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Languages
Build new vocabulary and practice language skills with Transparent Language Online, available anytime, anywhere in 110+ languages.
Now including KidSpeak™ - A fun, age-appropriate online language course designed for ages 6 and up! You'll need your library card number to create an account.
Family history and genealogy
You can explore your family history by using Ancestry to search a selection parish records, UK censuses, birth, marriage and death records and other national and international databases.
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland - browse the ultimate reference work on family names in the UK.
British Newspaper Archive - search regional newspapers for your ancestors.
Birth, death and marriage records - these records for the city are available at our register office.
Academic research and resources
Access to Research - academic articles about various topics including art, history, politics and science, access in libraries only.
The New Oxford Shakespeare - all Shakespeare's works, in old English and modern text, including comparisons
Business and careers information
Find a large range of business and industry databases through our Business & IP Centre to help you start and grow your company
Consumer information
Which? - reports, buying guides and the magazine's research, access in libraries only - ask a member of staff to log you in.
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
Oxford Dictionaries - definitions of words, phrases and expressions
The Oxford English Dictionary - widely regarded as the authority on the English Language, offers word meanings, history and pronunciation of over 600,000 words
Oxford Reference - trusted information covering 25 different subjects
Oxford Research Encyclopedias - a comprehensive, ever-growing collection of in-depth, trustworthy summaries on a range of subjects
Historical Newspapers
Times Digital Archive - digital copies of the Times newspaper (London) from 1785 to 2019, on the Gale Databases website
British Newspaper Archive - Local regional newspapers from Britain and Ireland dating from 1603, access in libraries only, you can make a free account and save your searches
Magazines, comics and graphic novels
Access over 3,000 eMagazines and a selection of eComics through the Libby app, as well as eBooks & eAudiobooks. You can read an unlimited amount of these with no waiting lists. Download the Libby App on Android or iOS or for access on a website visit libbyapp.com in your Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge (Chromium) browser.
Find out how to borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks
Brighton & Hove Libraries Free Online Resources
Library members can use our online resources for free, such as encyclopedias, biographies and academic research. You'll need your library card number to log in to most of these.
You can use some resources in our libraries only, and some on other devices anywhere you like. Each resource below has more details on how to access. If you're not a member yet, you can find out how to join our libraries here.
Reading Recommendations
Wondering what to read next? Who Else Writes Like? is designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read.
Search for an author who's books you have enjoyed to see a list of recommendations for you to try next or browse by award winners, genres, or themes. Log in using the prefix code BHC- and then your library card number.
With over 1,000 authors, and 4 age categories, Who Next?, can suggest what to read next and guide your child’s reading progress from the ages of 5-14+. Log in using the prefix code BHC- and then your library card number.
History, art and film
Relive, research, and lose yourself in the past with thousands of digitised videos and television programmes, spanning 60 years, on BFI Replay, This resource is only available using library computers.
John Johnson Collection - archive of printed items about Britain in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries
Oxford Art Online and Oxford Music Online are no longer available with your library card - find music and art resources on Oxford Reference
Children's Learning
LOTE4Kids has a catalogue of 2,750+ digital books in 65+ languages, which allows children to enjoy picture books in World Languages. Each book is provided with an English translation to help develop multilingual reading and listening skills. Available to download as an app. Search for Brighton & Hove Libraries and sign in with your library card.
We no longer subscribe to this resource, but Britannica can be accessed with adverts from home or in a library.
Biographies
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - over 60,000 biographies of people who shaped UK and Irish history until 2016 - no living person is included
Who's who - directory of influential people in the UK and worldwide, published yearly since 1849
Classical music concerts, ballet and operas
Medici.tv - watch free recordings of live concerts, follow the link, click 'log in' on the top right-hand corner of the page, select 'Brighton & Hove Libraries' and enter your library membership number and click 'go'
Daily newspapers and magazines
PressReader - over 7000 UK and international newspapers and magazines. To access items through the PressReader website, sign in, select Library or group, find your local library and enter your membership number. You can also download the PressReader app.
From 1 April 2024, you will need to enter your 4-digit PIN alongside your library card number to access the site. If you don’t know your PIN, you can re-set it using this link.
Driving
Theory Test Pro - online simulation of the UK's driving theory test with official test questions, hazard video clips and the Highway Code.
To access, register online with your name, email address and choose a password.
eBooks & eAudiobooks
You can borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks from Borrowbox. You can also borrow eBooks, eAudiobooks, eComics and eMagazines from Libby.
Both of these services have an app and a website.
Find out more about how to borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks
UK citizenship
GoCitizen - study resource for candidates preparing for the Life in the UK Test, or British citizen test
To access, register with your name, email address and choose a password.