If you need help with homework, tracing your family history, writing a business plan or preparing for your driving theory test, we subscribe to a wide range of resources to help you.
Most of these will require you to log in with your library membership barcode number to get into the members' area.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): ancestry.com temporary access
You can temporarily access ancestry.com at home while the libraries are closed. When the libraries open again, ancestry.com will only be available on the computers in the libraries.
To access ancestry.com from home:
- Login or register for a library account using the link below.
- After logging in, click the link 'home' to go to the homepage.
- From the homepage, scroll down to 'Ancestry library login' and click the 'Ancestry library edition' link.
- You should now be logged into ancestry.com as Rochdale Libraries.
Login or register for a library account
Driving theory test
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Theory Test Pro - a highly realistic online simulation of the UK's driving theory test.
Citizenship
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The British Way of Life is a program to help all asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in getting used to British life as quickly as possible. It covers many essential topics and subjects, with links to government, NHS and other useful websites to find out invaluable information to succeed in “The British Way of Life”. To assist with language difficulties, the program is available in a wide range of community languages as well as full human English speech.
IT for beginners
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First Steps on Your Computer - is a totally interactive training program for anyone completely new to computers. It contains full human English speech that can be listened to as many times as you wish, and text can be selected in Urdu, Arabic, Bangladeshi, Polish or Somali. It takes absolutely nothing for granted, guiding you through the program with interactive exercises. At the end of each section you can test what you've learned before progressing to the next level.
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Learn My Way - FREE online IT courses for beginners on subjects such as using emails, finding a job online, using mobile and online banking, video calling, online shopping and much more. When you register for an account, it will ask you for the name of the centre you're learning in. You can enter your local library as your Learning Centre.
Find your local library.
The National Archives
The National Archives is the UK government's official archive, containing over 1,000 years of history including over 270,000,000 documents that are available on the
UK Government Archive. It includes:
- Guides, catalogues and indexes - whether you are looking for a person, a place or a particular subject
- Lesson plans and workshops for teachers and students
- Online exhibitions on historical themes
- A museum of national treasures
- Podcasts about news and popular topics
- Advice on how to use the National Archives in Kew
Literature
Access to British Standards
If you're looking for British, European or International standards you can use British Standards Online (BSOL) as the authoritative and most current site for all BSOL publications. The site includes thousands of current, draft and historic British Standards.
We don't offer access to British Standards, however, you can access British Standards Online from any library across the country that does offer this service. If you're looking to access the service in Greater Manchester you can register your library card at that library. If you're looking to access the service outside of Greater Manchester you may be required to join their library first. Joining a library is free.
Access to Research (academic articles)
You can get FREE access to over 10 million academic articles using your library membership.
To access:
- Search for academic articles at home.
- If you find ones you'd like to read, contact us using the details on this page. Tell us the name of the articles you'd like and we'll print them for you.
- Collect your requested articles from one of the libraries open for the Request and Collect service.
- If you can't get to a library, please email accesstoresearch@pls.org.uk and tell them which articles you'd like and why you can't get to the library. They'll advise you on other ways to access the article instead.
Services available on computers in libraries
You can get full access to the following sites on the library computers:
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Access to Research - FREE access to over 10 million academic articles.
- Ancestry.co.uk - search your family tree
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Find My Past - access to a range of family history records in partnership with Manchester City Archives
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United Utilities - access the drainage/sewerage plans for the area where you live
- Which? - product reviews and advice from the consumer experts
Our
library catalogue also has some useful reference resources including a newspaper index