Virtual reference library
Online reference and information
Need help with your homework project or tracing your family history? Writing a business plan and need market research? Or trying to find a newspaper article? We subscribe to a wide range of resources to help you.
You can access our online resources from your local library. If you are a member of Gloucestershire Libraries you can also use many of them from home or work by entering your library card number.
Resources you can access from any computer
You can log on to the following sites on any computer, using your Gloucestershire library card number. If you don't have a library card Join the library or update your details
- Newsbank - search for newspapers 1985 -current day
- Times Digital Archive search 1785 -2008
- 19th Century newspapers - search national and regional newspapers
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - 57,000 biographies
- Oxford Reference
- Naxos Music Library- 600,000 music tracks
- Theory test Pro- theory driving test
- GoCitizen- pass the Life in the UK test
Resources you can access from a public library computer
At all libraries and Gloucestershire Archives
- Access to Research - For private study use only. Users may print a single copy of an article (usual printing costs apply). Content must not be copied or saved elsewhere. Misuse may result in your computer session being terminated.
- Ancestry - Includes Gloucestershire Parish Registers. If you would like to use Ancestry from home you will need to subscribe to Ancestry.co.uk
- Find My Past - UK family history records
- British Newspaper Archive - Register for access to 742 newspaper titles & explore over 200 years of history
At Gloucester and Cheltenham Libraries
At Gloucester Library
- MINT UK- Business database
Other useful websites for county library users
Some of these websites can be used from home with your library card and some can only be used in a library.
- John Johnson Collection - an archive of printed ephemera -access using your library card
- BFI Screen online - guide to British film and TV history. From Library PCs only
What you need to know about using our online resources
- You need a Gloucestershire Library card with a number that starts with 77 e.g. 771234123x or 7712341234.
- When you login to a resource please enter your library card number without any spaces.
- If your card has a different pattern of numbering please go to your local library to get a new card - Find a library.
If you have any technical difficulties or questions about the Virtual Reference Library
Ask Us Reference Service