Welcome to your Lancashire

Online Reference Library (OnRL)

Our Online Reference Library is a selection of 100s of websites chosen, organised and maintained by library professionals to answer your questions. Resources marked with * can only be accessed within a Lancashire Library.

Categories

Your search for Books and Reading produced 121 results:

See a list of subcategories for Books and Reading

 

The Bookbite website is for older people to discover new authors and genres, to try a range of creative writing activities and to interact with others online to share stories and book reviews, it includes short stories, poetry, an online writing club and reading group, book lists, 'How to' guides, downloadable activity sheets, competitions and an Online Writer in Residence.
The online catalogue of Lancashire Library where you can search our entire stock. Use the "My Account" link to login with your library card number and PIN. You can then save lists, reserve books, renew loans to avoid fines and manage your library account. We also now have eBooks and Audio to download, see our Digital Download page
Part of the Lancashire Lantern network, an index to authors, first lines and titles of Lancashire poetry in books held within libraries in Lancashire. The index provides details of the book in which a particular poem may be found and also a link through to the library catalogue to give the locations of the required volume.
Lancashire libraries have opened a new branch...a virtual one. At our Download library, you can borrow eBooks and Audio books for free from our collection. The process is easy but will require you to download and install some software on to your computer. All these fiction and non-fiction titles are available for library members who have a Lancashire postcode to download at anytime.There are further details in our Download Library FAQ.
Library Elf is a third party web-based service which helps library users keep track of their loans and hopefully avoid them becoming overdue. When you sign up for the free service, you can tell Elf to send you various email reminders before the items you have on loan reach their due date, or when they actually hit the date. It’s up to you how many reminders you receive and how far in advance of the due date they should start arriving. You can link to the Library Elf website from here to find out more and follow the “Sign Up” link from the home page and fill in the details required.
A range of reference works from Oxford University Press on English, American, Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Classical literature; literary terms; Shakespeare etc. Access is possible at any Lancashire Library People's Network PC or from any PC using the barcode from your Lancashire Library card.
Search The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. Access is possible at any Lancashire Library People's Network PC or from any PC using the barcode from your Lancashire Library card.
Playaways are a new form of audiobook, only one that combines the content and player into one unit, a small MP3 style player. Playaways are very simple to operate, so virtually anyone – from kids to seniors – can use it to start listening immediately, just plug in headphones or speakers and play. Unlike other audiobooks it will also remembers where you left off – so there is no need to go back and find your spot in the story.There are a wide range of titles both for adults and children available to borrow from any Lancashire library.
Reading is good for you! (Official). The Reading Agency runs many campaigns to help the whole family get more from reading, including Space Hop the kids' summer reading challenge, Chatabout for reading groups and Chatterbooks for schools.
First published as a book in 1993, Who else writes like? has been popular guide ever since and now it's available online is easy to use and constantly update. It is designed to help fiction readers who have read all the books by their favourite authors and are seeking new names to try. It includes genre lists, A-Z of authors and literary prizes. You can get immediate access on any library PC or logon from any PC using your membership number.
A website to help you learn more about your reading preferences and help you think about reading and well-being. Includes an email book recommendation service.
This site claims to be the world's largest online market place for books. It's useful for finding details and valuations on collectable and out of print books.
This Web Site provides short reviews of crime fiction novels. The site has a selection of relatively uncommon crime novels from Australia, Russia, Africa, Latin America, and various European countries. All books are classified into one or more categories.
Aldaily hosts daily report of news in art and literature. Includes reviews of new books, essays and articles and a large number of links to news and reviews from all over the world.
This site provides detailed book reviews for popular genres and also features a very sophisticated thriller book search including plot, setting, style and characters.
A good general online reference source featuring dictionaries, encyclopaedias etc. The emphasis is on Literature and Language and there is full-text availability of some classic texts.
Beyond Books is the ITV's book channel hosted by YouTube. It features videos reviews about new and classic books and authors.
Established in 2003 in the USA but with UK pages, Biblio was created for the love of books, and a desire to give local bookstores global reach. Find new, used and out of print books by keyword, title, author or ISBN.
BiblioTravel is a free online resource for identifying books set in distinct places. You can search by place, author, title or genre. Login to add your own suggestions
The British Library hosts this page of links to a selection of freely available Internet sites which contain digitised texts on humanities subjects. Another page on the website provides links to selected digital facsimile sites.
