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Library links - Leisure
Medway Libraries' subject guide to the internet for
leisure
There are sections for:
Please note that clicking on the links below will take you away
from the Medway Libraries' webpages.
Arts
Art on the net (www.art.net)
An international site for artists to get
together and share their work digitally. Currently features over
100 artists.
BBC Arts and Culture (www.bbc.co.uk/arts)
All the latest news and events in the arts world plus radio and
TV listings. Features books, reviews, poetry, Tate@BBC, digital
arts and much more.
British Arts (www.britisharts.co.uk)
An excellent overview of the arts in Britain.
Includes a list of arts competitions across the country with
details of how to enter.
Fuse Festival
Information about the yearly Medway FUSE spring arts festival.
Medway Arts
Medway
Council's Arts Team has a commitment to providing the best arts
and entertainment possible by offering a comprehensive programme of
visual art exhibitions and projects, an active music and performing
arts programme with specialist dance provision, a range of youth
arts initiatives and a literature programme.
National Gallery (www.nationalgallery.org.uk)
Including virtual tours of the famous London
gallery's collections and exhibitions.
Royal Academy of Arts (www.royalacademy.org.uk)
A comprehensive guide to the Royal Academy's
exhibitions, collections, artists, archives and picture
library.
Tate Gallery (www.tate.org.uk)
Home page of the Tate Gallery, includes links
to Tate Modern and regional Tate galleries.
Books and reading
Abe Books (www.abebooks.com)
Source for second-hand books.
About.com - Manga (http://manga.about.com/)
Manga Reviews, news and artist interviews.
Achuka (www.achuka.co.uk)
Children's book information with loads of
great links.
Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk)
Said to be the biggest bookseller on the
Internet, it is useful for searching both for in-print and
out-of-print books. Also useful to see what other people think
about the book you just read!
Author Trail (www.authortrail.eu)
A guide to places of interest in the lives of
authors with connections in Medway, East Sussex and the Somme.
BBC Books (www.bbc.co.uk/tv/seasons/books/)
BBC website with news about books, and a bookclub.
Blackwell's bookshop
(http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/welcome.jsp)
Bookshop with many good links, including
students' reading lists and books in the media.
The Bookseller (www.thebookseller.com)
The magazine for the book trade. Great links
to publishers.
Booktrust (www.booktrust.org.uk)
Booktrust runs book prizes and brilliant
projects to encourage readers of all ages and cultures to discover
and enjoy books.
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/)
An unparalleled reference work of unrivalled authority. First
published in 1979, and revised in 1993, the forthcoming online
third edition will provide coverage of authors, films, TV series,
themes in science fiction, magazines and Manga and anime.
Fantastic Fiction (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk)
Bibliographies and information on authors, very good for finding
out the order of series of books.
Google books (http://books.google.com/)
Google is digitising thousands of books, all
searchable. If the book is out of copyright, you get the whole
thing. If the book is in copyright, you just see a fraction. Try it
out!
The Guardian - Books (www.guardian.co.uk/books)
Guardian book site. Very useful for
information on books, authors - mini biographies, current reviews
and a searchable archive of reviews and a discussion list.
Love to Read
Do you love to read? Discover the most
borrowed books and authors from Medway libraries. Use Medway's
online library catalogue, to see what's new or write a book review
to share your reading experience. You can meet other readers
in a readers group and get the latest news about book
awards and prizes.
Opening the Book (www.openingthebook.com)
A website for reader development. "The best
book in the world is quite simply the one you like best and that is
something you can discover for yourself, but we are here to help
you find it."
Penguin readers group (http://readers.penguin.co.uk/)
A truly magnificent site for any reader with
advice for using the internet to find book information.
We Love this Book (www.welovethisbook.com)
This site aims to bring reading to life and to introduce people
to great new books and authors.
W.H. Smith (www.whsmith.co.uk)
Website of the bookseller, with plenty of
links/
Waterstones (www.waterstones.co.uk)
Website of the bookseller, with plenty of
links
Which book (www.whichbook.net)
This site will tell you what books you might
enjoy: all you have to do is tell it whether you like your books
happy or sad, safe or disturbing.
