Library information and online resources

Access thousands of newspapers and magazines online (UK and worldwide coverage). Titles include The Independent, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, Le Figaro, The Washington Post, the EDP Norfolk Magazine, and The Beano. Sign up for free with your library card number and PIN via the PressReader website or app (download from your App Store). You can increase text size, translate into 17 languages or listen with the read aloud function.

Full digital copies of a range of popular magazines. Titles include Amateur Photographer, New Scientist, Empire, Newsweek, The Economist and Who Do You Think You Are?.  Register with your library card number.

19th Century British Library Newspapers contains full runs of 48 mainly regional and some national newspapers.  Covers England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Access the database from home by typing your library card number in the box below where it says 'please enter your library barcode' when asked. 

Findmypast is a British-owned online genealogy resource, offering databases containing over four billion records, many of which are only available online here.  In addition to Civil Registration and Census records, you’ll find an ever-growing collection of UK parish records, as well as British military records relating to the Army, Royal Navy and Air Force.  Other useful collections include Merchant Navy Seamen’s records and the largest collection of Irish records available online.  In addition, there’s a range of records from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.

Access free from home until 30 September

We’re able to bring you free access to the genealogical website Findmypast until 30 September. There are a few differences to your usual library access. You will not be able to log into your personal Findmypast account using the library subscription. Additionally, for privacy reasons, we ask that you don’t start or update your own family trees on this account. There is a fair usage policy which means you may access a maximum of 5,000 Records in any calendar month, subject to a maximum of 500 Records in any 24-hour period.

To find out how to log in please email heritagecentre@norfolk.gov.uk.

The complete digital edition of The Times (London). Use keyword searching to retrieve full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. Access the database from home by typing your library card number in the box where it says 'password' when asked.

Gales News and Reference collection gives access to:

• Infotrac Newsstand - a collection of current and UK worldwide newspapers
• General OneFile - an archive of journal articles

Access the database from home by typing your library card number in the box where it says 'password', when asked.

For access from home (with a library card), use these links:

• Britannica Junior
• Britannica Student
• Britannica Adult

• Oxford Dictionaries - English – offers quick search access to definitions of words, phrases, and idioms, with expert guidance on style and usage, grammar, and spelling; plus specialist guides for legal and technical writing. Access Oxford Dictionaries from home using your library card. Enter NOR before the number when prompted (with no spaces).
• Oxford English Dictionary Online – widely acknowledged as being the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world.  Access the OED from home using your library card. Enter NOR before the number when prompted (with no spaces).
• Oxford Reference Online – fast access to information on every subject from Art to Zoology using over 175 different reference works in one database. Access Oxford Reference Online from home by typing in your library card number when asked. Enter NOR before your number when prompted (with no spaces).
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – An illustrated collection of 56,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC.  The dictionary does not include any living people.  Access from home by typing your library card number when asked.  Enter NOR before the number when prompted (with no spaces).
• Oxford Bibliographies is a series of intuitive and easy-to-use “ultimate reading lists”, designed to help users navigate vast seas of information. Currently covers Victorian Literature and British and Irish literature. Access these from home by typing in your library card number when asked. Enter NOR before your number when prompted (with no spaces).
• Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland – The ultimate reference work on family names of the UK, covering English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and immigrant surnames.  It includes every surname that currently has more than 100 bearers, and those that had more than 20 bearers in the 1881 census.  Access from home by typing in your library card number when asked.  Enter NOR before your number when prompted (with no spaces).

COBRA (Complete Business Reference Adviser) gives you access to information covering all aspects of starting up and running a business.  
Access COBRA from home by typing your library card number into the Subscriber Login box.

The Life in the UK website will help you with the application process for British citizenship or permanent residency.  The online course is based on the 'Life in the United Kingdom: Guide for New Residents' (third edition) handbook , published by the Home Office.

Practice material is available in multiple languages

American National Biography Online features over 19,000 biographies of significant, influential or notorious figures from American history written by prominent scholars.

Access American National Biography Online from home using your library card.  Enter NOR before the number when prompted (with no spaces).

Very Short Introductions offers concise introductions to a diverse range of subject areas. All the titles provide serious introductions to their topic written by experts in the field and the titles are cross-searchable by subject and key word.  Access these from home by typing in your library card number when asked.  Enter NOR before your number when prompted (with no spaces).

Register on Grants 4 Norfolk to access their database of funding opportunities, news and advice for businesses and communities.

Free access in any Norfolk library to academic research. More than 15 million articles, including in-depth information on topics such as art, architecture, business, engineering, history, languages, politics, philosophy, mathematics and the sciences.

The British Newspaper Archive contains millions of pages of historical newspapers from the British Library collection searchable by keyword, name, location, date or title. You will need to register (for free) to use this service.

IBISWorld is a simple to use market research tool and holds a comprehensive collection of UK Industry Market Research reports and Industry Risk Ratings.

Available at Norwich Millennium Library (Business and IP Centre), Thetford, King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth libraries only. Please note that IBISWorld will not be available during Open Library sessions as it requires staff to log you in.

FAME gives access to a wide range of high quality information covering companies, news, directors and industry research.

Available at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library only. Please note that FAME will not be available during Open Library sessions as it requires staff to log you in.

For information on our pay-for company listings in Excel format, contact us on bipcnorfolk@norfolk.gov.uk.

Due to technical problems with the Which? website, we're unable to provide access to this service at the moment.

Which? are trying to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We do apologise for the disruption and inconvenience to library customers.

Which? – Access to Which consumer reports, reviews and advice. Please note that Which will not be available during Open Library sessions as it requires staff to log you in.