This is a book club with a difference - you pay the money and somone else gets the books! It's a brilliant way of helping readers in the world's poorest countries. It's simple, practical and cost less per month than your Sunday newspaper.
Bookarmy is a social networking website for every sort of reader. "Whether you’re a bookaholic or someone who picks up a book only once a year". At this site you can discuss and review books, build reading lists, get the best book recommendations, and where you and your friends, family or classmates can read books together.
"Designed for the laptops people carry to their coffee shops, and meant for the network, not the desktop", BookGlutton is new way to read and talk about books online. Its makers say "We believe firmly that people want to read, annotate and discuss, right there, immersed in the text. That’s the best time to talk about a book".
This site has been put together by Inprint which is a second-hand/antiquarian bookstore in Stroud. You can use the site to search for bookshops , bookfairs , and auctions in the UK and you can also find useful links for information on book conservation, storage etc.
BookPrizeInfo.com is a source of information on book prizes, literary awards and prizewinning books. You can look up a particular prize to find winners and shortlists, look up a particular book to see which prizes it has won, or look up an author to see what prizewinning books they have written. A brief description of each book is given, with links to reviews.
Booktrust is an independent UK-wide charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to enjoy books. The written word permeates all our activity and helps us to fulfil our vision of inspiring a lifelong love of books for all. There are links to all Book Trust activities and campaigns including Children and Teens at the bottom of the home page.
Search and Compare prices the best prices for new and used books among the major online bookstores worldwide with total of more than 150 million books.
BookCrossing is the world's biggest book club with nearly 1m 1 people in over 130 countries come to share their passion for books with the world. It gives you a way to share your books, clear your shelves and become involved locally and internationally.
Bookshare offers accessible books for Readers with print disabilities. A searchable online library, Bookshare offers more than 60,000 digital books, textbooks, periodicals and assistive technology tools for readers of all ages. Bookshare™ is free for all U.S. students with qualifying disabilities. Disabled Non-US residents can pay an annual fee to download books.
This unusual site lets you enter a few details about your reading interests into it's "Bookulating Suggest-O-Mometer" and it will bring up some new suggestions and find reviews. Audio is required to use this site effectively.
This site provides information on the library's collections and gives access to the integrated catalogue of the British Library which includes the document supply centre's catalogues of books, serials and conferences and catalogues to printed music, newspapers etc
This fantastic site from the British Library allows you to view some rare items from the Library's collections including the Lindisfarne Gospels. The "Turning the Pages" technology allows you simulate turning the leaves of the book . Information on the works is provided in text and audio. The shockwave plug-in needs to be downloaded.
The home of UK chick lit books, Chicklit is the online women's magazine that celebrates 21st century woman's contemporary fiction and lifestyle.
Chicklish is a UK-based teen book site, launched in 2006 by a group of writers. The site is run by author Luisa Plaja and is regularly updated with book-related contributions from readers, including young contributors aged 11+ and adult fans of teen fiction.
Have you ever wondered "What comes next?" when you're reading a really good book? Children's Book Sequels is here to help you discover the right order of any series from Harry Potter to A Series of Unfortunate Events, from Alex Rider to Vampirates. There are lots of links to author's websites full of information, fun and games. If you know the series name, the author, the titles or the character, enter it into the search boxes. Or use the A-Z links.
The web site of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Contains news, professional guidance, details of publications etc.
Concord is developed and maintained by the British Library's Co-operation and Partnership Programme. It aims to promote co-operation in library and information services and raise awareness.
This unique, searchable database is hosted by the British Council and contains up-to-date profiles of many of the UK and Commonwealth's most important living writers. Also included are writers from the Republic of Ireland who the British Council has worked with.
The Copac library catalogue gives free access to the merged online catalogues of many major University, Specialist, and National Libraries in the UK and Ireland, including the British Library.
The CWA website and home of the Gold Dagger Awards with News, Events and Authors information from the world of crime and mystery fiction.
Read books in short instalments online, via daily email or by a RSS feed. You choose the time and day, and can read on any net-enabled device. 'Public domain' and some copyrighted books are free to read, others require payment after you've read a series of free instalments. Registration is only necessary if you wish to join the forums and link to people reading the same books.
E-Books Directory lists freely downloadable ebooks and documents found all over the internet. Whilst mainly consisting of science and humanities texts, it does include some literature and fiction.
The online catalogue of Edge Hill College Library, Ormskirk.
