[iBook] re booting my ibook

[Lynette Brook]

I inherited a 2002 ibook from my daughter and used it for a couple of years.  A few months ago it died and I could not get it to go. I am not very knowledgeable about fixing anything wrong with computers.  i just use them! 
When my son visited recently he managed to put the contents of the ibook hard drive onto my new mac mini and he told me I needed the original program disk to reboot it and I might find it would start up again.  However I have never had the original disk and my daughter can't find it. (Neither my son nor daughter live in New Zealand where I am so I really need to find some local help)

My question is, what disk do I need to restart it?

From memory, this computer ran OS 9 originally but by the time I got it it was running OS 10.something.  i can't be sure which one.  Can anyone suggest what I look for to reboot it?  I am hoping to find a friend with the required disk, but I need to know what I am asking for.

Lynette