Researching from home

Free databases, specialist websites and research guides.

Researching from home

The Library provides access to a large range of online resources including databases, specialist websites and research guides. 
We’ve featured a selection of resources below. 

Databases contain journal articles, newspapers, company and industry data, reference material, ebooks and more.
Many of the databases and ebooks are available to NSW residents from home, and you can sign up for your free Library card to get instant access.

View the full range of eresources, research guides and specialist websites listed in Research and Collections. 

 

Featured

Proquest Central

The largest single periodical resource available, bringing together complete databases across all major subject areas.

A woman browses the Proquest Central database on her tablet.

PressReader

Get unlimited access to thousands of magazines and newspapers with PressReader. Home to over 6000 newspapers and magazines from over 100 countries in more than 60 languages.

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)

A resource for scholarly research supporting high-level research in the key areas of academic study by providing journals, periodicals, reports, books and more.

Research guides

The Library has developed online research guides to help you with tips, strategies, collection guides and key resources across a broad range of topics.

Two clients studying at a desk in the Governor Marie Bashir Reading Room

Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary is a website about the history of Sydney, created in collaboration with hundreds of historians, local librarians, specialists and institutions.

Ask a Librarian

Need help with your research? Have a question that you can’t find the answer to? Ask a Librarian! We love to help!

Family history

Ancestry

Use the index to search across births, deaths, marriages, census and other records from registries in Australia. Find the year and place of your ancestor's death and registration.

Research guides

You will find resources for researching births, baptisms, deaths, burials, marriages and divorces in NSW, Aboriginal Australians family history, Shipping and Passenger Records and convict life. 

The Ryerson Index

Use the index to find death and funeral notices published in Australian newspapers.

NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages

An invaluable resource that offers free, unrestricted searching with no identification.

More family history resources online

Newspapers

Trove

Digitised historical copies of the major Australian newspapers from the states and territories that allows allows text-searching of the archives.

Sydney Morning Herald Archive

Search every edition of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sun-Herald between 1955–1995 including all articles, captions, and advertisements along with birth, death and marriage notices.

Fairfax Media Library Edition

A digital archive of true-to-print digital copies of the Sydney Morning Herald from 2006.

Access Australia (NewsBank)

A comprehensive collection of reliable news sources covering a wide array of topics and issues from sources such as the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Style Magazine and the Sydney Morning Herald.

More newspaper resources online

Law

Find Legal Answers

Find links to legal information, including pamphlets and fact sheets, full-text books and legislation. Subjects include family, wills, police and crime, money and the legal system.

AGIS Plus (Informit)

A comprehensive database of legal information resources covering over 40 years of authoritative and peer-reviewed legal research from across Australasia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Oxford Reference Online: Law

Access full-text content of Oxford University Press law dictionaries and reference works, including the Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia and the New Oxford Companion to Law. 

Australian Criminology Database (CINCH)

Australian Criminology Database (CINCH) is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from published and unpublished material on all aspects of crime and criminal justice.

More law resources online

Australian literature

Australasian Literature: Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

Brings together creative works from throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, spanning from the 1930s to the present.

AustLit

Discover biographical, bibliographical, and critical information about Australian writers, writing, and publishing.

Informit Literature & Culture Collection

Access to essays, fiction, poetry and critical writing that reflects changes in politics, culture and society over time.

Australian Book Review

Browse the monthly magazine that gives you access to reviews and critical content from around Australia.

More literature resources online

Australian history

Australasian Video Online

An online streaming database of documentary and educational videos from many of Australasia’s top video publishers.

Early Experiences in Australasia: Primary Sources and Personal Narratives 1788–1901

Provides unique and personal views of events in the region from the arrival of the first colonial settlers through to Australian Federation at the close of the nineteenth century.

The First World War: Personal Experiences

This portal makes primary sources available for the study of the Great War and includes personal collections, rare printed material, military files, artwork and audiovisual files.

Cambridge Histories Online

Instantly access the renowned 300-volume series and read ‘big picture’ perspectives for each subject area – essential reading for anyone studying a subject with historical elements.

More history resources online

Business

Factiva

Full-text news reports and financial information from Australia and around the world. Use it to find stock, company and industry profiles.

Morningstar DatAnalysis

Find information on all Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed and some delisted companies.

Business Source Complete (EBSCO)

Get in-depth reports from business analysis services, find company overviews, business descriptions and history, major products and services, industry profiles, SWOT analysis as well as a company’s top competitors.

IBISWorld

IBISWorld contains approximately 500 industry research reports. The reports consists of industry overviews, performance, products and markets, major companies, operating conditions and key statistics.

More business resources online

Biography

Who’s Who in Australia

A browsable and searchable database of biographies of prominent Australians, including Nobel Prize winners, diplomats in Australia and more.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Over 50,000 biographies of significant people in the history of the British Isles and beyond.

Periodicals Archive Online (PAO)

Access records for thousands of journals published from 1770 to the 21st century. Full text available for hundreds of journals.

Cambridge Companions

A collection of almost 400 titles from Cambridge covering literature, classics, philosophy, religion and cultural studies.

More biography resources online