Click each category below to see the online resources we have available. Most resources can be accessed from anywhere, with no login required. Special access conditions will be noted in the resource description.
Press Reader
Read today's newspapers & magazines online in full-colour, full-page format. Over 7000 publications, from 80 countries in 40 languages, available from New Zealand and around the world.
Need some help setting up your account, check out our Youtube video HERE
Requires your library card & pin number to access. You can create your own account which allows you to save your favourites. Please note: Due to circumstances outside of our control, you can only access Stuff LTD titles in the library.
Road to IELTS General
IELTS preparation and practice. Road to IELTS is your best possible online preparation and practice resource for IELTS. With over 120 hours of interactive activities, advice videos and hints and tips on question types, as well as downloadable practice tests.
Requires your library card & pin number to access.
Busy Things
Busy Things is a collection of educational games and activities to help kids learn between the ages of 3 and 11 — and to make it fun! Subjects include English, maths, science, geography, music, climate change, coding & much more!
In library & at home (requires your library card number) access
Ancestry Library Edition
Trace your family history, includes records from United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Ancestry is a comprehensive source of information for conducting genealogical and local history research with more than 1.5 billion names from over 4,000 collections.
Can only be accessed from the library and requires your library card and PIN number.
Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives
The Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR), sometimes known as "the A to Js", is a collection of government-related reports published every year from 1858. The reports cover many subjects, documenting the work of government departments and a wide range of other activities carried out by, or of interest to, the government of the day.
Matamata-Piako District Cemetery Records
Matamata-Piako burial records are now available online. They allow you to find someone by first and last name to see the location of their burial/memorial in our cemeteries.
The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection
The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection comprises 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.
Papers Past
Papers Past contains more than two million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers, periodicals, journals and parliamentary papers. The collection covers the years 1839 to 1945 and includes over 68 publications from all regions of New Zealand.
The Journal of the Polynesian Society
The Polynesian Society is a non-profit organization based at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Founded in 1892, the Society's aim was the scholarly study of past and present New Zealand Māori and other Pacific Island peoples and cultures. All issues of the Journal are available on this site except for a rolling embargo on the most recent two years.
Kauwhata Reo
With the continued growth of te reo Māori learners there is a need to make it easier to find te reo Māori resources. This site aims to develop a repository to support those teaching and learning te reo Māori to search for and access relevant content, tools and resources. They are still in the early stages of development and more features and content will be coming soon.
Māori Land Online
Provides a snapshot of current ownership, trustee, memorial and block information for land that falls within the jurisdiction of the Māori Land Court under Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 and other legislation
Dictionary New Zealand Biography
The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography forms part of Te Ara. It includes the definitive texts of all the biographies previously published in print, and additional biographies which are available only online. It also includes te reo Maori versions of all the biographies relating to Maori subjects. New biographies are added each year.
Standards New Zealand (Building Standards)
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (Building System Performance) has funded the following building standards, used for Building Code compliance, for free download.
Te Ara
Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand offers many pathways to understanding New Zealand. It is a comprehensive guide to the country's peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy, institutions and society.
Matamata-Piako District Council Grants and Funding
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Community Group Funding
Just some of the potential funding available for community groups in the Waikato region.
The Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS)
Provides grants to non-profit organisations delivering community-based social services that contribute to achieving locally-determined outcomes.
The Rural Communities Trust was established to provide financial assistance to groups, families and individuals in small rural areas who due to their location may otherwise be disadvantaged.
Generally donations paid should provide some enduring or demonstrable community benefit. As an example this may be asset or facilities funding or contributing towards community or sports development projects.
In general, Trust Waikato funds not-for-profit groups that: operate mainly in the Waikato region; have a bank account, annual financial statements and are an incorporated society or registered charitable trust.
National Foundation for Deaf & Hard of Hearing – Trust Scholarships
Offer a variety of funds to help individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing with their students or funding for community group projects and activities that have a direct benefit to New Zealanders who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
Internet NZ - Digital Inclusion Grant
InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa community grants provide contestable funding to support community-led initiatives that extend the availability, use, and benefit of the Internet in Aotearoa.
New Zealand History Research Trust
Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grants, funded by the New Zealand History Research Trust Fund, support historians, researchers and writers working on non-fiction projects that will significantly enhance our understanding of New Zealand's past.
Any individual or group can apply.
Individual Scholarships
Just some of the scholarships available to individuals in the Waikato
This Scholarship is available to registered tribal members, residing in NZ and studying at a NZ Tertiary Institution pursuing higher education, whether university, technical institute, a private training entity or waananga.
Waikato Regional Council Scholarships
There are an array of scholarships available from WRC, including the
Roger Harris (Waihou Valley Scheme) Scholarship, specifically dedicated to helping students whose families live in the Waihou Piako zone studying civil engineering or resource management with a particular focus on river and catchment management.
How do I use these resources?
Niche Academy has handy tutorials that can help you learn how to use many of these resources (and many more) at your own pace. Click the 'How to use' buttons on the resources listed above or go straight to Niche Academy using the button below.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Also see the wide range of resources available in our libraries, including free computers and internet, book collections for every age and ability, and much more!