Countryside
Campaign to Protect Rural England (www.cpre.org.uk)
The Campaign to Protect Rural England: aims to
promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England by
encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural
resources in town and country.
British Butterflies (http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/)
Photographic guide, with flight times for each species.
Butterfly Conservation (www.butterfly-conservation.org)
Habitats, behaviour and distribution of
butterflies and moths, as well as conservation issues.
Natural England - The Countryside Code
(www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/enjoying/countrysidecode/)
The official website for the Countryside Code
and maps of Open Access land in England. The Countryside Code
applies to all parts of the countryside. Most of it is just good
commonsense, designed to help us all to respect, protect and enjoy
our countryside.
Plantlife (www.plantlife.org.uk/)
The Wild-Plant Conservation Charity, joint
managers of Ranscombe Farm reserve near Cuxton, with Medway
Council. Interactive map easily locates 23 nature reserves in
Britain; with a guide to rare and threatened species.
Creative writing
17percent (http://17percent.wordpress.com/)
Working to promote women as playwrights by
offering practical help and networking opportunities.
Authonomy (www.authonomy.com)
An online community for writers, including
professional advice on how to get published. From
HarperCollins publishers.
Customers' own
Customers' own is a space where local
writers can have their work published, for free. Managed by Medway
libraries.
MsLexia (www.mslexia.co.uk/)
The magazine for women who write - debate,
analysis, fiction, news, grants competitions and MORE!
Poetry Library (www.poetrylibrary.org.uk)
Founded by the Arts Council in 1953, the
library works to support and promote modern British poetry. They
aim to stock all poetry published in the U.K. since about 1912, as
well as a wide selection of international work.
Poetry Society (www.poetrysociety.org.uk)
Events, Competitions and More!
The Quotations Archive
(www.aphids.com/quotes)
A comprehensive, searchable database of
general purpose quotations.
The Richmond Review(www.richmondreview.co.uk/)
Includes a Library of fiction and poetry,
reviews & essays - how to get yourself published.
Rochester LitFest (http://rochesterlitfest.com/)
Brings writers and performers together.
Family history
1901 Census online (www.1901censusonline.com)
Search more than 400million people living in England
and Wales between 1841-1901 and view images of the original
documents.
Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com)
Ancestry library edition can be accessed for free from the
public access computers in any Medway
library and at
Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre.
BBC - Family History (www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory)
Try out the Family History Trail, a really
useful starting point for those new to family history research.
Check out Bloodlines, the family history gateway, packed with links
to resources.
British and Irish Genealogy
Blog (http://www.bi-gen.blogspot.com/)
Family History News, Entertainment and the a
Directory of Genealogical Services on the Web
Churchyard monumental inscriptions (www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Libr/MIs/MIslist.htm)
A Kent Archaeological Society Site that links
to notes compiled by LL Duncan from 1890s to 1923.
Cityark (http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/)
Searchable catalogue of the archive collections at Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre
including Imagebase of digitised documents and parish
registers.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
(www.cwgc.org/)
Contains information on the 1.7 million
members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First or Second
World Wars.
Curious Fox (www.curiousfox.com)
The village by village contact site for anyone researching
family history, genealogy and local history in the UK and
Ireland.
Cyndi's List (www.cyndislist.com/miluk.htm)
International genealogy gateway to sites
Free births, deaths and marriages (http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/)
FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe
the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for
England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the
transcribed records.
GenUKI (www.genuki.org.uk)
A virtual reference library of genealogical
information of particular relevance to the UK.
Origins.net (www.origins.net)
Provides access to genealogical data for
online family history research. Includes access to the archives of
the Society of Genealogists and extensive records for Scotland.
The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/)
National portal for archive collections
Fashion
Fashion.net (www.fashion.net)
"The Global Meeting Point for the World of
Fashion". Lists magazines, fashion houses, fashion shows, modelling
agencies etc.
