29 July 2016

Ngā Tapuwae, the Footprints, is the newsletter of Archives New Zealand. It tells the stories of our people, our work and achievements.

Read a plain text version of this newsletter.

In this issue...

• Editorial
• Government Recordkeeping
• Holdings & Discovery
• Regional News
• Other News
• About Us

Government Recordkeeping

New Information and records management standard

We have been working on the ways in which we can improve how Archives New Zealand operates under the Public Records Act 2005 (the Act). The first and perhaps most important part of this work is using our regulatory role to improve public information and records management. The new Information and records management standard was released on 22 July 2016. While this standard builds on the principles and requirements of the former records management standard, it has been refined and made much simpler in order to increase its usability and impact. Most public offices and local authorities already meet many of the requirements of the new standard and should find that the new standard will not impact them in a major way.

The new standard is mandatory for all public offices and local authorities, and state and state-integrated schools. This is a point of difference from the previous standard. State and state-integrated schools have always been subject to the Act, but previously issued standards had not been extended to include them. Work is underway with the Ministry of Education to develop specific guidance to help school boards understand and implement the standard. Until then, schools should use, or continue to use the existing guidance in the School Records Retention/Disposal Pack. 

The release of the new standard coincides with a refresh of our Record Toolkit and with new-look guidance and a comprehensive Implementation Guide, all of which will be regularly updated and available online. Keep an eye out for further guidance scheduled to be released during the remainder of the 2016 calendar year, along with other projects to optimise our regulatory role.

The Government Recordkeeping team at Archives New Zealand
 

Holdings & Discovery

Film Preservation Laboratory

In June 2016, the Film Preservation Lab team celebrated the creation of the 1000th film reel copy since opening in May 2015. This milestone coincides with the near completion of the 35 mm colour film collection copying aspect of the preservation programme, which is made up of over 100 titles consisting of multiple reels of both picture and sound elements. In all, a total of 2978 reels are intended for duplication.

Among those 1000 reels successfully copied are some Kiwi classics such as The Frog, the Dog and the Devil, a 1986 animated short that was nominated for an Oscar for best short film; Glacier Climbers, the story of a 1964 four-day mountain journey from Westland to Canterbury across the Southern Alps with Sir Edmund Hillary; and Barry Brickell, Potter, a 1970 documentary about iconic New Zealand potter Barry Brickell, who passed away in January 2016. Check out our YouTube channel for more digitised archival films.

Film strip from The Frog, the Dog and the Devil, showing the orange colour of the film stock.
 

Digitisation of the First World War Māori Pioneer Battalion War Diaries

The War Diaries of the First World War Māori Pioneer Battalion [Archives Reference: ACID 18432 WA97] have been digitised and made available online through our online finding aid, Archway. The 39 diaries cover the period February 1915 – February 1919, and document the Battalion’s service at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. The diaries have been digitised as part of Archives New Zealand’s ongoing digitisation programme that has now made more than 700 First World War diaries available online.

At the outbreak of war, Māori leaders pushed for a native contingent to serve in the expeditionary force. Initially drawn mostly from Iwi with close links to the Crown, the contingent was formed and left New Zealand on the Warrimoo in February 1915. Fighting as infantry during the Gallipoli campaign, the contingent saw heavy losses with the diaries detailing the more than 100 casualties suffered at Chunuk Bair. By the time the New Zealanders retreated, the contingent had been reduced to less than half its original numbers. The contingent was then reinforced and reformed into the Māori Pioneer Battalion for service on the Western Front, digging trenches for the frontline units. While the Battalion did not suffer the same attrition as those at the frontlines, German guns and gas remained a constant threat. At Messines in particular, the Battalion suffered heavy casualties from the German artillery.

Page from the New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion - War Diary, 1 - 31 July 1917 [Archives Reference: ACID 18432 WA97 158/97t]
 

Regional News

Class Lists Online

The Auckland Regional Office is in the process of digitising the Auckland Education Board ‘Class Lists’, or Examination Schedules [Archives Reference: YCAF 4135]. These records were identified as candidates for digitisation due to their high use by researchers, and their poor condition.

