National Library Moving to Archives New Zealand
The relocation details of the National Library’s Wellington building, including to Archives New Zealand, have just been publicly released. The following link at www.natlib.govt.nz/building provides detailed information about the redevelopment, collection access and questions and answers.
The National Library is also rolling out a communications plan that includes media advertising, letters to key stakeholders, and an information flyer, which will be available next week in the Wellington office.
Ground Floor Refurbishment Update
Phase one of the refurbishment of the Wellington office ground floor is nearing completion and phase two will begin next week.
One of our most significant accomplishments of phase one has been developing the Archives Gateway situated near the main entrance on the ground floor. This area will be a place where you can:
- Learn more about Archives New Zealand
- View audio/visual material from our holdings
- Find out about what we do, what we have and how we can help you with a quick and/ or preliminary research
- Order archival material that can then be viewed in the Reading Room
- Register as a reader
- View microfilm and reproductions of some of our archival holding
We have also developed a new public register room, which will eventually hold some of the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) collections. We have upgraded the finding aids area which is located where the old Reading Room entrance was, refreshed the locker room and developed the space for our new readers lounge.
Phase Two – 2 November to 4 December 2009
Phase two involves upgrading the Reading Room, a complete makeover of the public toilets and some changes to staff toilets. This will probably be the most disruptive period of time through our refurbishment project.
The changes that will affect you directly are:
- From 4 November all members of the public will need to use temporary toilet facilities located off the stairwell near the existing toilets. There will be plenty of signage to show you where to go. If you need to use facilities for the disabled, please speak to the staff at Reception who will arrange for you to be escorted upstairs to use staff facilities.
- From 2 November the Reading Room entrance will again be moved to a temporary location just beyond the lifts. The temporary space is smaller than the current Reading Room, however you will still have access to all of the same information that you do now.
The Reading Room may be completed earlier than 4 December. We will keep you updated with regular notices about how this work is proceeding.
Please note that our Reading Room hours will remain as 10.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday until early January 2010 and that the Constitution Room is closed until early 2010 (this includes the Treaty of Waitangi). We do apologise for any inconvenience that this work may cause. Please contact Jolene Armadoros if you have any questions or concerns:
Jolene Armadoros, Project Manager, Ph: 0-4-931 6982, E-mail: Jolene.armadoros at archives.govt.nz
Welcome to Archives New Zealand’s new website
Archives New Zealand’s new website has several improvements aimed to make it easier and quicker for you to find information.
We have organised the site based on how people search for information, which should make it easier for you to navigate through the site to find what you need. For example to find out how to look after your archives you would go to ‘Advice on Records and Archiving’. This section has resources to help you create and maintain your records and archives as well as tools to help you manage your information.
Our online services can now be accessed directly from the homepage. We’ve also added an area where you can go directly to information useful to the type of work or research you are doing. If you are a teacher, this link would take you directly to resources for schools or, if you are a family historian, to information on accessing genealogical records.
We’ve also installed a new search engine which will return results quicker and more accurately than before.
We will continue to review the site and look at ways we can make it easier for you to use as well as improve the services we offer online.
All Blacks line up in NZDF files
The military details of some former All Blacks who died in World War One are contained in the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel records now available on Archives New Zealand’s online search engine Archway.
Thirteen former All Blacks were killed in World War One — four of them within a fortnight in June 1917 when the New Zealand Division took part in the assault on the Messines ridge.
The most famous former All Black to lose his life during the war was Dave Gallaher, who captained the All Black Originals on their 1905-06 tour of Britain, France and North America. Gallaher was mortally wounded during the attack on Gravenstafel Spur and died a few hours later. He is buried at Nine Elms Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium.
The Gallaher Shield, awarded to the winner of Auckland’s premier club competition since 1922 and the Dave Gallaher Cup, awarded to the winner of the first rugby test between New Zealand and France in each calendar year since 2000, were both named in his honour.
The personnel records contain such information as next of kin, a summary of the date of enlistment, embarkation and discharge dates and length of service spent at home and overseas. They also record an individual’s postings to military units as well as promotions, medal entitlements, decorations and any gratuity payments made to them or their families after the war. Marriage and children’s details are also often recorded.
