Torfaen Library service is increasingly offering resources and services on the internet. These include joining the library; reserving and renewing books; booking time on a computer; access to Britannica Online, Oxford Biography, Books to Help and many more. For some of these you would need to visit the library to collect your items or use those resources restricted to the library computers e.g. Ancestry.com and Driving Theory Pro.
We are not trying to discourage customers from using our library buildings, far from it. We are hoping to attract new customers who may not be using the library service regularly, if at all. In fact, with the introduction of ebooks, we have already noticed an increase in people calling in to enquire and either choosing a pin for their library card or joining the library so they can make use of the service.
Below you will find the complete list of our online resources and a brief description. You can follow the link and most will take you to the free site, a few will need you to log in with your library card and pin. As mentioned above, Ancestry and Driving Theory Pro will only give you free access from a library computer.
If you would like to ask a question or comment on any of our resources, please leave a message on this page or contact your nearest library.
Ancestry - Discover your family history and build a family tree with the world’s largest genealogy website. Search birth records, census data, obituaries and more! Includes the 1911 census. (Accessible via library PC's only).
Books to Help gives information about this local scheme, which helps people access self-help books that provide information about a wide range of family issues, including bullying, divorce, anger, parenting, potty training, sleep, worry and many others.
CANS Advice Notes gives you access to authoritative quality information on 450 areas of current law. Examples of coverage are: consumer protection, employment, family law, housing and social security.
eBooks for Wales - Browse, borrow and reserve a selection of FREE downloadable eBooks. The collection includes popular fiction, biographies, travel and leisure titles as well as books for children and teenagers.
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online enables you to access the entire text of the renowned printed encyclopaedia. Also, you can have your own workspace within the interface for storing and editing your work. There are three versions available Encyclopaedia Britannica Online for ages 18+, Student Edition for ages 12 - 18 and Junior Edition for ages 5 - 11.
European Sources Online - Information about the institutions and activities of the European Union; the countries of Europe and their regions; international organisations in Europe; and issues of importance to European citizens and stakeholders. (Accessible via library pc only).
Grove Art Online - Everything imaginable about visual art worldwide. Pictures and paintings, ceramics and sculpture, fashion and furniture, graphic design and photography. With over 5,000 images.
Grove Music Online - From Mozart to Madonna, Punk to polka, panpipes to bagpipes. All styles of music from all periods of history. Hundreds of illustrations, sound files, and information on composers, conductors, lyricists, and performers.
Life in Great Britain - This online course contains all the text from 'Life in the United Kingdom: a journey into citizenship'. It will enable you to prepare in an enjoyable way for the 'Life in the United Kingdom Test'.
National Library of Wales - The National Library of Wales offers a wide range of subscribed electronic resources, ranging from scholarly journals to encyclopaedias and newspapers.
Newsbank gives you access to thousands of full-text articles from more than 20 Welsh and 350 UK daily and weekly newspapers. All are updated daily for current news, and are also archived to enable you to trace news subjects historically.
Oxford Reference Online - A vast reference library of scholarly resources also containing much illustrative material. (If you are accessing this service from anywhere other than your library, you will be asked to key in your library card number prefixed by TORF).
Screen Online - The British Film Institute's resource 'Screenonline' is where you will find stills, video and audio clips, posters, biographies and analyses from the National Film and Television Archive, giving an account of British film and television from the early days to the present.
The Oxford English Dictionary Online - The monumental and definitive dictionary of the English Language for the English-speaking world. (If you are accessing this service from anywhere other than your library, you will be asked to key in your library card number prefixed by TORF).
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online - The authoritative biographical source for all those people who have shaped British history. (If you are accessing this service from anywhere other than your library, you will be asked to key in your library card number prefixed by TORF).
Theory Test Pro - Theory Test Pro is a highly realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory tests for all vehicle categories. It contains all the official test questions licensed from the DSA, the people who set the tests.