Film
British Film Imstitute (www.bfi.org.uk)
This website is an excellent starting point
for those interested in film.
British Pathe (www.britishpathe.com/)
View and buy films and still photographs from the entire archive
of 90,000 videos covering newsreel, sports footage, social history
documentaries, entertainment and music stories from 1896 to
1976.
The Guardian - Film (www.guardian.co.uk/film)
News, features, reviews of latest films.
The Encyclopedia of Science
Fiction (http://sf-encyclopedia.com/)
An unparalleled reference work of unrivalled authority. First
published in 1979, and revised in 1993, the forthcoming online
third edition will provide coverage of authors, films, TV series,
themes in science fiction, magazines and Manga and anime.
The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)
The Internet Movie Database - if a film isn't
on here, it's never been made. Wide-ranging information covering
all aspects of the film industry.
Love to Watch (www.medway.gov.uk/leisureandculture/libraries/filmsandconsolegames.aspx)
Catch the latest news of sound and vision titles added to Medway
libraries' stock and discover the
most-borrowed films and console games each month.
Screen online (www.screenonline.org.uk)
A website dedicated to the history of British
film and television
Food and Drink
Asia recipe (http://asiarecipe.com/)
Lots of useful information on the food and
culture of Asian countries. Includes a timeline of foods. Site set
up by American educationalist living in Thailand.
BBC - Food (www.bbc.co.uk/food)
Links to all your favourite BBC food
programmes. Features top 10 recipes and the latest radio and TV
listings . Why not create a culinary wonder using the Recipe Finder
or check out the link to Asian Life Food.
Beer in the evening (www.beerintheevening.com)
Information about pubs locally and nationally.
Searchable database, with maps and directions.
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) (www.camra.org.uk)
Advocacy group that supports consumers rights in the
United Kingdom and Europe with respect to the beer and drinks
industry.
Epicurious (www.epicurious.com)
American site, with 9,000 recipes from the
magazines Gourmet and Bon Appétit.
Farmers' markets (www.farmersmarkets.net)
Directory of inspected and genuine farmers' markets in the
United Kingdom
Food Standards Agency (www.food.gov.uk)
Includes information on food handling, healthy
eating, additives, regulations, research, BSE etc.
Gardening
BBC - Gardening (www.bbc.co.uk/gardening)
Links to all your favourite BBC gardening
programmes, gardening tips, information on plants, pests and
diseases plus a useful search facility.
Crocus (www.crocus.co.uk)
encyclopedia and garden centre
Fungus.org.uk (www.fungus.org.uk)
Comprehensive range of links to sites covering
all aspects of fungi.
Kew - Royal Botanic Gardens
(www.rbgkew.org.uk/)
Home page of the world famous Botanic Gardens
at Kew and Wakehurst Place, West Sussex.
The Japanese Garden Society
(www.jgs.org.uk)
Encouraging, informative support for both new
and experienced gardeners interested in the orient.
Royal Horticultural Society (www.rhs.org.uk)
Plenty of information about horticulture
across Britain.
Hobbies and crafts
All free crafts (www.allfreecrafts.com)
Photographs and how-to instructions so you easily learn new
craft ideas.
Art Attack (www.hitentertainment.com/artattack/menu_artattacks.html)
On this page you'll find fact sheets for all the Art Attacks
featured in over the last few series of the children's television
show.
Better Homes and Gardens (www.bhg.com)
A lot of free instructions for crafts and
recipes.
Craft and fabrics (www.craftandfabriclinks.com)
fully illustrated free sewing and craft
patterns.
The Dolls House Club
(http://www.dollshouseclub.com/)
The site for makers of dolls houses and
miniatures. Includes a beginners guide.
DIY Fixit (www.diyfixit.co.uk)
An step by step guide to DIY. Everything you
wanted to know but were afraid to ask!!
Guild of Machine Knitters
(www.guild-mach-knit.org.uk)
The Guild is run by machine knitters for
machine knitters, all on a totally voluntary basis.