The lists cover all state primary schools and some private schools in the old Auckland Education Board area, which included Northland, Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty. The lists range from 1879 – 1953 and include information such as name, age, examination results, attendance, teachers name, inspectors name and comments, and occasionally examples of students' work. To date, records from the period 1879 – 1890 have been digitised and made available through Archway, our online finding aid. Further records are being added each month.

Page from Ponsonby Schools digitised image [Archives Reference: YCAF 4135 A221 1/a]
 

How to research your house

Dunedin Archivist Amy Coleman has been part of the crew presenting How to research your house workshops facilitated by Heritage New Zealand. These half-day workshops focused on the range of materials held by Archives New Zealand, local authorities and museums, and the detective work needed to unveil a house’s past and the story of those who lived in it. 

Using a case study unique to each town visited, the research is explained through valuation rolls, maps, plans, certificates of title and deeds, and the story of those who lived there developed along the way. Sometimes the story is easy to tell, sometimes not, but as those who go looking will attest, it’s the process which can provide just as much satisfaction as the result!

Well-attended, these workshops have taken place in Dunedin, Oamaru, Queenstown, Alexandra and Invercargill, the last so popular a repeat is expected later in the year. Inspired by the southern example, Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch office is also working with their local office of Heritage New Zealand, and Regional Archivist Chris Adam recently travelled to Ashburton for the first of a series of workshops in Canterbury. Further north, Heritage New Zealand approached Archives New Zealand’s Auckland office about the possibility of holding workshops in the north. 

If you’re interested in attending one of these workshops, please visit Heritage New Zealand’s events webpage.
 

Other news

Social Media and Outreach

Followers of Archives’ popular social media posts will know our love for #fashionfriday and our #onthisday stream. This month, Director of the National Archives of Fiji (NAF) Opeta Alefaio visited to share with us, the National Library of New Zealand, and Te Papa, how his team has inspired Fijians to connect with their heritage through social media.

During conversations about “What we can learn from each other: outreach and audiences” Opeta Alefaio shared that they found their ‘at risk’ material had provided an unexpected opportunity to engage with the public and connect people with their heritage. Material such as broadcast films was once considered a problem no one wanted to take responsibility for, but once salvaged and digitised these have been made available through both Fijian free to air television and through a YouTube channel which is linked to the NAF Facebook page. NAF has a very proactive social media outreach programme, with huge numbers of followers, allowing them to engage with the community in new and powerful ways. This has in turn produced a growing appreciation of archives as Fijians become keenly involved in the recovery of their heritage through social media.

Initial social media efforts focused on partnerships and joint events in order to maximise exposure and impact. The NAF team regularly join roadshows held by other organisations or the government, allowing them to reach more remote areas – one trip to an outer island took two days by boat! The raised awareness generated through social media had an impact on the Fijian government, who responded to the increased interest among Fijians by improving NAF resources.

Senior Archivist and PARBICA Secretary General, Talei Masters, Director of the National Archives of Fiji, Opeta Alefaio, and New Zealand Chief Archivist, Marilyn Little.

For Archives New Zealand, social media plays a key part in the getting the message out about our services and holdings, allowing us to connect with people across New Zealand and the world. Even if you don’t live near one of our offices, you can start to discover who we are and what we hold through social media. The research carried out by our archivists to supply content for social media is also enriching the knowledge and understanding of our holdings, allowing us to provide an even higher standard of customer service.  

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from our friends at NAF, and while we have a way to go until we can match the level of engagement they enjoy, we too are finding great value in social media.

You can find us online in these places: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube.
 

Feedback

Do you have feedback on this newsletter? Drop us a line at ngatapuwae@dia.govt.nz

For further information or advice about functions relating to government recordkeeping, please contact rkadvice@dia.govt.nz

To make an enquiry about access, preservation, or digital copying, please contact general.enquiries@dia.govt.nz

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