Free home study online resources

Are you, like so many people nowadays, staying at home safe with your children? Would you appreciate access to FREE, reliable, up-to-date and trustworthy online resources to help with home study? Then look no further. Dublin City Libraries has a comprehensive and authoritative collection of online encyclopaedias, dictionaries and other reference tools to help children and young people to study and to learn, whatever age or level they’re at. All that’s needed is a Dublin City Libraries card.

Read on and click on the links as you go to explore. You can also read more in part two of our online resources for home study series.

World Book Online provides access to three websites with accurate information at age-appropriate levels in a controlled and safe learning environment.

• World Book Early World of Learning for toddlers and children in the early education
• World Book Kids for ages 7 to 11
• World Book Student for ages 12 to 15

This resource is packed with thousands of easy-to-read articles, illustrations, videos, interactive maps, and a wealth of engaging games and activities.

Britannica Library provides access to hundreds of thousands of informative articles, a rich media library filled with videos and images, an interactive atlas and much more. Simply select the link you want below and enter your library card number

• Britannica Library Junior for ages 5 -11
• Britannica Library Student for ages 12 – 18
• Britannica Library Adult – for ages18 plus

Oxford Reference is a general reference resource covering all fields of knowledge. It spans 22 core subject areas with over 2 million entries represented across hundreds of subject and language reference titles, and it includes 19,000+ illustrations, and 270 historic timelines by subject or time period.
Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, enter your library card number, and then select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.

Oxford Research is a scholarly reference resource and its content is more academic than Oxford Reference. Readers can access peer-reviewed articles written by leading experts for an overview of the selected areas of research listed below.
Click on your selected topic, and enter your library card number where indicated on the left of the screen, and select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.

• Classics
• Climate Science
• Communication
• Criminology
• Environmental Science
• International Studies
• Literature
• Politics
• Psychology
• Religion
• Social Work

Very Short Introductions provides concise, intelligent introductions to a diverse range of subject areas. VSI are very readable and give a quick overview of the topic. They are written by experts in their field who combine facts, analysis and new ideas, and can be used at any level of the academic journey.
Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, and then select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.

Oxford Music Online provides information on composers, musicians and other people and subjects linked to the world of music, e.g. patrons, timelines, eras, instruments, pieces, styles etc. This resource includes

• 52,000+ articles, written and edited by nearly 9,000 subject experts,
• images, audio and videos,
• extensive bibliographies with life information and works lists for composers, performers and other important musical figures,
• free learning resources including subject guides, opera indexes, timelines, and articles on key topics in music.

To find out more, click on Oxford Music Online (Grove Music)  - Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, and then select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.

Oxford Art online provides information on all aspects of the world of art, including artists, architects, craftsmen, patrons, movements, locations, and periods, and includes,

• 30,000+ articles and images,
• 6,000+ subject entries and 20,000+ biographies, contributed to by nearly 7,000 international scholars – all with bibliographies for further research, and
• 7,000 searchable images from Oxford’s partnerships with museums, galleries, and other outstanding arts organizations as well as 40,000 editorially selected image links to museums and galleries.

Benezit Dictionary of Artists is one of the most comprehensive and definitive resources of artists’ biographies available. It contains

• entries on obscure artists and historic auction records,
• over 11,000 images of artists’ signatures, monograms, and stamps of sale, and
• detailed museum listings, bibliographies, exhibition information, and auction records.

To see more, click on Oxford Art Online (Grove Art Online/Benezit Dictionary of Artists). Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, and then pick ‘Dublin City Libraries’.

Oxford English Dictionary is your ‘go to’ resource when you need to find the meaning of a word, or want help with grammar or spelling. It’s the definitive guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000+ words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world. It’s updated every 3 months, and existing entries are revised and new words added.

• Dictionary: Browse the whole dictionary from A-Z.
• Categories: Browse words by subject, usage, region or origin.
• Timelines: Discover when words entered the English language.
• Sources: Explore the top 1,000 authors and works quoted in the OED.

Click on the ‘Sign in >>’ button on the top right hand of the screen and then enter your library card number where indicated, and select’ Dublin City Libraries’.

Oxford Dictionaries Premium provides access to eight unabridged bilingual language dictionaries, as follows:

• Spanish
• Arabic
• German
• French
• Italian
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Chinese

Bilingual language content is created by native speakers of each language, working with computational tools to analyse millions of words of language together to find the right translations, new phrases, and changing patterns of usage. It contains comprehensive grammar and spelling rules as well as writing help.
Login where indicated with your library card number.