Online reference services
We have a range of online reference services which include business databases, encyclopaedias, dictionaries and historical newspapers, and most of which can be accessed remotely. To start using them follow the links below and enter your Lewisham library card number when prompted.
Academic papers
Academic papers offer well informed arguments and studies on a variety of topics including health, politics, animal welfare, farming practices and history.
Free access to a wide range of published academic research covering a variety of subject areas including medicine, art, history and the sciences.
A comprehensive reference source addressing contemporary social issues. Issues Online covers 60 topics and provides a wide range of information and opinions on each one.
Art databases
Interested in art, architecture, structures, plans, and artist signatures? Access art databases for free with your library card.
The most comprehensive online reference resource for all aspects of the visual arts worldwide from prehistory to the present day. You can find information on artists, architects, designers, patrons, collectors, dealers, publishers, printers, writers and scholars. This database also covers a range of mediums, including film and video, liturgical and ritual objects, and textiles and embroidery.
Biographies
Find more about the lives of people who shaped history. You can find other biographies and autobiographies in Overdrive and RB Digital.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford DNB contains 50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2004.
Business
Whether you have a great idea for a business or you've already launched, our databases offer a wealth of up-to-date information on your sector, sources of funding, hiring staff, legal requirements, business support in your area and much more.
COBRA (Complete Business Reference Advisor)
COBRA contains all the information you need to turn your idea into a business. Access remotely or in any library branch and find more than 4,000 factsheets, market reports, contacts, and sources of funding and support plus hundreds of practical guides to starting up more than 350 types of business. Access through the link above with your library card number and PIN.
Grant Finder is the leading funding database in the UK. It covers local, national, and international sources of funding. Thousands of funding sources are included such as charitable trusts, societies, research councils, national government, the EU and corporate sponsors. Access at Lewisham hub libraries (Catford, Deptford, Downham and Lewisham Libraries). Please ask a member of staff to log you on.
Trusted industry research covering thousands of global industries. Get a quick and intelligent overview of any industry. In every report, you’ll find actionable insights, comprehensive data and in-depth analysis. Access at Lewisham hub libraries (Catford, Deptford, Downham and Lewisham Libraries).
Encyclopaedias and dictionaries
If you don't know very much about a topic use your library card to search through all of these sources for free from your web browser.
Credo is a giant online reference library that provides you with access to a selection of 504 reference books. It includes encyclopaedias, dictionaries, thesauruses and books of quotations, not to mention a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy and literature to law.
This is the online version of the famous encyclopaedia, with a world atlas, timelines, comparative country data, international news feeds, and much more. Also available is the Britannica Library Junior, aimed at 5–10-year-olds and the Britannica Library Student, aimed at 10–14-year-olds.
With up-to-date online dictionaries, thesauruses, and language reference content based on the largest language research programme in the world, Oxford Dictionaries is an extensive and smart-linked English language resource. It offers quick search access to definitions of words, phrases, and idioms, with expert guidance on grammar, spelling, and style and usage; plus specialist guides for legal and technical writing.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The OED is widely recognised as the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world. It also traces the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years through 3 million quotations from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.
With your library card you have access to Oxford Reference Online: Premium Collection, which is a vast online reference library of over 212 titles. It offer both in-depth content and authoritative, quick-reference coverage.
Ephemera/Local interest
Do you want to know what life was like in the past? Or perhaps what events unfolded in a specific area? Then these databases are for you. You can also find out more about local history by visiting our local history and heritage pages.
Family and local history
Search for your ancestors on the library edition of Ancestry.com which includes all of the UK censuses from 1841 to 1911, plus births, marriages and deaths.
To login, please click on the link and enter your library card number and PIN, then on the new page, click the link for Ancestry Library.
Family history and genealogy website offering access to a collection of over 2 billion historical records covering the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Islands and other parts of the globe.
Available in Lewisham, Downham and Deptford branches only.
John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera
This collection provides access to thousands of items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Categories include nineteenth-century entertainment, the book trade, popular prints, crimes, murders and executions, and advertising.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842 to 2003
This publication presented a vivid picture of British and world events including wars, disasters, royal affairs, social affairs, and the arts and sciences. The archive contains over 260,000 fully searchable colour pages.
Magazines
Find sports, history, information and gossip by flicking through our wide selection of magazines online.
This gives you access to over 660 magazines titles in 21 languages and their back issues too. Browse our collection of popular magazine titles with no holds and and no limit to the number of magazines you can borrow. Also available as a mobile app - Libby.
Press Reader has nearly 4000 magazines in 60 languages from over 100 countries. The magazines cover technology, fashion, parenting, sports and much more. Also available as a mobile app.
Music
Interested in music, musicians, music-making, and music scholarship? You can access the music databases below with your library card.
Instant access to the world's premier authority on all aspects of music. With your library card you have access to both the Oxford Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Companion to Music.
Newspapers
With your library card you can search through thousands of quality newspapers without adverts, paywalls, content split over multiple pages or signing in and out of multiple sites.
Access 6000 newspapers from over 100 countries in 60 languages. Also available as a mobile app.
19th Century British Library Newspapers
Contains full runs of influential national and regional newspapers representing different political and cultural segments of the nineteenth-century British society.
Times Digital Archive 1785 to 2007
First published in 1785, the Times of London is widely considered to be the world's 'newspaper of record'. The Times Digital Archive allows users to search over 200 years of this invaluable historical source.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842 to 2003
This publication presents a vivid picture of British and world events including wars, disasters, royal affairs, social affairs, and the arts and sciences. The archive contains over 260,000 fully searchable colour pages.
British Newspaper Archive – community edition 1708 to 2009
These newspapers cover every aspect of local, regional and national news. You can find family notices, news articles, advertisements and more.
Available in Lewisham, Downham and Deptford branches only.