Databases and websites
Introducing Tahi
Tahi brings together the datasets of RNZ, New Zealand Geographic and a number of public sources including Te Ara Encyclopedia to offer Kiwis a trustworthy AI application to answer local questions.
You can access this deep knowledge base knowing that it is build on quality sources with strong local context, and supports our knowledge culture rather than undermining it.
Databases
Family History
Ancestry Library Edition
This database can only be accessed from inside the Library.
Provides access to census records, military records, land records, probate records, church records, directories, passenger lists and more. It includes New Zealand electoral rolls spanning 1853 – 1981, as well as Māori electoral rolls spanning 1908 – 1919.
With a bank of billions of digitized records, and access to some of the world’s most renowned historical databases, Findmypast allows customers to connect to people, both past and present, and visualize their family story in more detail than ever before.
General Reference
Eric
Find full text articles on education material as well as citations to other related information.
Index New Zealand
Abstracts of articles from New Zealand and Pacific journals from 1950s onwards.
Find NZ Articles
Index to multiple databases.
NZ Sign Language
NZ sign language – free online course.
Teach Sign Language
Info and resources.
NZ Sign Language dictionary
NZ Sign language dictionary available online.
News and media
NewsBank Access Global
Read full-text content from local, regional, and national New Zealand newspapers, as well as international newspapers.
Medianet
Our partners at Ngā Taonga have brought together over 700 items of film, television and audio history that were made in, around or about our region.
Websites
Government
New Zealand Government
Information about Parliament, cabinet and all government departments.
Local Councils
Information about Local Government in New Zealand.
NZ Legislation
NZ statutes, bills and statutory regulations.
Careers NZ
Advice and support about careers and CV templates.
Road Code
Licence information and study guide for the road code for cars, motorbikes and heavy vehicles.
Transport Accident Investigation Commission
Investigations into aviation, marine, and rail accidents and incidents.
Research
Statistics NZ
Statistical information on population, economics, regions and more.
DigitalNZ Ā–Tihi o Aotearoa
Connects to reliable digital collections from libraries, museums, galleries and more. Includes interviews, video, newspaper clippings, maps, photographs, audio and artworks from past to today.
Papers Past
Search historic newspapers including Southland papers and NZ Parliamentary Papers.
Te Ara
Encyclopedia of NZ history, culture, places and more. Includes Dictionary of NZ Biography.
NZ Electronic Text Centre
Digitised texts of NZ and Pacific items.
Hocken Library
Hocken’s collections celebrate the histories, cultures and natural environments of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific and Antarctica with special emphasis on southern New Zealand. Includes Hockensnapshot – photographs of NZ people and places.
Archives New Zealand
Archives New Zealand holdings include taonga such as the Treaty of Waitangi te Tiriti o Waitangi, government documents, maps, paintings, photographs and films.
Alexander Turnbull Library
The Alexander Turnbull Library provides world-class research services. Turnbull Library staff are experts in all kinds of topic areas, and research in general.
The Treaty of Waitangi Collection
This collection is a digital resource from Bridget Williams Books (BWB), and aims to provide a new and authoritative home for Treaty scholarship online, with more books to be added over time.
Family History
Invercargill Cemetery Search
Allows you to search the Eastern, Bluff, Green Point, and Saint Johns Cemeteries, and the Invercargill Crematorium databases.
Southland District Cemeteries
Search the Southland District cemeteries for ancestors.
Births Deaths and Marriages Online
Provides historical data only.
Papers Past
Digitised, searchable historic newspapers including the Southland Times 1862-1945.
NZ Yesteryears
Passenger lists for ships that came to Southland.
Online Cenotaph
A biographical resource which contains information on people who served in the New Zealand military.
WW100
Marks the First World War centenary from 2014-2019.
Māori
He Tohu Exhibition
He Tohu is a permanent exhibition of three iconic constitutional documents that helped shape Aotearoa New Zealand and what it has become today.
Journal of the Polynesian Society
Social, cultural, historical information about the past and present lives of indigenous Pacific peoples, including Maori.
Kā Huru Manu – the Ngāi Tahu Atlas
Interactive mapping of the traditional place names and associated stories within the Ngāi Tahu rohe (tribal area).
Kareao – the Ngāi Tahu Archive
Comprehensive site created by Ngāi Tahu which provides access to the tribal archive, including manuscripts, photographs, maps, biographies, oral histories, taonga and audio-visual material.
Maori Land Court
What is Maori land and how to apply to the Maori Land Court.
Maori Land Court Minute Books Index
Minutes were kept of all Maori Land Court proceedings and this is an index only to the Minute Books.
Maori Land Legislation
Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.
Maori Land Online
Ownership, trustees and information about customary Maori land.
Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu
Everything Ngai Tahu.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s founding document. This site covers the events that led up to the Treaty. It explains what is written in the documents, and the crucial differences between the Māori and English versions.
The Treaty of Waitangi Collection
This collection is a digital resource from Bridget Williams Books (BWB), and aims to provide a new and authoritative home for Treaty scholarship online, with more books to be added over time.
