday Times Historical Archive 1822 - 2016

(Use your library card number to login)
Search or browse 600,000 pages of this historic newspaper. Articles are searchable.

Times Digital Archive 1785 - 2019

(Use your library card number to login)
Every page of every issue. Fully searchable.

Watch an introduction to Times Digital Archive

UK reference centre

(Login with "hertsb" and your library card number)
Full text and bibliographic information for general reference publications, including journals, biographies and images, some dating back to 1975.

"This resource will expire on 31 January".

Learning

Learnmyway

Free basic courses for beginners on using a computer, browsing the web, sending an email, online safety and finding work online.

FutureLearn

Over 1000 online courses from top universities and specialist organisations. Courses “Included in Unlimited” have a free access option.

OpenLearn

Free learning from The Open University with over 1000 courses covering a wide range of subjects, from Greek history to renewable energy, and everything in between.

Fiero Code

Fiero Code is a self-guided platform that teaches you how to code through hundreds of coding tutorials and dozens of real-world projects.

To create your free account:

Go to Fiero Code
Click on Sign up
Choose your library from the menu
Fill the rest of the form
Library card number: enter hertsb + your card number

Help to go online

Links to top tips, how-to-guides, courses and information which can help you (or help you to help others) improve your digital skills.