Archives Support Assistant (ASA) Norm Gough is in charge of the daily process of digitising the files. He says there are approximately 4600 of the 128,000 files now online.
“This has been a good learning curve for the staff involved in the project. It’s been a great effort and we have had good feedback. It means the department will provide a much improved customer service for people wanting to access these files,” said Norm.
To view NZDF personnel records go to Archway and enter ‘digitised record (surname)’ into the search function.
The NZDF personnel records available to view on Archway are for the following former All Blacks:
Albert Downing died 8 August 1915 at Gallipoli, aged 29 (26 matches for the All Blacks)
Henry Dewar, died 19 August 1915 at Gallipoli, aged 31 (16 matches for the All Blacks)
Frank Wilson, died 19 September 1916 at Somme, aged 31 (2 matches for the All Blacks)
Robert Black, died 21 September 1916 at Somme, aged 23 (6 matches for the All Blacks)
George Sellars, died 7 June 1917, at Messines, aged 31 (15 matches for the All Blacks)
James Baird, died 7 June 1917, in France aged 23 (1 match for the All Blacks)
Reginald Taylor, died 20 June 1917, at Messines, aged 28 (2 matches for the All Blacks)
James McNeece, died 21 June 1917, at Messines, aged 31 (11 matches for the All Blacks)
Dave Gallaher, died 4 October 1917, at Passchendaele, aged 43 (36 matches for the All Blacks)
‘Jum’ Turtill, died 9 April 1918, in France, aged 38 (1 match for the All Blacks)
Eric Harper, died 30 April 1918, in Palestine, aged 40 (11 matches for the All Blacks)
Ernest Dodd, died 11 September 1918, in France, aged 38 (3 matches for the All Blacks)
Alex Ridland, died 5 November 1918, in France, aged 36 (6 matches for the All Blacks)
Taking action on managing digital information
Archives New Zealand's Digital Continuity team are raising awareness of the Digital Continuity Action Plan among public sector agencies based in the regions.
Dunedin Regional Archivist, Peter Miller says he was delighted that the first Digital Continuity Action Plan Roadshow was held in Dunedin at the University of Otago’s Centre for Innovation (on Monday 28 September).
“A group of fourteen people attended from the University, local government, and public offices to hear Digital Continuity Manager Evelyn Wareham and Adviser Mick Crouch outline what has been achieved so far, future plans, and expectations for managing digital information efficiently in the future,” Peter Miller said.
Two of the biggest public sector agencies in Dunedin are the University of Otago and the Dunedin City Council. Evelyn met with them separately before the forum and says they both have a strong understanding of the work Archives New Zealand is doing with the Digital Continuity Action Plan. They have been assessing their current standards and policies around managing digital information she says but still had a few issues they needed to talk through.
“One of the big issues for the council is property records. With their current resources they anticipate it would take about 80 years to digitise what they hold. They are also worried about small councils and local authorities, whether managing their own digital records, from creation to archiving, may be too much for them without the resources the larger councils have.
“Otago University on the other hand has to think about how to manage data and records from academic research as well as the huge amounts of records they accumulate during the day-to-day administration of the university.
“Members of the record keeping community who attended the forum were also very interested in what we had to say. Some of them hadn’t really been thinking about it so it was all new information for them,” said Evelyn Wareham.
Feedback from the forum was positive with attendees saying it was “…very interesting and very impressive to hear of these developments…excellent, practical/demystifying/useful – made you feel you could do something” and that they "…Found the hints on how to deal with digital material in a practical way very helpful. It reinforced knowledge of practices we are doing, as well as giving us some further ideas to take this forward – setting polices, forming communities of practice."
The Roadshow will be in Christchurch 21 October, with visits to Auckland planned for November.
Archives New Zealand Training Programme an Eye Opener for Solomon Islands Visitors
A six–week training programme hosted by Archives New Zealand has been a real eye opener says Solomon Island National Archives’ Records Management Officer Bernard Risu and Senior Researcher Louisa Laekeni.
