Our study resources
Our libraries subscribe to a number of digital resources so you can use them for free. These include magazine and newspaper articles, biographies, health, funding, science and business information, in various formats, including images, sound, video clips and other multimedia.
Some of these resources are subscription databases, so you'll need to sign in with your library card number if you're accessing them from outside the library.
If you need to reset your library card PIN/password, search for, renew or reserve physical library items, visit our online catalogue.
History
Mau Mahara - Heritage photographs and archives
Mau Mahara is the online database for the Kāpiti Coast District Libraries Heritage Collections. Mau Mahara provides easy online access to a rich store of images and archival material relating to the Kāpiti Coast and surrounding areas. The Mau Mahara database is a work in progress and we are continuing to add new photos and additional details. It is not a complete listing of our Heritage Collection holdings.
Biographies
Find out about the people who have helped shape our country, in the online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB).
Family history – genealogy
Ancestry Library Edition is a subscription database available free on library computers. It is the largest family history site online with more than 1.5 billion names worldwide.
These collections include the following records from around the world, including New Zealand:
- Births, Deaths and Marriage records
- burials and obituaries listings
- census and electoral rolls
- military records
- immigration and travel lists.
Full access to the Ancestry Library Edition is available only in the library, via the APNK (Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa) public computers, due to vendor licence restrictions. We recommend that you pre-book a public computer on the day you wish to use this database.
Other history websites
- Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand is a comprehensive guide to New Zealand’s peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy and society.
- Births, Deaths and Marriages historical records of the New Zealand Government
- Papers Past contains more than two million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals. The collection covers the years 1839 to 1945 and includes 77 publications from all regions of New Zealand.
- Browse the digitised Manuscripts and Pictorial collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, including 100,000 pages from the papers of Sir Donald McLean and more than 70,000 New Zealand and Pacific images.
More local history resources can be found on our Heritage & Māori pages.
Funding, law and business
givUS (previously Fundview) - funding information for voluntary organisations.
givME (previously BreakOut) - funding information for students, researchers, sports people, artists and those wanting professional development.
The New Zealand Legal Information Institute is a collection of free New Zealand legal materials and especially useful for cases and decisions.
The New Zealand Legislation website provides Acts, Bills, Statutory Regulations, Supplementary Order Papers, and links to Deemed Regulations.
The official New Zealand road code is a user-friendly guide to New Zealand’s traffic law and safe driving practices.
The New Zealand Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of New Zealand, covering business proceedings, bankruptcies, land transfer notices, and departmental and parliamentary notices. Records are uploaded weekly and date back to September 1993.
Health and sustainable living
The Mayo Clinic is a reputable U.S. organisation. The website has information about many health issues and conditions.
The Cochrane Library is a collection of regularly updated evidence-based healthcare databases that can help clinicians and consumers make decisions about appropriate and effective health care.
Healthify is a non-profit community initiative combining the efforts of a wide range of partner and supporter organisations overseen by the Health Navigator Charitable Trust. It provides one place for New Zealanders to find health information and self-care resources.
Medline Plus is produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, this database brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand.
Other New Zealand sources
Digital New Zealand - Find New Zealand digital material that is hidden or buried on the internet.
New Zealand Government - This site is where you can find information, images and resources from all New Zealand government agencies and government funded sites.
Statistics New Zealand is a government department and New Zealand’s national statistical office. It is New Zealand's major source of official statistics.
On Te Papa Collections you can access information on more than 200,000 objects in the collections - from specimens collected during Captain Cook’s first expedition to New Zealand in 1769/70, to the costume worn by Xena: Warrior Princess.