Acronym Finder claims to provide the world’s largest and most comprehensive searchable database of acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms.

The Statistics area of the Bank of England’s web site has an extensive range of monetary and financial data. This includes information on base rate changes since 1970, which is available in various different formats in the Interest and Exchange Rates Data section.

The BBC’s news site, providing frequently updated news from the UK and around the world. The “Business” section has current market information.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the UK’s national standards body. This section of the BSI’s site provides a bibliographic, citation and full text database of over 90,000 British and international standards documents. Searching for British Standards and viewing search results is free to all. Those who register are able in addition to view summaries and to order hard copy documents online. Unlimited online access to British Standards in full text is available only to subscribers.

Searchable database providing contact details and short descriptions of aims and activities relating to over 160,000 charities in the UK. Search options include sector, name, location, and charity registration number.

The publisher Debrett’s produces works of reference including guides to the British peerage and to manners and social etiquette. This section of its web site provides guidance on addressing people with titles, and a summary of the correct forms of address for members of the main professions, including the legal profession.

The main search options on this site are Dictionary and Thesaurus. Sources for the dictionary entries include the Random House Unabridged Dictionary and other dictionaries by American Heritage and Harper Collins. Thesaurus entries are from Roget’s Thesaurus.

Discovery is the catalogue of the National Archives. Besides those of the National Archives themselves, it covers records in over 2,500 archives and institutions across the UK, and a small number of archives and institutions abroad. It has integrated and replaced several formerly separate services and web sites including the National Register of Archives (NRA), the ARCHON Directory and Access to Archives (A2A).

Interactive online maps which can be manipulated by dragging, zooming and panning. Businesses and other locations, including for example courts, with their addresses, can be searched for within the selected area. Other functions include satellite images, street views and a route planner. Although the home page of this UK site is centred on the British Isles, detailed maps for much of the rest of the world are also accessible.

Scholarly encyclopedia, written by about 3,000 scholars and experts, covering the lives and works principally of English literary authors, as well as philosophers, musicians and artists. Some major non-English figures are also included. Other features of the site include an English style book and a glossary of literary terms. Some of the site content is free, but many features and functions are available only to subscribers.

The Met Office is the UK’s national meteorological service. Its web site has extensive weather and climate information and news, including UK and world forecasts. There is a five year archive of news releases.

Metric Conversions is a UK based web site which provides an extensive range of online conversion calculators and tables. These include temperature, weight, length, area, volume, speed, time, angle, pressure and currency.

A guide to sources of information on the history of money and contemporary monetary developments, compiled by Roy Davies, a librarian (now retired) at the University of Exeter. The section “Current Value of Old Money” provides links to sources on changes in the value of money over time.

Information on Britain’s national rail network, including rail maps, guidance on journey planning and ticket purchase, live departure and arrival boards, and details of current service disruptions and engineering works. There are links (from the foot of any site page) to the individual train operating companies, many of which have downloadable timetables. Select “Timetables” near the foot of any page for a link to the Network Rail site where the complete National Rail Timetable is available online. Under the “Travel abroad” tab there is information with links relating to train travel to Europe.

Comprehensive currency site containing a currency converter and several other free online currency tools including historical exchange rates. The currency converter covers all the world’s currencies and four metals, and historical exchange rates are searchable from 1 January 1990 onwards.

The Office for National Statistics, the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, is responsible for producing a wide range of economic and social statistics relating to life in the UK (including crime and justice), and for conducting the decennial population census. Information on its web site includes inflation tables (the Consumer Prices Index and the Retail Prices Index), trade figures, health statistics, and earnings and employment data.

Section of the official UK statistics site, providing information on, and tables of, the Consumer Prices Index, which the Government regards as the main UK domestic measure of inflation for macroeconomic purposes, and the various versions of the Retail Prices Index.

The Online Converter is a tool for various forms of conversion including area, currency, length/distance, memory (data), speed, temperature, volume and weight.

This site, produced by Britain’s national mapping agency, features maps of the UK upon which administrative and electoral boundaries are marked, including those of local authorities, parliamentary and assembly constituencies, and European regions. Maps can be shown in a range of scales down to street level, and can be manipulated by zooming, dragging and panning.

This site, hosted by the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, provides current exchange rates but is designed primarily to provide historic rate data for academics and researchers. For the US dollar, Japanese yen, sterling and several major European currencies data extends back to 1971.

BT’s free online directory enquiries service. Individuals can be searched by name and location; businesses by name and location or type of business and location. There is also information on UK and international dial codes.

Information on all of the Post Office’s postal and other services, including access to Royal Mail’s online Postcode/Address Finder.

Web site of Reuters’ news agency in the UK, providing extensive business and financial news in addition to general national and world news. Registration (free of charge) is required for some sections of the site.

Information on all Royal Mail services, including tables of postal prices and postcode and address finders.

Street map and address searching facilities for Great Britain, searchable by postcode, street or place.

Extensive tabulated information and calculators relating to many aspects of time and dates. The “World Clock” in the Current Time section has current local times around the world. For all listed locations daily sunrise and sunset times are available, not just for the current year but also for earlier years, in some instances back to 1965. In the Calendar section there are yearly and monthly calendars for the years 1 to 3999. Other sections include an International Dialling Codes service, with information on dialling between many locations worldwide.

The UK Web Archive (UKWA) is a partnership of the six UK legal deposit libraries which aims to collect all UK web sites at least once a year. Important sites are collected more frequently (up to daily). There are over 100 collections arranged by topic or theme, and all content is searchable by URL, word or phrase.

Worldwide weather information, with conditions and forecasts for over 60,000 locations, about 300 of them in the UK. For many locations there is historical information on daily conditions back to 1996. To access this select the History tab under the relevant location.

English language edition of the collaboratively written free online encyclopedia, containing over six million articles and covering up-to-the-minute issues and developments besides traditional encyclopedia subjects.

Online reference book (formerly also available in a print edition but now online only) published by the United States Central Intelligence Agency and updated every two weeks. It contains economic, political and geographical information on all countries and areas of the world, as well as maps. Appendices include a glossary of abbreviations, a list of international organizations, and a list of place-names cross referenced to country entries.

News and information on a wide range of financial topics, including UK market news and a currency converter. Market information includes historical share prices, to access which first select the company name (eg via FTSE 100 or FTSE 250 and then Components) and then select the Historical Data tab on the company page that opens.