Connecting to the Turnbull Collection from home
14 February 2022
Artist unknown: Only fresh lemons make real lemonade [1920s?] ATL Ref: Eph-D-FRUIT-1920s-02
The collections of the National Library Te Puna Mātauranga and the Alexander Turnbull Library aren’t just books and manuscripts; they also hold a large (and rapidly growing) collection of digital and digitised content, much of which you can access from home.
This link will explain in detail:
- information about how to contact our librarians
- instructions for finding information in our digital collections
- using our e-resources, including information about finding information in a database
- links to other great resources you can use from home.
What we can help you with
What we undertake as an online research enquiry:
Enquiries that cannot be responded to on the phone within ten minutes, and written or email enquiries, may be referred to our distant enquiry service ‘Ask a librarian’.
Depending on the nature of the enquiry, this service provides:
- up to 2 hours of research on most enquiries
- a list of the resources that librarians have consulted to respond to your enquiry
- guidance on the most appropriate information resources for you to continue with your own research.
Where copies of documents are an outcome of the research, there may be a charge for the reproduction of the documents. We will let you know the charge before we do the work.
Most enquiries will receive a response within 7-10 working days. For more complex enquiries we may need to discuss a longer response time with you.
Below are examples of things we can help you with.
- Advice on how to start your research, where to look for the information you might need, what other organisations might be able to help.
- Access to subject specialists in Māori, Pacific, Music, Cartoons, Manuscripts, Photographs, Children’s Literature and Oral History.
- Finding collection items that you would like to view — if you can’t come to the Library in Wellington then we can take a look at it for you and let you know of any relevant information.
- Facilitating the copying of material on your behalf, whether it be an image or some pages of text that you would like, we can help you obtain copies. Find out more about copying
‘Ask a librarian’
Our librarians are here to help!
We have a team of Librarians on hand to help you find what you’re looking for. We can also support you if you just want some advice with getting started on your research.
The best way to contact the Alexander Turnbull Library is by using our Ask a librarian service.
Stay safe and keep connected.