Bernard and Louisa arrived at Archives New Zealand’s Wellington Office at the beginning of August. During their time here they have been shown many aspects of archiving, including appraisal and arrangement and description as well as preservation and recordkeeping. They say what they have learnt will be very useful in their work back home.
Louisa says, “The importance of proper archiving is only just being realised in the Solomons. The time I’ve spent in New Zealand has given me an opportunity to see what archives can really be like. We have seen a wide range of different archives and have learnt a lot that we can use when we get back.”
Bernard says they have a lot of challenges to work through but also now have a lot of ideas.
“We will be doing a mass awareness campaign to let people know the importance of good recordkeeping,” he says. “Our other priorities are staff development, working through the backlog of unprocessed records and reappraising our holdings. We’ll also be looking to advise the government on records management and disposal and improve our reference service to government and the public,” he said
There are almost 1,000 islands in the Solomons. The National Archives are situated in the capital Honiara on the island of Guadalcanal and were established in the late 1970s as part of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Approximately 120,000 items are held in the archives, mostly from 1893 to 1978 when it was a British Protectorate.
Bernard and Louisa’s training programme was funded by NZ Aid. While in New Zealand they also spent time at the Kaipara District Council and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Marist Archives in Wellington.
Chinese Life in Early Auckland Focus of Online Gallery
Photographs and documents relating to Chinese living in the Auckland region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries feature in an online exhibition by the Auckland Regional Office of Archives New Zealand.
The exhibition Auckland Chinese focuses on three people, Ah Kit, Lau Fong, and Wong You. A final album relates to Chinese living in inner city Auckland and includes references to the businessmen Wong Gong and James Ah Kew, as well as Wong Hol of Wakefield Street, and the child Evelyn Wong Tong.
The range of sources available to researchers at Archives New Zealand Auckland Regional Office is highlighted; viewers can look at Customs correspondence, certificates of registration and photographs collected under the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1908, a Customs inwards passenger list, an Auckland Hospital Charitable Aid Board application for relief, and a Wellesley Street School class list.
The two albums devoted to Ah Kit include photographic images over a 15 year period, certificates of registration, and correspondence with the Customs Department documenting Ah Kit’s efforts to bring his brother Ah Ling, his wife Ganjup, and his two sons Ah Yim and Ah Keong to New Zealand.
Members of the Auckland Chinese community, and Nigel Murphy, author of the book Guide to laws and policies relating to the Chinese in New Zealand 1871 – 1997, provided valuable feedback during the exhibition’s preparation.
The exhibition can be viewed on http://gallery.archives.govt.nz/v/auckland.
Manager Appointed for Recordkeeping Audits
Archives New Zealand has appointed Richard Hipgrave as Manager of the Public Records Act Audit Programme.
Richard Hipgrave has more than 25 years experience as an information management professional and has led a number of audits and investigative reviews in both the public and private sector
Under the Public Records Act 2005 (the Act), Archives New Zealand is required to carry out independent audits of recordkeeping in state sector agencies. Around 200 public offices will be audited across a period of five years (about 40 per year). These will begin next year.
Richard Hipgrave says, “the purpose of the audits is to ensure that recordkeeping across government supports accountability and good business practice.”
He will lead a small team, to include two senior audit advisors and an audit programme coordinator.
“The programme gets underway in February 2010. We will visit the first 40 audit clients, take them through the audit process, discuss the expected outcomes, and identify any concerns they may have,” Richard Hipgrave says.
“After the initial visit clients will use a self-assessment audit tool to evaluate their recordkeeping capability. The audit team will review these self-assessments to identify risk areas and follow-up with them as appropriate.
Our main aim is to ensure government agencies create, maintain, and dispose of records in accordance with the Act.
Good recordkeeping is simply good business practice, and is an essential part of efficient government. The Public Records Act audits are the way of ensuring public offices are held accountable to these objectives.”
Richard Hipgrave emigrated from the United Kingdom to New Zealand in 1981. Between 1981 and 1989 he lectured in information management at Victoria University in Wellington. For a number of years he ran workshops for the Henley MBA programme on Managing Information and The Strategic Management of Information Systems.
He has published several articles on information management and two books: Computer Terms and Acronyms: A Dictionary and the Fantastic 1960s Trivia Book.