The Lace Guild (www.laceguild.demon.co.uk/)
A site which offers details of membership, a
magazine, notification of events, publications and suppliers and a
gallery of beautiful works.
Stanley Gibbons (www.stanleygibbons.com)
For current news and your philatelic (stamp
collecting) needs.
Media
BBC - News (www.bbc.co.uk/news)
Daily news, details of programmes, plenty of
information and interactivity.
News Now (www.newsnow.co.uk)
NewsNow's computer systems index thousands of
news sites on the internet, giving live updates every few
minutes
Motoring
BBC - Topgear (www.bbc.co.uk/topgear)
Homepage of the popular BBC TV programme
Car Survey (www.carsurvey.org)
Thinking of buying a second-hand car? Find out
what other people think of it.
Driving Theory Tests
(www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017669)
Online tests where you can check your driving
theory skills, from the Driving Standards Agency.
What car? (www.whatcar.co.uk)
Everything you need to know if you are buying
a new or used car.
Museums
The Historic Dockyard Chatham (www.chdt.org.uk/)
Home page for one of Medway's biggest tourist
attractions. Particularly useful for people researching dock
workers or ships built at Chatham Dockyard. Try the Message
Board.
Imperial War Museum (www.iwm.org.uk/)
Site for the national museum for wars of the 20th century.
Contains a set of pages devoted to family history research at the
Imperial War Museum.
Medway Museums
Museums in the Medway area.
Museum of London (www.museumoflondon.org.uk)
Tells the story of London from pre-historic
times to present day.
The National Maritime Museum
(www.nmm.ac.uk/)
Access to maritime resources and information.
Natural History Museum (www.nhm.ac.uk)
Very useful home page of the museum, giving
information on all aspects of the Natural History Museum and it's
work.
Science Museum (www.sciencemuseum.org.uk)
Home page of the Science Museum with
information about the museum and current exhibitions.
Music.
Last FM (www.last.fm)
Listen with Last.fm and fuel the social music
revolution. It's easy. What are *you* listening to?
Rolling Stone (www.rollingstone.com)
Excellent source of information on rock music
and artists. The search engine brings up biographical information
on thousands of groups.
Westminster Gateway (www.westminster.gov.uk/services/libraries/gateway/music/)
Westminster libraries' gateway to music web sites.
Newspapers and magazines
All Newspapers (www.allnewspapers.com/)
Links to newspapers worldwide, plus other
media sources.
Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk/)
Daily Telegraph in electronic form with
archives back to November 1994.
Financial Times (www.ft.com/)
This includes a searchable archive going back
three years - they claim to index 5million articles from 3,000
publications. Articles from the FT can be retrieved free.
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/)
The Guardian Newspaper online.
KIDON Media Link (www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml)
Thousands of newspapers online from all over
the world - very useful for people for whom English is a second or
foreign language.
National Geographic Magazine (www.nationalgeographic.com/)
A site as glossy and fascinating as the
magazine itself.
New Scientist (www.newscientist.com/)
"...you can search the whole of the New
Scientist Planet Science Site and an archive of material that has
appeared since 3 April 1997. [The website contains approximately
one third of the material that appears in the magazine each
week"
Reuters (http://uk.reuters.com/)
Reuters is possibly the world's leading
financial information provider.
The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk/)
Back issues of the paper available from
January 1996. A search facility also available.
UK Newsstand (http://search.proquest.com/barcode?accountid=15623&groupid=93603)
Full-text content from more than 130 newspapers
and magazines going back 10 years. Medway Libraries
membership card required.
Sports
Active Places (www.activeplacespower.com/)
Provided by Sport England, this gives
information on over 10,000 sports facilities.
BBC - Sport (www.bbc.co.uk/sport)
Providing up to the minute information on all
major sporting events including up to the minute scores and
scorers.
British Swimming (www.swimming.org/britishswimming)
Find out about local and national swimming events.
England and Wales Cricket Board (www.ecb.com/)
Official cricket website of England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB).
