Why use AtoJs Online?
The Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR), sometimes known as "the A to Js", are 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.
The AJHR is one of the most valuable tools for understanding how New Zealand has developed from its earliest colonial beginnings to the present. They are important official records of New Zealand’s social, economic and political history, and are a crucial source for researchers working across many fields.
Read more about the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives
What's available on AtoJs Online?
AtoJs Online contains 166 volumes from between 1858 to 1914. All the reports in the volumes are fully searchable and can also be browsed by session, volume and section name.
What next for AtoJs Online?
The AtoJs Online site was launched in August 2010, with a selection of volumes from the nineteenth century. We intend to add further volumes on a regular basis, dependent on user demand.
The collaborative digitisation programme
The National Library of New Zealand is managing a collaborative programme to digitise the AJHRs so they are easy to access and freely available online. The digitised volumes are added to AtoJs Online as they become available.
Digitising the complete set of AJHRs is a long-term project that will take several years of effort, and contributions from many different stakeholders to be successful. The project has a Steering Group, whose members represent:
- The National Library of New Zealand
- The Council of New Zealand University Librarians
- The National Digital Forum
- The New Zealand Law Librarians Association
- The Office of the Clerk of the House
- The Parliamentary Library
The initial project team was supported by an Expert Group and a Technical Group, with representation from historians, Treaty of Waitangi researchers, librarians, genealogy research experts and Parliament.
The volumes that we have digitised so far have been donated by the Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago, the University of Canterbury Library, the Alexander Turnbull Library, and the Parliamentary Library.
Many other organisations have contributed to the digitisation effort. See a full list on the AtoJs Online introduction page.
If you would like to contribute funding to this project, or have any other enquiries, please email us.