The British Library's English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) covers monograph and serial letterpress items printed before 1801. ESTC is a work in progress and records vary in their completeness. It is a union catalogue recording holdings in more than 2000 libraries world-wide, including the British Library.
A network of poets broadcasting their work via the internet. The site has Book of Voices (the e-poets' new media library of poetry in spoken word, performance, and text) and the Videotheque, a collection of poetry as motion pictures.
The electronic theses ordering service from the British Library. It aims to offer a 'single point of access' where researchers the world over can access all theses produced by UK Higher Education. Requires registration with the BL to be able to download theses.
This web site contains short biographies and a full list of the works of over 10,000 authors and the details of over 200,000 books. Throughout the site, just click on a book to see its cover picture, description and publication details. There are also links to allow you to buy copies of the books online. Another facility available is the "series" listing which enables you to pick up on series of books or sequels that have been contributed to by more than one author. eg. Dr. Who, James Bond, etc.
Feedbooks is a universal e-reading platform compatible with all mobile devices where you can download thousands of free e-books.
File-PDF.com is a PDF Search Engine where you can Search, View and Download PDF documents and e-books, based on your search criteria. Before downloading you should check and adhere to any copyright restrictions from the authors and publishers.
This site offers handpicked lists of recommended books on hundreds of topics to provide reading inspiration. If you register you can mark books you've read and liked to get custom recommendations or add your own list.
This site hosts a number of free audio books, mainly classic novels, in MP3 and iTunes formats. These can be listened to in your browser (uses 'QuickTime') or downloaded as one large zipped file or smaller individual parts.
This site provides free downloads (registration is required) of a wide variety of ebooks both Fiction and Non-fiction. Much of the available content has been submitted directly by authors.
This US site hosts the full text of thousands of books both non-fictions and literature which are viewed in webpage form.
An awarding winning children's poetry site from the Meadowbrook Press. Read and rate poems with the Giggle Meter. Includes poems, tongue twisters, fill-in-the-blanks poems, and other activities and has ideas for teachers on teaching poetry in fun and interesting ways.
A group of female writers have got together to contribute to this joint blog. The authors pass on their latest news, the secret stories behind their books, and share their favourite things. The site also has giveaways, book reviews, event announcements and more. For girls from 8 up to older teens.
Gnooks is a "self-adapting community system" where you can discover new writers you will like. Provide the names of three authors you like to provide new suggestions or enter an author to unviel a mind map of literature.
Good reads is a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Once registered you can join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing.
Google Books enables you to search for books online. From your list of hits you will be given details of the book including book extracts. There are also links to libraries and online booksellers which have the book. It book is marked to tell you whether you can read the whole thing online or just an extract. Items marked PDF can be downloaded for free.
GPS:Global Poetry System is a Southbank Centre project to explore and map the poetry of the world. It’s based on the idea that poetry is all around us, from gravestones to graffiti, from birthday cards to blogs, in the landscape and in our memories. GPS invites you to take a fresh look at where you are and find the poetry that inspires you. Photograph it, video it, audio record it or write it down - tell the world where it is on the map.
GreatPDF is a pdf search engine for PDF ebooks, manuals, catalogues, sheets, forms and documents. Many are free to download, but you should check and adhere to any copyright restrictions.
Books can’t be recycled in the same way as newspapers and magazines; however, they can be recycled in a very sustainable way! You simply need to ensure that they stay in circulation by finding them a new home. By doing this you're not only helping the environment, you're also increasing the pleasure a good book can give! Join a growing community of buyers and sellers, where the more books you buy and sell, the more trees can be saved and planted, as GreenMetro donates 5p from every sale to The Woodland Trust.
The Historical Novel Society, founded in 1997, promotes all aspects of historical fiction. We provide support and opportunities for new writers, Information for students, booksellers, and librarians, plus a community for authors, readers, agents, and publishers.
The online catalogue of Lancaster University Library.
lib-web-cats (library web sites and catalogues) is a directory of libraries worldwide. While the majority of the current listings are in North America, the numbers of libraries represented in other parts of the globe is growing. Each listing includes links to the library's website and online catalogue. Other information available includes the geographic location, address, library type, current and previous library automation systems used, and the size of the library's collection.
Part of the Direct Gov website, this provides links to your nearest Library Services, Reading and Books wherever you are, by using your address or postcode.
The catalogue to the Library of Congress, the American equivalent of the British Library. It also includes links to other catalogues of other libraries in the US and worldwide.