England Athletics (www.englandathletics.org/)
Hundreds of thousands of people across England are involved in
athletics. In many different ways it really is the most exciting,
diverse and vibrant sport there is.
Formula 1 (www.formula1.com/)
The official F1 website
Gillingham Football Club (www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/)
The official website of Gillingham Football Club.
Go4awalk (www.go4awalk.com/)
Website for walkers with impressive route
maps. Nothing for Medway (yet) but reasonable for the national
parks.
The Guardian - Sport (www.guardian.co.uk/sport)
Sport news, results, fixtures, blogs and comments on UK and
world sport from the Guardian.
Kent Country Cricket Club (www.kentcricket.co.uk/)
The official web-site for Kent County Cricket
Club, providing news, fixtures, results and much info about our
County's first-class professional cricket team.
London 2012 (www.london2012.com/)
The Offical website for the London Olympic Games 2012.
MCC Offroad (www.mccoffroad.co.uk)
Mountain and offroad biking in Kent.
The Premier League (www.premierleague.com)
The official site with news, fixtures, results, league table,
statistics, club profiles and travel details.
Professional Footballers Association (PFA)
(www.givemefootball.com)
All goals, results & fixtures updated every hour on the
hour.
Rugby Football League (www.therfl.co.uk)
Governing body for Rugby League in the UK. Information about the
game, news and information about the Great Britain team and the
Tri-Nations tournament.
Rugby Football Union (www.rfu.com)
Contains information about all facets of English rugby and
merchandising. The Rugby Football Union is the governing body of
English rugby.
Silverblades Ice Rink - Gillingham (www.silver-blades.co.uk/page/About_Us/Gillingham)
Information about the ice rink in Gillingham.
Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
Sports coverage from around the world.
Sporting Life (www.sportinglife.com)
An electronic sport and betting service, run
by the Mirror Group and the Press Association.
Theatre
London Theatre guide (www.londontheatre.co.uk)
Provides a reliable source of information
about London Theatre. "The objective of the guide is to be as
comprehensive as possible for West End theatre listings."
Medway Little Theatre (www.mlt.org.uk)
Forthcoming productions of Medway Little
Theatre in Rochester.
Medway Theatres
Website for The Central and Brook Theatres
in Medway
National Association of Youth Theatres
(www.nayt.org.uk)
The national association of youth theatres
website.
PANeK (www.panek.org.uk)
Supports the making and presenting of new theatre and
performance in Kent, offering information, advice and
partnering theatre-makers, venues, funders and audiences interested
in exciting, innovative work.
The Theatres Trust (www.theatrestrust.org.uk)
National advisory public body, protecting theatres for
everyone.
Travel and Tourism
ABTA (www.abta.com)
For 60 years ABTA and its Members have been helping
holidaymakers to get the most from their travel by working to high
professional standards and offering choice, value and quality.
The Identity and Passport Service (www.ukpa.gov.uk)
The Identity and Passport Service is
responsible for issuing UK passports and for administering the
civil registration process in England and Wales. It is an executive
agency of the Home Office.
Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com)
Information and articles about travel, and an
online forum where you can pick up useful travel tips.
MapQuest Maps (www.mapquest.com)
Driving directions and road maps.
National Express
UK Coach service. Includes a search facility
which gives you timetable details and fares.
National Rail Enquiries (www.nationalrail.co.uk)
National Rail enquires.
Public Transport in Kent
Information on bus services in Kent and
Medway, park and ride, rail, air and ferry services.
Timeout (www.timeout.com
Guide to what's happening in the most exciting cities on the
planet.
Tourism South East (www.visitsoutheastengland.com)
Guide to the South-east of England.
Tripadvisor (www.tripadvisor.com)
Over 45 million traveller reviews and opinions.
Visit Britain (www.visitbritain.com)
If you're planning a holiday to the UK, looking for hotels and
accommodation in Britain, or simply after UK travel, attractions or
events information, VisitBritain.com has everything you need to
know.
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