eReference Library - complete list

Access up-to-date local, national and international information resources and advice for FREE.

Arts and Culture

Am Baile - explore Archival Materials and multimedia from across the Highlands. Discover the history and culture of the Scottish Highlands and Islands through digitised books, pamphlets, photographs, illustrations and audio-visual resources.

Please note: access to Oxford Art Online requires the letters "high" before your library number in 'Library Barcode Login' box.
Smartcard & NEC card users - please enter the first 14 digits of your card number only, leaving off the last 2 digits to access this resource.

Oxford Art Online
- an innovative new gateway that offers users the ability to access and search the vast content of Grove Art Online and Oxford art reference in one location.

Oxford Music Online
Includes Oxford Grove Music Online & Oxford Encyclopeadia of Popular Music
- a wealth of information on music, musicians and instruments. Click on the "library barcode user" option, then type in the barcode number on your card.

SCRAN - part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Scran aims to provide educational access to digital materials representing our material culture and history.

Please select Highland Council from the list of local authorities and enter your 14-digit library card number, along with the displayed 'captcha' code.

Statistical Accounts of Scotland - 1791-1845
- an essential sources of study of Scottish life from the 18th and 19th centuries. Based largely on information supplied by each parish church minister. Click here for access to non-subsribers and browse scanned pages.

For full access to the enhanced service for research purposes, please ask your librarian for login access to Highland Libraries subscription.

Hi-Arts - Highlands and Islands Arts - provides a range of development and support services for those working in the fields of the arts and heritage, across the Highlands and Islands, and also elsewhere in Scotland.

Creative Scotland - the national leader for Scotland’s arts, screen and creative industries. It’s our job to help Scotland’s creativity shine at home and abroad.

Europeana - explore the cultural resources of Europe's museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections.

National Museums of Scotland - access information about current exhibitions and collections at the National Museum of Scotland website, National War Museum, National Museum of Costume, National Museum of Rural Life, National Museum of Flight and the National Museums Collection Centre.

Museums & Art Galleries - access a list of local and national museums and art gallery websites for the latest exhibitions, collections and resources on Highland Libraries Delicious social bookmarking page.

Biography

Please note: Remote access to Oxford DNB requires the letters "high" before your library number. Smartcard & NEC card users - please enter the first 14 digits of your card number only, leaving off the last 2 digits to access this resource

DNB - the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- An illustrated collection of more than 57,000 specially written biographies of the men and women from around the world who shaped all aspects of Britain's past.

Who’s Who
- the essential directory of the noteworthy and influential in all walks of life, in the UK and worldwide. Plus Who Was Who: over 100,000 entries from the archives of Who’s Who dating back to 1898. NB: to access this site you need to enter the letters "high" before your library card number into the library card number field.

Who Else Writes Like?
Designed to help readers who enjoy fiction to discover new writers and related titles. It is designed to answer the perennial question "I've read all the books by my favourite authors, who shall I read next? Remote access requires log-on using your library barcode number.

Who Next? a guide to children's authors
An interactive tool to help parents, teachers and librarians in schools and public libraries to guide children who have already enjoyed stories by one writer to find other authors they will enjoy reading. Older children can also use the guide themselves. Click here to login with your library card number and select the account High Life Highland (Inverness, GB).

Scottish Authors - Gateway to Scottish Authors
An online version of the Scottish Library Association publication "Discovering Scottish Writers". It contains biographies of 79 Scottish authors included in the original publication, with appropriate hyperlinked cross-references.

Scottish Writers
Explore the depth and breadth of Scottish writing, hear authors' own views, see their work brought to life and learn about the authors through reviews and biographies.

Careers and Funding

SCOTBIS (Scottish Business Information Service)
Provides a free research service for businesses across Scotland. Based on the vast resources of the National Library of Scotland. At NLS, you can access market research reports, business databases, international directories, and business and trade journals.

Turn2us - to access benefits and grants
Free on-line resource to help people access the money available to them – through benefits, grants and other financial help. The website is designed to help people find appropriate sources of financial support, quickly and easily, based on their particular needs and circumstances.

Study at University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)
Information and advice about studying at the University of the Highlands and Islands including Degrees, HNCs, HNDs and access courses, postgraduate study, part-time and online study, professional development and research.

Job Centre Plus - jobs and skills search. Jobcentre Plus has one of Britain’s largest databases of job vacancies, which is updated constantly. Thousands of new jobs are available every week.

Volunteering while looking for work
Directgov information about looking for voluntary work which can help you develop and learn new skills while you're looking for a job. Click here for advice on volunteering while looking for work.

Job interviews and applications - books and guides
Browse available titles on careers advice and interview preparation on Highland Libraries catalogue.

Skills Development Scotland - My World of Work
My World of Work can help you to get a job and develop your career. Read feature articles on a wide range of topics including choosing a career, learning and training, applying for jobs and making a career change.

Test Preparation

Job interviews and applications - Browse available titles on careers advice and interview preparation on Highland Libraries catalogue.

Please note: Smartcard & NEC card users - please enter the first 14 digits of your card number only, leaving off the last 2 digits to access online resources.

Theory Test Pro - practice for your driving theory test.
A highly realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory test. It contains the entire official test questions licensed from the DSA, the people who set the tests. You are required to create a free user account and password to access Theory Test Pro.
Please note: you are required to create an account to use this resource.

