Free Online Services

BFI Replay

Relive, research and lose yourself in the past with thousands of digitised videos and television programmes - from the 1960s to the 2010s.

From the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive and partner UK Regions and Nations Film Archives, BFI Replay is available only in public libraries on our public PCs.

Anyone who signs into a computer in most Tower Hamlets Idea Stores or libraries and Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives using their library card can access this new streaming service for free. (Coming soon to Idea Store Watney Market )

The British Newspaper Archive

Discover history as it happened with access to hundreds of historic newspapers from all over Britain and Ireland dating from 1700 onwards with our subscription to the British Newspaper Archive. Their collections feature several East London newspapers, including:

East London Observer (1857-1928, with plans to continue adding issues up to 1944)
Tower Hamlets Independent and East End Local Advertiser (1866-1912)
Woman's Dreadnought (1914-1924, known as the Workers' Dreadnought from 1917)

This service is only available at Tower Hamlets Idea Stores and libraries.

You will need to register for a free account and then login to the British Newspaper Archive with that account in an Idea Store (or on the Idea Store Wi-Fi) to get unlimited access.

Ancestry

Researching your family tree? Discover genealogy, family trees and family history records online withAncestry Library Edition.

Please Note this is only available from an Idea Store or Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives.

Theory Test Pro

Theory Test Pro is an online simulation of the UK's driving theory tests. It contains all the official test questions in the same format as the official test.

Go Citizen

GoCitizen is for anyone preparing for the Life in the UK Test or British citizenship test. It has practice test questions in the same format as the official test and extra learning resources and teaching aids.

Encyclopaedia Britannica

The award-winning resource for children and adults. Easy to use and easy to find trusted information.

Cobra: Small Business Information

COBRA offers comprehensive factsheets and guides for anyone thinking about starting a small business or working in one.

Access to Research

Discover a world of published academic research with Idea Store and Access to Research
Over 1.5 million academic articles are available through a unique collaboration between librarians and publishers, who have made their journal content available free of charge.

Please note, that the Access to Research service is ONLY accessible via the Idea Store public PCs, through this web link.

Please Note that currently we are having problems in accessing this resource. We hope to get it working again as soon as possible.

Oxford English Dictionary

Discover the meaning, history and pronunciation of over 500,000 words.

When you log in, you need to add an additional 'TH' before your Idea Store card number.

Oxford Dictionaries

Discover English and foreign language dictionaries.

When you log in, you need to add an additional 'TH' before your Idea Store card number.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Find 50,000 biographies of people who shaped history.

When you log in, you need to add an additional 'TH' before your Idea Store card number.

Oxford Reference

Oxford Reference brings together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias, spanning 25 different subject areas.

When you log in, you need to add an additional 'TH' before your Idea Store card number.

What Everyone Needs to Know

Have you ever wanted to learn about a topic but are overwhelmed by its complexity? What Everyone Needs to Know is here to help.

Written in a straight-forward question-and-answer format, this series is perfect for staying up-to-date on the most important topics leading the discussion today in politics, health, global affairs, and more.

Just use the "Sign in with your library card" box on the left, and on the next page choose "Tower Hamlets Libraries".