This site provides free access to Library, Information Science and Technology Abstract (LISTA) which indexes more than 600 periodicals, plus books, research reports and proceedings. Subject coverage includes librarianship, classification, cataloguing, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management and more. Coverage in the database extends back as far as the mid-1960s
Library Underground is a guide to alternative library culture on the world wide web, with links to librarians' sites and subject links for such things as political and environmental activism, and sexual politics.
Librivox provides free audiobooks from material within the public domain. Recorded by volunteers, extracts and complete books are available in a variety of formats.
The Living Library is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding.The main characteristics of the project are to be found in its simplicity and positive approach. In it’s initial form the Living Library is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to the Living Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with “people on loan”; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background. The Living Library enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. It is a concrete, easily transferable and affordable way of promoting tolerance and understanding. It is a “keep it simple”, “no-nonsense” contribution to social cohesion in multicultural societies.
Lovereading describes itself as "the ultimate readers' online independent bookstore". Books can be searched by author, title, ISBN and genre. Free registration allows you to download opening extracts and use the author "like for like' search service.
The online catalogue of Manchester Metropolitan University Library.
The online catalogue of Manchester University Library.
The Many Books site offers a large number of novels and classics which can be downloaded in a wide variety of formats or read online.
Mslexia is a magazine for women who write: inspiration for creative writers and advice on poetry, fiction, journalism, short stories, and publishing.
Munseys has over 20,000 rare and hard to find titles available free in 10 formats. Munseys specialises in pulp fiction and bodice-ripping romances and includes the original book covers.
The online catalogue of Myerscough College Library. Myerscough College, near Preston, offers courses of study in land-based subjects such as agriculture, arboriculture, horticulture etc.
The web site of the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It includes access to the catalogues, study guides and details of publications
An annotated bibliography of 2,369 titles available on microfiche. This is a part of the website of the Nineteenth Century programme a thirty-year publishing programme which reproduces on microfiche a significant proportion of English-language works first published between 1801-1900.
OBP lists more than 35,000 free ebooks, including older ebooks (pre-1923) and newer ebooks made available to the public domain.
Online access to a range of public library services. Enquire: your questions answered in real-time by real people. Discover: A mix of images, websites, news and more... and Read: explore books and reading and share them with others.
Planet PDF is the commercial site of a software company but, with its 'free' section, offers free downloads a lot of classic literature in PDF format.
The site provides access to over 160,000 poems from more than 16,000 poets. Song lyrics are also on the database and are searchable by song title, song text and artist.
A community of poetry lovers and authors who love poems. You can read, write, and share poetry by creating a Member Account. Members can publish poems, post comments, and participate in the community forum.
The Poetry Archive exists to help make poetry accessible, relevant and enjoyable to a wide audience. Reading poetry may not always bring it alive, without its rhythm and meter. This archive provides free access to audio recording of famous poets reading their work, from Sassoon to Armitage and Plath to Atwood.
Website for the US Poetry Foundation, which features poet biographies, poetry news, comics, and articles about poets and poetry. It includes a "poetry tool" enabling you to search thousands of poems by theme, occasion, and subject in our poetry archive.
This is an encyclopaedia of world poetry, including its history, periods, styles and movements, technical terms, verse forms and national poetry.
The Poetry Library at the South bank Centre is the most comprehensive and accessible collection of poetry in Britain. Their website has lots of information, a childrens section and a tool to help you create your own poems and email them to friends.
A charitable organisation founded in 1909, who promote the enjoyment of poetry and provide support and information for both specialists and the general reader or writer.
A useful site which contains full-text poems in English. Copyright regulations means that the site is restricted to poems published prior to 1923 in the US or those for which explicit permission is given for publication.
Poets.org was created by the Academy of American Poets and hosts poems, prose and biographies of a wide range of international poets.
This site is the oldest producer of e-books on the web. There are over 20,000 older works which are free of copyright and so are freely available.
Find a public library anywhere in the UK. This site provides links to all UK Library Authorities' website plus separate links to their online catalogues and image archive (where available).
Quick Reads are bite-sized books by bestselling writers and celebrities. They are ideal for regular readers wanting a short, fast read, and for those who have lost the reading habit or find reading tough. They are short, sharp shots of entertainment. Quick Read titles can be borrowed or reserved at your local library.
The "Rare Book Room" site has been constructed as an educational site intended to allow the visitor to examine and read some of the great books of the world. These include scanned originals of the science and music, as well as literature, so the works of Shakespeare are alongside Beethoven and Galileo.
