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These subscription databases are not freely available to all internet users, but as a Vale of Glamorgan Library member, all you need is your library card number and you can browse some of the most reliable, in-depth and entertaining internet resources.
These online subscription databases are only accessible on our library PCs.
The Access to Research service is a new initiative to give free, walk-in access to a wide range of academic articles and research in public libraries across the UK.
Access to Research
Discover your family history and build a family tree with Ancestry. Search birth records, census data, obituaries and more.
Ancestry
Blackwell Reference is the largest academic online reference library giving instant access to the most authoritative and up-to-date scholarship across the social sciences and humanities.
Blackwell Reference Online
Trace your ancestry and build a family tree by researching extensive birth records, census data, obituaries and more with Findmypast.
Find My Past
Access any of these resources from home, on the go or in the library.
To access our resources from home, you'll need your library card number.
Explore the updated online encyclopedia from Encyclopaedia Britannica with hundreds of thousands of articles, biographies, videos, images, and websites.
Britannica
An online database providing access to information on the institutions and activities of the European Union, the countries, regions and other international organisations of Europe and issues of importance to European researchers, citizens and stakeholders.
European Sources Online
A database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialised reference sources.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
GoCitizen is an online study resource for candidates preparing for the Life in the UK test or British citizenship test.
GoCitizen website
Please note that when accessing Oxford resources and Who's Who remotely, e.g. on your own device or from home, you will need to type the letters "vg" followed by your library card number, e.g. vg30191234.
VSI online provides the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. You can search across several titles at once, consider study options, embark on a new topic, or revise a particular subject.
Currently available topics include 20th Century Britain, British Politics, Drugs, Contemporary Art, History, Management, Mathematics, Nutrition, The Earth, Planets and a literature collection.
VSI Online
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world.
OED Online
Access exclusive, authoritative research guides on Victorian Literature and British and Irish Literature
Oxford Bibliographies
OLDO provides expert recommendations on grammar, spelling, and usage; essential guides to the written word; and specialist dictionaries for writers, editors, proofreaders, and other professionals. It also includes access to bilingual dictionaries in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and Russian and includes unique language learning support material.
OLDO English
OLDO Bilingual Dictionaries
Bringing together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias, Oxford Reference is the premier online reference product, spanning 25 different subject areas
ORO
Browse over 33,000 short biographies, continually updated, of living noteworthy and influential individuals, from all walks of life.
Who's Who
The foremost scholarly art encyclopedia, updated regularly and covering global art and architecture from prehistory to present day.
Includes peer-reviewed articles contributed by nearly 7,000 scholars from around the world, accompanied by images, bibliographies, and links to additional resources.
Grove Art Online
The authoritative resource for music research with over 52,000 articles written by nearly 9,000 scholars charting the diverse history, theory and cultures of music around the globe.
Based on a work first published in 1879 and updated frequently, Grove has been in continuous publication for over a century and now publishes hundreds of new articles and article revisions each year.
Grove Music Online
Written by leading authorities in their given fields, each volume in Oxford's acclaimed What Everyone Needs to Know® series offers a balanced and authoritative primer on complex current event issues and countries. Popular topics include International Politics, Environmental Policies, World History, Sciences & Math, and Religion & Spirituality. The concise question-and-answer format is ideal for college students, professionals, and inquiring minds alike.
What Everyone Needs to Know
ODNB is the national record of men and women who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century. The Dictionary offers concise, up-to-date biographies written by named, specialist authors. It is overseen by academic editors at Oxford University, UK, and published by Oxford university Press.
ODNB
"The ultimate archive of music journalism" with over 30,000 articles on artists from Aaliyah to ZZ Top, on all genres from rockabilly to hip hop, by the finest music writers of the last 50 years.
When accessing the resource on your own device type the letters "vg" followed by the membership number found on your library card.
Rock's Back Pages
Theory Test Pro is a highly realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory tests for all vehicle categories. This service is free to all members of Vale of Glamorgan Libraries.
Theory Test Pro
Vale of Glamorgan Libraries offer access to historical editions of national and local newspapers.
Explore diverse perspectives and stay informed on local, national and global topics, people and events. Research areas such as business, health, education, environment, political and social issues and more. Features a wide variety of credible, vetted news sources from more than 200 countries, including full text versions of more than 50 Welsh sources and full color image editions of The Times and The Western Mail! Available remotely 24/7 on any device with your library card!
If you are using a PC in the library you can visit the Newsbank website.
To access UK Newsbank remotely, e.g. from home, visit the Newsbank website and enter your library card number.
The Times Digital Archive lets you view scanned pages of the Times from 1785 up until almost the present day.
To access the Times from home you will need to enter your library card number.
19th Century British Library Newspapers offers digitised versions of national, regional and local 19th century British newspapers. It includes 48 titles, totalling approximately 2.2 million pages, which reflect the social and political developments of the time. Special attention was paid to include newspapers that helped lead particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also present in the collection. It includes three Welsh-language titles: Y Genedl, Goleuad and Baner Cymru. It also includes the Western Mail from 1 May 1869 – 31 Dec 1900. This was the period when Barry Docks was built and you can read the original reporting from the Western Mail’s campaign against it.
UKPressOnline lets you view and download searchable, as-published pages and editions of the Daily Express (from 1900 onwards). It also includes the Sunday Express and Daily Star (2000-present), and various years of the Church Times, The Watchman, Daily Worker, Morning Star. There is also a World War Two archive that includes editions of a number of newspapers from 1933-1945.
Offering online access to millions of pages of British and Irish newspapers from 1703-2003, the British Newspaper Archive is a fantastic resource for everyone interested in history, and for family and local historians in particular.
Newspapers from the British Library’s vast collection are scanned every day, producing digital copies that can be searched from anywhere in the world. Library users can search hundreds of millions of articles by keyword, name, location, date or title and watch their results appear in an instant.
While you are logged onto a Vale of Glamorgan library PC you will have unlimited access to the British Newspaper Archive. To view pages from the archive, you'll first need to register (for free) and be signed in to the service. You can keep articles that you view in your Saved area and you can also create folders for different articles and categorise them however you like. You can also add notes to any of your saved articles. N.B. only accessible on our library PCs.
Welsh Newspapers Online is a free online resource from the National Library of Wales where you can discover millions of articles from the Library’s rich collection of historical newspapers.
