Discover the wide range of fantastic free online resources available through Essex Libraries.
We subscribe to some amazing resources that are free to use with your library card, either at home or in the library, covering a range of interests and needs.
If you want authoritative information on any subject, there’s no need to rely on searching the internet when we’ve Encyclopedia Britannica and Oxford Reference to provide you with top quality articles on any subject. Get cultural with our collections of Oxford Art and Oxford Music resources and relax whilst you read by streaming free music from the Naxos Music Library.
If you’re lost for words then try the definitive Oxford English Dictionary, featuring 600,000 words and 3 million quotations - far more than the abbreviated bookshelf edition.
If you’re interested in family history then you can build your tree for free! Access Findmypast, Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archive from computers in libraries. There are also historical newspaper collections such as the British Library 19th Century newspapers, the Times Digital Archive and the Guardian and Observer archive available.
For small businesses, there’s Cobra – the Complete Business Reference Advisor – where you can find out about hundreds of potential business opportunities, regulations, and information on how to get started.
Why have a bookcase of old reference books when you can access up to date information with just a library card?
This is just a taste of what Essex Libraries has to offer online – explore more today.