Click here for more resources on driving theory in the library collections

Life in Great Britain Citizenship Test preparation – Your Guide to British Life, Culture and Customs. This website provides preparation material for the "Life in the UK" test. The course material has been reproduced from Chapters of the “Life in the United Kingdom: A journey into Citizenship -Second Edition 2007” handbook published by the Home Office. The online material features split paragraphs and illustrations, making the text easier to digest.
Please note: you are required to create an account to use this resource.

Nationality and citizenship
If you're interested in moving to the UK or becoming a British citizen, this page contains information that can help you get started.

Consumer Advice

Which? Online - Highland Libraries can now offer access to Which? Online, Accessible at Inverness Library only. This site provides expert, unbiased information to help you make the right choice, whatever you’re buying. Access is by subscriber login. Please ask Inverness Library staff to enter the username and password.

Consumer Focus Scotland - The new statutory organisation campaigning for a fair deal for consumers in Scotland. We are the voice of the consumer, and work to secure a fair deal on their behalf. Find consumer related news, the leatest policy and research, publications and links.

Consumer Direct - Government-funded telephone and online service offering clear and practical information and advice on consumer issues.

Citizens Advice Scotland
CAS Aims to ensure that individuals have adequate access to knowledge of their rights and responsibilities, and the services available to them, and helps them to express their need effectively.

Tell me about public notices near me!

Find out about public notices, licensing applications, planning submissions, road works notices and other general notices in your local area at Scotland's Public Information Notices website - tellmescotland http://www.tellmescotland.gov.uk/notices/highland/

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Here you will find up-to-date online resources for some of the worlds most trusted and comprehensive dictionaries, encyclopedias, subject guides and thesauri.

Encyclopædia Britannica

Encyclopædia Britannica - a resource with more than 120,000 articles, daily features, regular updates and links to news reports. Now also available in different versions aimed at children and young people of school age. Please choose from Britannica Online, Britannica Student and Britannica Junior by clicking on the relevant tabs.

Encyclopædia Britannica for older students and adults

Student Britannica ages 10 to 14

Junior Britannica ages 6 to 10

Oxford Dictionaries Online

Please note: Remote access to Oxford requires the letters "high" before your library number. Smartcard & NEC card users - please enter the first 14 digits of your card number only, leaving off the last 2 digits.

ORO – Oxford Reference Online
- The Premium Collection includes a superb range of Oxford titles, updated regularly with an expanding range of key titles in the acclaimed Oxford Companions and Oxford Dictionaries series, bilingual dictionaries, plus the Visual English Dictionary, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations and new heavily illustrated natural history titles such as the Encyclopedia of Mammals.

OED - Oxford English Dictionary
- The definitive record of the English language and is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past.

Oxford Dictionaries Pro
- English language resource with up-to-date online dictionaries, thesauruses, and language reference content. It offers quick search access to definitions of words, phrases, and idioms, with expert guidance on style and usage, grammar, and spelling; plus specialist guides for legal and technical writing.

BBC Country Profiles - This site supplies information on the history, economy, and politics of countries and territories.

Internet Public Library (IPL) - Information you can trust
- a public service organization and a learning/teaching environment, providing access to collections of high quality Internet resources, newspapers, magazines and special collections for a range of age groups.

TES Teaching Resources - space for teachers to share free learning materials including lesson plans, activities, games, teaching ideas and worksheets.

Language Acquisition

Transparent Language Learning - A powerful language learning system that uses flashcards to teach you a set of words or phrases. It is the fastest possible way to lock foreign words and phrases in your long-term memory. New User? Click here to sign up with your library barcode

Please note: you are required to create an account to use this resource. Smartcard & NEC card users - please enter the first 14 digits of your card number only, leaving off the last 2 digits to access this resource

Language Packs - Browse Highland Libraries collection of language learning packs. To browse a specific language, add the name of the language after the text in the search box. (e.g. loantype:"Langauge Packs" French)

UHI Gaelic Medium Studies - information about Gaelic medium courses at the University of the Highlands and Islands

BBC Languages
Learn languages in your own time and have fun.

Newspaper Resources

A wide range of newspaper articles is available in Inverness Reference Library and can be printed at a cost of 75p per sheet (or scanned from microfilm to your home by staff if required.)

Browse our complete list of current Newspaper holdings as well as our Microfilm collections. To refine your search of Microfilms, add the name of the newspaper onto the end of the text in the search box. e.g. class:"072*" Highland News and click the search button.

The Am Baile Newspaper Index is a searchable database packed full of stories and articles carried in the newspapers of the Highlands and Islands. It contains a short abstract and a reference to the issue the article is contained in.

Community Newsletters - a wide selection of community newspapers is also available in hardcopy (and some are microfilmed). Click here for a complete list of community newsletters available.

Electronic Newspaper Resources

Electronic Newspaper Resources

The Scotsman (1817-1950)
Search historical newspaper articles from The Scotsman archives between 1817 1nd 1950. You can refine your search by date, and email and save articles as PDF documents for ease of use. To access this database click here and enter your library barcode.

International Newsstand
Access information from more than 280 of the world's top newspapers. The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC Monitoring series of publications are just a few of the sources in ProQuest Newsstand International.

Click here to access International Newsstand.