The Online Research Bank is a collection of searchable databases containing bibliographies and summaries of research focused on the lives of adults and children in Northern Ireland. There are currently two databases – the ORB Social Policy Database which consists of social policy documents based on research carried out in Northern Ireland since 1990 and the ORB Children and Young People’s Research Database which concentrates on research carried out with children and young people in Northern Ireland since 2000 (see below).

Please note:

• the Social Policy Database has only been partially updated since 2014.
• the Children and Young People's Research Database has only been partially updated since 2016.

For more detailed information on the ORB Social Policy Database click here
and for the ORB Children and Young People's Research Database click here.

Social Policy Research Database:

The ORB Social Policy Database contains a bibliography of key research documents focused on social policy in Northern Ireland since 1990 with, in many cases, a summary of the work. Where summaries are available, they can be viewed online or printed. The bibliography can be searched according to one, or a combination, of the following: author name, title or keywords, year of publication, subject area or client group.

ORB Children and Young People's Research Database:

The ORB Children and Young People’s Research Database was sponsored by the Children and Young People's Unit in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and contains a bibliography of key research documents focused on the lives of children and young people in Northern Ireland since 2000 with, in many cases, a summary of the work. Where summaries are available they can viewed online or printed.

The framework for the search categories is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The bibliography can be searched according to one, or a combination, of the following: author name, title or keywords, year of publication, subject area or client group.