21 Digital Resources

A resource for family history researchers.

Enter names and places where your ancestors might have lived. View images of documents such as census records. Visit the Central Library and Community Libraries.

The link will only work if you use a library computer or a device connected through the library wi-fi.

The video streaming service of Contemporary Arts Media and Artfilms.

Content that can entertain, educate and inform: Artfilms is streaming hundreds of exclusive educational videos from top artists and independent producers with unlimited, simultaneous usage. This Includes documentaries about art, feature films, archival footage, workshop films covering teaching techniques and methods, and portrait films and interviews.

A great starting point for anybody researching notable figures in history.

Biography In Context offers authoritative reference content alongside magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day newsmakers, it’s continuously updated to ensure students have access to the latest information.

The online home for deep analysis of the big issues facing New Zealand today: housing, inequality, climate change, child poverty, the environment, migration, financial crisis, and more.

One authoritative resource of life on these islands, from earliest beginnings to present day. Comprising 90+ titles from over 30 years of history and biography publishing from Bridget Williams Books.

The online home for Bridget Williams Books reference publishing and accounts of Deaf experience, freshly rendered using rich multimedia and visuals.

The online home for the acclaimed series of “short books” on big subjects from great New Zealand writers.

An authoritative home for treaty scholarship online, access to full content text books about the Treaty.

This collection is a landmark digital resource from Bridget Williams Books (BWB). The collection is primarily designed to provide a new and authoritative home for Treaty scholarship online, optimised for mobile and tablet devices.

Great writing about women’s lives, issues and histories.

This popular encyclopedia is available for library customers to use online.

Britannica provides timely, relevant and trustworthy information. Choose your level and get started.

Articles on women’s issues including social, environmental, educational, and family concerns with an international focus.

A family history and genealogy website containing over 550 million family history records.

A constantly updated family history and genealogy website containing over 550 million family history records. Available at the Central Library's second floor.

The link will only work if you use a library computer.

A great resource for curious travelers and serious researchers.

This special collection allows for focused study of all areas of the hospitality industry, including the cultural aspects of travel and leisure activities, the economic impact of tourism and more. It provides unparalleled coverage of both the historical and current state of affairs in the hospitality and tourism field.

The National Library of New Zealand's searchable database that contains abstracts and descriptions of articles from over 1000 New Zealand periodicals and newspapers.

The National Library of New Zealand's searchable database that contains abstracts and descriptions of articles from about 1000 New Zealand periodicals and newspapers, including some from earlier in the 20th century to the current day.

Information on literary figures from all time periods writing in such genres as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, journalism, and more.

Literature Resource Center offers up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism, and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world. Its materials support interdisciplinary approaches, information literacy, and the development of critical thinking skills.

Manawatū Heritage is an online repository where you can search, share and download thousands of photographs and other items about the Manawatū region.

Manawatū Heritage is a living heritage tool which encourages active participation from the community by accepting digital uploads and written articles from the public. By creating a log-in, you can upload your own stories and photographs to the repository as well as comment on individual items, share your findings via email and social media, and download low or high resolution copies of out of copyright materials.

Need to look at one or both sides of a controversial social issue? This clarifies the facts of each topic as well as the arguments for and against.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context is a premier online resource covering today’s hottest social issues. This cross-curricular research tool supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Its informed, differing views present each side of an issue and help students develop information literacy, critical thinking skills, and the confidence to draw their own valid conclusions.

Archives Central is a fully-searchable catalogue of Council Archives, including a growing collection of digitised archives, sourced from participating New Zealand local authorities.
The purpose of Archives Central is to make Council archives more accessible for the community and easier to use.
Click on the logos above to view your chosen council’s homepage and search their listings; or use the search box at the top right of this page to search over the whole site.

This database lists the Community Archives and Research Files that are available for research purposes in the Ian Matheson City Archives.  The Community Archives are records of local organisations, businesses, individuals and their families, and are generally primary documents. Research files are an amalgamation of resources around frequently requested topics. They may contain references to primary information, as well as notes, newspaper articles and secondary sources of information. 

This database provides instant access to 5000 plus newspapers and magazines, from 100 countries in 60 languages on your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone.

This database provides instant access to 5000 plus newspapers and magazines, from 100 countries in 60 languages on your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. As well as current issues, there is an archive dating back 90 days. New features offered with Press Reader are interactive tables of content, foreign language translation (in 17 different languages) social sharing and text-to-voice conversion.

A resource that helps students understand the world around them, from antiquity to the present.

World History in Context provides an overview of world history covering the most-studied events, periods, cultures, civilizations, religions, conflicts, wars, ideologies, cultural movements, and people.