The Rfam database can be used for a variety of functions.  For each ncRNA family, the interface allows users to: view and download multiple sequence alignments; read annotation; and examine species distribution of family members.  There are also links provided to literature references and other RNA databases.
Rfam also provides links to Wikipedia so that entries can be created or edited by users.
The interface at the Rfam website allows users to search ncRNAs by keyword, family name, or genome as well as to search by ncRNA sequence or EMBL accession number.
The database information is also available for download, installation and use using the INFERNAL software package. The INFERNAL package can also be used with Rfam to annotate sequences (including complete genomes) for homologues to known ncRNAs.