This easy to use free ebook site is especially useful to visually impaired persons for reading some Project Gutenberg ebooks online, this site is also text-to-speech capable.
“Bought a book and finished it? Don't know what to do with it? If you've Read It, Swap It!”. ReadItSwapIt is the UK's Free Book Swap Shop. The service is free, all you do is pay the postal charges.
Reading Detectives is part of the Made in England project. Reading Detective Teams, working from their local library in Cumbria, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Lancashire and Kent, are on a mission to find undiscovered and forgotten writers writing about the local area and the people who live there. Each Team will be blogging and mapping their finds to celebrate and promote to others the writers they have found. There'll also be displays of each Team's finds and events in their local libraries. Reading Detectives is managed by The Reading Agency - a charity whose mission is to get more people reading more. Made in England is a collaboration between Arts Council England and BBC English Regions.
This website is about books and ideas for children and teenagers. It is written for intelligent young readers who are keen to choose their own books. Includes reviews by children and teenagers themselves.
The online catalogue of Salford University Library.
Science Books Online is a directory of free science texts, e-books, monographs, lecture notes, and other science related documents. All texts are available for free access, authorized by their respective authors or publishers. Note: the works listed in this directory are hosted at a variety of external sites which it links to.
This web site has the Online Library Catalogue of the Science Museum. It is operated in conjunction with Imperial College Libraries.
Shelfari is a social network site for people who love books. Create a virtual shelf to show off your books, see what your friends are reading and discover new books. A widget will also enable you to show off your books and reviews on your blog or favourite social networking site. Registration is free.
A site containing lots of Crime and Mystery information. Full details of books published in the UK from 1996-2007, author profile, interviews and reviews of news book in the genres of crime, horror, fantasy and sci-fi.
Welcome to Story, the campaign to celebrate the short story. Welcome to Story, the campaign to celebrate the short story: reading them, writing them, events, competitions, workshops and projects.
A listing resource put together by trAce, the Online Writing Centre at Nottingham Trent University. It includes details of small presses and advice for writers or would-be writers of fiction, non-fiction, screen plays etc etc. Membership is free and gives access to enhanced features
The new Channel Four series from the creators of the Richard and Judy Book Club. All Lancashire Libraries offer FREE requests of featured books whilst the series is on air.
The online catalogue of the University of Central Lancashire.
The online catalogue of the University of Cumbria Library. The university has campuses in Lancaster, Carlisle, Ambleside and Penrith.
whichbook.net gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood and also enables the user to locate books on library catalogues. It was formerly called Book Forager.
Wikisource is an online library of free content publications, collected and maintained by the wiki community and has over 130,00 texts in the English language library.
Provides information on the Salford based library which is a collection of English language books, periodicals, pamphlets etc. concerned with the activities, of the labour movement since the late 1700s. There is also access to the catalogue.
World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. It is a partnership of publishers, booksellers and interested parties who work together to promote books and reading for the personal enrichment and enjoyment of all. The website includes news, downloadable resources and extensive interactive online activities.
The WPL contains more than 500,000 ebooks and edocuments, and many of these are free all year round. During their World Ebook Fair (from July 4 to August 4) they offer even more free ebooks. If you need year-round access, you can join for a small yearly fee: $ 8.95 USD per year, or only $ 2 USD per year for students.
WorldCat connects you to the collections and services of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide, covering 1.5 billion items. You can search everything or a particular material type and use the Advanced Search to specify criteria. Also includes a Find a Library facility.
Wowio has a large collection of contemporary fiction and graphic novels. The books can be read online or some can be downloaded (although there may be a charge for downloads). These free ebooks are supported by quite obtrusive advertising, but this can be filtered with some web browsers (e.g. Mozilla Firefox).
Memory books can be a great hobby for anyone interested in writing and family history. You can get all the family involved and it can be a great legacy to leave for future generations. This Age Concern site will help you to get started.
Website of Writers News and Writing Magazine. News and competitions, plus links to a wide range of services for writers.
WRVS is challenging Britain to join forces to remove outdated stereotypes of old age by encouraging older people to share their amazing life stories.
Haiku in the North of England, this group meet monthly and share their passion for haiku on this blog.
This Zorba Press site provides a huge list and links to various sources of a wide range of free ebooks.
© 2013, Lancashire County CouncilPhone: 0845 053 0000 email: enquiries@lancashire.gov.uk