Information and reference
Access links to useful reference material, including services we subscribe to for our members. All subscription services are free to our members.
Quick links
Access online subscription services
You will need your library card number to log in to the subscription services and you may also be asked for your PIN (personal identification number). If you do not already know your PIN, you can ask for it at any Leicester library- but please remember to bring your library card with you.
Authors and books
- Who Else Writes Like? This a guide to fiction authors, for readers who have read everything by their favourite authors and are seeking new names to try
- Who Next...? Helps children, who have already enjoyed stories by one writer, to find other authors they will enjoy reading
- Leicester Digital Library - Borrow eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines from Leicester Libraries.
Biography
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - is a collection of more than 50,000 biographies of people who have shaped British history. The full version is available free, only on library computers, in all our libraries.
- Who's Who - a source of up-to-date information about over 35,000 influential people from all walks of life, worldwide. The full version is available free, only on library computers, in all our libraries.
Business and Law
- Adviceguide - Citizens Advice
- Advicenow - the law and your rights
- British and Irish Legal Information Institute - case law
- Business Directory Leicester - business and retail listing for Leicester
- Companies House Webcheck- search for registered UK companies
- International Telephone Directories
- Legislation.gov.uk - full text of UK legislation
- Mister What - business and retail listing for Leicester
- Yell - Yellow pages.
Community information
- Age UK Information Guides and Factsheets - Guides for older people on health, finance, home and care, learning and work
Driving theory test
- Theory Test Pro (online driving theory test practice) the full version is available free, only on library computers, in all our libraries.
Dictionaries
Health information
Family history and genealogy
- Our family history page - Has details of the resources available in our libraries, to help you undertake family history research as well and many useful links to other online information websites.
History
- British History Online - Includes 19th century Ordnance Survey maps plus the Victoria County History of England.
- East Midlands Oral History Archive
- The John Johnson Collection - Contains printed ephemera offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society
Newspapers and magazines
- Access to Research - Offers free access to articles in a wide range of academic journals and is available free, only on library computers, in all our libraries
- The Times Digital Archive - Contains full text digital images of over two hundred years of British and world history, as reported by The Times newspaper