We all know the how important Waitangi Day is to New Zealand, but what do you really know about the Treaty of Waitangi?
This is the question I asked myself this year. I decided to investigate further, and Christchurch City Libraries has an excellent eResource The Treaty of Waitangi Collection from Bridget Williams Books. This platform contains some key texts on the Treaty and the Waitangi Tribunal. There a texts of all different sizes so you can –
- have a quick read,
- do some in depth research
- or search all the texts for the key points you are interested in.
The one grey area for me was translation of the Treaty from English into Māori and reading about how this was translated gave me a greater understanding of why controversy still surrounds the Treaty today. I found it fascinating to read descriptions of what actually happened at Waitangi in 1840 during the signing of the Treaty.
If you are studying and need to cite any of the texts, there is a citation tool. You can choose your citation style and it provides the correct citation for you.
Check out this collection as it is something every New Zealander should know more about.
Find out more
Do you find that appealing offerings on TV are rather meagre these days? If so, why not check out Access Video?
Access Video is one of our many eResources. It gives you access to thousands of streaming world-class documentaries, award-winning educational films, and helpful instructional videos on every known subject. The videos can be watched as a whole or just in segments. Some titles even have transcripts so you can read along if your hearing is impaired.
The library has recently added over 100 new titles to this collection. Although most are about some aspect of American life, there are many of interest to those of us Down Under.
They include a group about dance theatre, mainly set in New York, e.g.:
- David Rousseve, Part 1 and Part 2, which include some of his work and interviews
- Douglas Dunn & Jim Neu #1, which pokes fun at at America’s obsession with health clubs
- Jeff McMahon & Brian Webb, a multi-disciplinary work that looks at the issue of intimacy in the age of AIDS
- Sosua: Make a Better World, which tells the story of Jewish and Dominican teenagers in New York City’s Washington Heights, who together with the legendary theatre director, Liz Swados, put on a musical about the Dominican rescue of 800 Jews from Hitler’s Germany.
There are also many on important social issues, such as
- Loose Change, which challenges the official record of September 11, 2001
- Trump: What’s the Deal? which investigates the reality behind this most public of figures
- Chernobyl’s Café: Chernobyl is emerging as a popular tourist destination, with local industry on the rise
- My Jihad, a film about the growing number of young Muslims from all over Europe who are leaving their home towns to fight for ISIS
- Football Hell, where it is alleged that 4,000 workers will die in Qatar to put on the 2022 Football World Cup
- Allow Me to Die, which follows the stories of two Belgians considering assisted suicide, exploring the moral difficulties behind the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world
- Abortion: Ancient and Modern, which explores the ethical, legal and religious dimensions of the abortion debate
- Reflections on Media Ethics, which includes in-depth discussions with renowned filmmakers, journalists and academics, and interviews with Noam Chomsky, Albert Maysles, George Stoney, Amy Goodman, Jon Alpert and Mary Warnock
And for the Shakespeare fans or newbies, there is The Tempest (S1), presenting the Bard’s work as an animated masterpiece.
So instead of shaking your head in dismay at what’s on the box, try out Access Video – all you need to access it is your library card number and PIN/password.