Selection of key New Zealand research databases and websites for finding out about our people, culture, history, places and government. Includes resources for searching across New Zealand library collections. Be aware many of the other databases in the other section also include New Zealand.
Databases
The following require your library card and pin to access.
Australia/New Zealand Points of View Reference Centre
Range of perspectives on different issues relevant to New Zealand and Australia, for example civil rights, crime and punishment, politics and government.
Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre
Information from magazines, reference books and newspapers focussing on New Zealand and Australian content.
Treaty of Waitangi Collection
Searchable digital collection of books from Bridget Williams Books. It combines award-winning histories and social commentary from acclaimed authors.
Recommended websites
You may find the following useful
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
Now part of Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand – explore over 3000 biographies of significant New Zealanders. It does not include people who are alive.
Careers New Zealand
Comprehensive resource with information on planning your career, study options, job hunting tips and sites, resources on preparing a CV and preparing for an interview.
Community Law Manual
Comprehensive and accessible guide to New Zealand law. It is a good starting point to search for information on law and legal issues.
DigitalNZ
Searchable resource for New Zealand aerial photos, posters, newspapers, artwork, research papers and more from the digital stores of libraries, museums, archives, communities, and government.
FindNZarticles
Allows searching across a number of New Zealand libraries’ and institutions’ indexes to New Zealand newspapers and journals.
Govt.nz
Guide for finding and using New Zealand Government services.
Index New Zealand
Access to abstracts and descriptions of articles from a range of New Zealand journals and newspapers since the 1950s. Not full text.
New Zealand Electronic Text Collection
Comprises significant New Zealand and Pacific Island texts held by Victoria University of Wellington Library. It encompasses both digitalised heritage material and born-digital resources.
New Zealand Gazette
The official Government newspaper and authoritative journal of constitutional record, published since 1841.
New Zealand History
Informative resource covering a range of topics, such as culture and society, politics and government, as well as events, people and places.
Papers Past
Digitalised historical New Zealand and Pacific newspapers, magazines and journals, letters and diaries, and parliamentary papers, from the National Library. It includes the Bay of Plenty Times up to 1940.
Statistics New Zealand
Access statistics collected and reported by Statistics NZ on the environment, economy and society. Includes information on the census: the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand. It takes a snapshot of the people in NZ.
Te Ara Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
Comprehensive guide to our peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy and society.
Te Puna Search
Web based search engine from the National Library for finding material held in New Zealand libraries and worldwide.