Research and reference services and resources
If you need practical advice with some research, or aren’t sure where to begin, we can help.
Every library has basic reference material, and you can find more specialist items at our large reference libraries. You don’t always have to visit the library – or even be a member – to use some of these services.
- Research and enquiry services
- How we can help you with research, and our national and local online enquiry services.
- Book of the month
- Recommended titles for reference, research and local history.
- Reference books and online databases
- Books and databases you can look at in libraries, including Ancestry and Britannica. Some databases can be used at home on the E-library.
- Newspapers and magazines
- Current and historical newspapers in our libraries and record office, including online newspapers you can search at home.
- Census and other statistics
- Key facts and figures about East Sussex and national statistics, including census results from 1841 onwards.
- Maps
- From modern large-scale Ordnance Survey maps to historical maps of the county, and how to find maps using map scales and the National Grid.
- Government information and legislation
- Acts of Parliament and other legislation in the UK and Europe, and links to government websites.
- Electoral registers
- Details of people who registered to vote, these lists are useful for researching family history.
- Posters and leaflets
- Bus timetables, tourist attractions and more, and advertising your event in libraries.
- Copying, printing and copyright rules
- How much you can copy from books, maps and other items.
