The Virtual Reference Library
Solihull Library Service subscribes to major online information resources so that you can use them free of charge, at home, at work or in the library, at any time of day or night. All you need is your library card number
The Virtual Reference Library
Published resources you can use with confidence, and that you won't find on Google. These have been specially selected and subscribed to on your behalf, so that you can use them free of charge from any computer with an internet connection - at any time of day or night. All you need is your library card number.
Just use one of the links below for the log-in pages, and type in the number from your library card. Make sure you put in the whole number without spaces, and include any letters in capitals.
Tell us what you think about the resources and how you use them - please fill out our survey
CANS Advice Notes Online
- The online version of the Citizens Advice Notes available in libraries for many years, CANS Online explains the law clearly and simply under a full range of helpful sections, including family and consumer law, education, employment, social security, tax, and immigration.
Link: www.cans.org.uk/index.php?id=144
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
- Online version of the world-renowned Encyclopaedia Britannica, with thousands of authoritative articles and images.
- Britannica Junior (ages 5 - 11)
- Britannica Student (ages 12 - 18)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (ages 18+)
First Steps on your computer
- If you or someone you know wants to learn how to use a computer, then First Steps can help you. It shows you all about how computers work, how to use the keyboard and mouse, how to organise files and also how to use the Internet; if you’re working through the course, you can save your place. You don't need any experience with using computers to use First Steps.
Link: http://www.220soft.net/solihull/firststeps/
Grove Art Online
- Full online version of the Dictionary of Art and the Oxford Companion to Western Art, regularly updated. Over 2,500 thumbnail images and access to images in galleries around the world. Go to Grove Art Online then click on 'Library barcode user login'.
Link: http://www.groveart.com/
Grove Music Online
- Full online version of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the New Grove Dictionary of Opera and the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Go to Grove Music Online then click on 'Library barcode user login'.
Link: http://www.grovemusic.com/
KnowUK
- Key information about the UK, its institutions and organisations, plus more than 100 of the most widely used reference resources in the UK - from Whitakers Almanack to Which? Guides, travel guides and grant directories. Visit the KnowUK website and enter your library card number.
Link: http://www.knowuk.co.uk/
NewsUK
- National and local/regional newspapers, from the Daily Telegraph and Guardian to the Sun and Mirror, and the Birmingham Post and Mail. Also includes many journals, including the Economist, New Statesman, Lancet, Newsweek, Spectator, and many trade journals such as Travel Trades Gazette, The Grocer, Farmers Weekly and more. News Topics focusing on key current topics of study, from GM foods to crime.. All cross-searchable and with editions going back more than 10 years. Visit the NewsUK website and enter your library card number.
Link: http://www.newsuk.co.uk/
Life in Great Britain
- Training and practice tests for the Life in the United Kingdom citizenship programme. It contains the text of chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Life in the UK along with a glossary, and is an excellent way to learn and assess your readiness for the test. Go to the Life in Great Britain site, enter your library card number and you can register to work through the training and save your place.
Link: http://www.220soft.net/solihull/
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- 50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from earliest times to the recently deceased. Constantly updated. Visit Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and enter your library card number.
Link: http://www.oxforddnb.com/
Oxford English Dictionary
- The world's most authoritative guide to the meaning, history and pronunciation of more than half a million words, tracing their usage through 2.5 million quotations. Regularly updated with new words and word uses. Visit Oxford English Dictionary and enter your library card number.
Link: dictionary.oed.com/cgi/lclogin
Oxford Reference Online
- More than 100 reference works from Oxford University Press, fully indexed and cross-searchable. Visit Oxford Reference Online and enter your library card number.
Link: http://www.oxfordreference.com/
The Times Digital Archive
- Every page of The Times from 1785 to 1985. Full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page, showing historical events as they were reported at the time, including all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos.
Visit Times Digital Archive and enter your library card number.
Link: infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/sollib
Business Information
(See Business Information Service for more information)
British Standards Online
- The authoritative site for all BSI publications. Updated daily, it includes over 38,500 current, draft and historic British Standards, more than 16,000 of which are BSI-adopted European and International standards.
Link: http://www.solihull.gov.uk/BritishStandard/index.asp
The Complete Business Reference Adviser
- If you're starting up or running a business, COBRA provides information to help with start-up, employment, legal, finance, marketing, exporting, health & safety, as well as many useful links in the Local Area Profile. Visit the cobra website and enter your library card number.
Link: solihull.cobwebinfo.com
Other online resources available at all Solihull libraries
Ancestry Library Edition
- Free access from all library PCs to the principal website for UK and International resources to help you trace your family tree.
Ancestry includes Census returns 1841-1901 and Births, Marriages and Deaths Indexes.
Which?
- The website of Which? magazine. As well as a two-year archive of reports, the site contains up-to-the-minute buying guides which make it more up-to-date than the magazines themselves. Available to use on computers at every library - just ask staff for assistance.
Available at Solihull Central Library only
eMoneyfacts
- The online service of Moneyfacts journal. It includes market mortgage sourcing, life quotations, savings, loans and cards searches, and statistics such as the Retail Price Index since 1948.
Experian Corporate Researcher
- Comprehensive financial and other information on all 1.8 million UK limited companies.
You can:- Look up the details of a single company
- Select the details of multiple companies and analyse them as a group
- Compare individual and groups of companies
- Generate lists of companies for targeting
Local Information
Free to use without a library card, at home or in the library.
Solihull Local Information Directory
- Solihull's own online directory of
- local clubs and organisations
- halls for hire
- public speakers
You can search the directory online at http://www.solihull.gov.uk/wwwlocalinfo/, from any PC.
Solihull Active
For information on activities and events taking place in schools, community centres, sports grounds and private health clubs.