There are many useful databases and websites with New Zealand content, and a few are listed below. Some of these are publicly available but others are only accessible to staff and students of the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga (by signing in with your account details), or via your local public or school library.
To locate databases on a specific subject area, check the relevant subject guide or Hocken research guide.
Archives New Zealand Collections search
Archives New Zealand's system for documenting and making available government records in the context of their creation and use. Collections search contains descriptive information for the records held by Archives New Zealand.
Audioculture is the 'noisy library of New Zealand music' and documents local music creators, music scenes, and audiences through articles, sound, videos, and interviews. Audioculture is a repository for the stories and aural tāonga of New Zealand music.
An initiative that aims to make New Zealand digital content easy to find, share and use. This includes content from government departments, publicly funded organisations, the private sector, and community groups.
Early New Zealand Books Collection
A collection developed by University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services staff that aims to provide a complete online full-text and keyword-searchable corpus of books about New Zealand which were published in the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century.
A searchable database that contains abstracts and descriptions of articles from New Zealand periodicals and newspapers. The periodicals range from academic research journals to magazines. This database is not full text, so you need to check Library Search|Ketu for holdings of the relevant publication and then order it to view the article.
New Zealand Electronic Text Collection
A collection of significant New Zealand and Pacific Island texts and materials held by Victoria University of Wellington Library. This encompasses both digitised heritage material and born-digital resources.
New Zealand Index (Knowledge Basket)
A combined database of indexes of New Zealand newspapers, magazines, and journals. The indexes can be searched individually or separately.
New Zealand Legal Information Institute
A joint project of the University of Otago Faculty of Law, University of Canterbury, and the Australasian Legal Information Institute that provides free access to judgments, legislation, law reform and a variety of New Zealand law journals. It includes digitised copies of the New Zealand Gazette for 1845-1846 and 1913-1992.
Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision (formerly The New Zealand Film Archive) cares for a diverse collection of film and television, sound and radio recordings, video games, posters, artefacts and documents on New Zealand film and television. Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision holds nearly 800,000 items, dating back to 1895.
NZ on Screen is New Zealand's online showcase for local film, television, documentary and music videos. There are over 4,500 videos to view, from early New Zealand film to contemporary advertising and music video. While most items are short excerpts or trailers, some titles include full length episodes, or feature length films or documentaries.
Discover and access New Zealand’s most comprehensive selection of research papers and related resources. This site includes peer-reviewed and other research from universities, polytechnics, and research organisations throughout New Zealand.
OUR Archive (Otago University Research Archive)
Access University of Otago quality research outputs, including theses, journal articles, discussion papers, reports, books.
OUR Heritage (Otago University Research Heritage)
A window into the cultural, heritage and historical material within the University of Otago's Hocken Collections and Special Collections.
Contains digitised New Zealand newspapers published between 1839 and 1979. All the newspaper titles on the site can be searched and browsed by date, region, or title. The site also provides access to a range of digitised magazines and journals for the period 1861-2017, and parliamentary papers including the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR) 1858-1950.
A newspaper database providing access to the current issue (and up to a 90 day backfile) for over 3,000 titles worldwide. The newspapers replicate the print format and include major New Zealand titles such as the Otago Daily Times, Dominion Post, Press, New Zealand Herald, Sunday Star Times, and Southland Times.
Scattered Seeds – He Purapura Marara
An archive of memories, mementos and stories gathered by the Dunedin Public Libraries that was established with a donation from the Dunedin Lebanese Community. It includes digitised photos and provides access to the libraries' newspaper index (covering publications from 1851 to 1992).
A selective index of articles from local Dunedin and Otago newspapers and other sources created by the Dunedin Public Libraries. It contains records dated from 1993 onwards, and some earlier periods, for example the 1850s, the 1930s and 1940s.
Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
A comprehensive guide to New Zealand's peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy, institutions and society. Hosted by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage it includes biographies of over 3,000 New Zealanders who 'made their mark' on New Zealand.
Provides access to descriptions of the unpublished manuscripts, oral history and pictures collections of New Zealand and Pacific material in the Alexander Turnbull Library.