Ngā Tapuwae April 2011
Message from the new Chief Archivist
I am delighted to welcome you to this latest edition of Ngā Tapuwae in my new role as Chief Archivist and General Manager for Archives New Zealand within the new Department of Internal Affairs.
Since taking up this role on 4 April I have been most appreciative of the well wishes from staff, colleagues, stakeholders and friends of archives. My immediate plan is to get out and about to meet with people in local communities and in the archival and recordkeeping sectors and in public agencies.
Our challenge is to grasp the opportunities presented within the new Department in order to improve services and service delivery to our customers and to take a leadership role in the information technology and records management areas.
Stories in this Ngā Tapuwae highlight our position within the Knowledge, Information, Resource and Technology branch of the Department, our new team in the Community and Responsiveness to Māori Group, the Government Recordkeeping work to support agencies and the latest from the Government Digital Archive Programme.
We delve into the archives to find a photograph of legendary German hero, Felix Count von Luckner inscribed with a handwritten note to then Minister of Agriculture and Friendly Societies, Hon William Lee Martin. Some details of Luckner’s life are captured in the archives held at the Wellington office.
This month the Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand Hon Nathan Guy officially launched a new promotional film about Archives New Zealand, six one minute vignettes detailing an event or identity that’s made an outstanding contribution to New Zealand’s history and life plus the remastered film Country Lads. In this 1941 film, the first made by the National Film Unit, we see troops heading off to war from the Wellington wharf. You can check them out on YouTube.
All the best
Greg
Welcoming Greg Goulding
Left to right: KIRT Group Deputy Chief Executive Stephen Crombie, newly appointed Chief Archivist Greg Goulding, and Archives Council Deputy Chair Mel Smith, at Greg's official welcome back.
“I am honoured to be in the job and proud to lead this organisation,” said Greg Goulding Archives New Zealand’s newly appointed Chief Archivist and General Manager at his official welcome on 4 April.
His appointment results from Archives New Zealand’s integration with the Department of Internal Affairs which took place on 1 February this year. Greg Goulding took a leading role in the project to integrate both Archives New Zealand and the National Library with the Department.
He has worked for Archives New Zealand and its predecessor National Archives, since 1989.
Prior to his new appointment Greg Goulding had been acting in the Chief Archivist’s role and was formerly Group Manager, Government Recordkeeping. He led the development and implementation of the Public Records Act 2005 which provides the basis for security of government information across the State sector.
Archives New Zealand is part of the newly created Knowledge, Information, Research and Technology (KIRT) Group of the Department of Internal Affairs under the leadership of Deputy Chief Executive Stephen Crombie. Other agencies within KIRT are the National Library of New Zealand, Government Technology Services, Government Information Services, Government ICT Supply Management Office and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.
As Chief Archivist, Greg Goulding’s responsibilities include ensuring the preservation of government’s digital information so that it can be used for a variety of purposes. He championed the Government Digital Archive initiative which will enable much greater use and re-use of government information for heritage purposes.
“Being connected with other key players in information management provides a sound base for Archives New Zealand to continually improve its service to government recordkeeping. Increasing our ICT capacity also means we can connect with more people to ensure the wealth of information in the archives is readily available online,” Greg Goulding said.
Archives New Zealand will continue to work closely with other agencies in the heritage sector including the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa to develop coordinated approaches to achieving digital heritage outcomes.
“Archives New Zealand’s strong relationship with the National Library, together with our alignment within the KIRT group will help us do our job,” Greg Goulding said.
“The business we do is extraordinarily complex. Because we make sure that society can remember what it did for next week, the week after, the year after and for a lifetime and for many life times.”
Interest in Archives' activities from our Australian colleagues
Acting Chief Archivist John Roberts (third from right) at the CAARA meeting.
The Government Digital Archive, Archives New Zealand’s recordkeeping relationship with Pacific Island neighbours, the integration with the Department of Internal Affairs and the National Library and the effects of the Canterbury earthquake, were of great interest at the six-monthly meeting of the Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities (CAARA) in Canberra last month.
Acting Chief Archivist John Roberts represented Archives New Zealand at the meeting, also attended by nine other government archival institutions from Australian states and territories plus the National Archives of Australia.
Delegates were eager to hear about the opportunities presented by the integration and the ways in which we are collaborating with other agencies, John Roberts said. Several Australian State Archives reported that they had working relationships with state libraries and IT agencies.
They also wanted to know about the impact of the Christchurch earthquakes on records and archives being held by organisations in the area and made comparison with the Australian bush fires and floods.
The meeting was highly supportive of the Government Digital Archive programme. Some delegates said they were in different stages of similar projects and emphasised the importance of working collaboratively with other government agencies.
With the Secretary-General of the Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council of Archives based in Archives New Zealand, work with our Pacific colleagues is going from strength to strength and CAARA members recognise our commitment, John Roberts said.
Other discussion focussed on copyright particularly in relation to digitisation; the International Council of Archives congress in Brisbane in August 2012; and collaborative projects on metadata, appraisal and training development for staff.
Happening at the same time in Canberra was a three-day working meeting, followed by a half day seminar, on the ICA functional requirements for records in electronic office environments (ICA-req) – former Archives New Zealand recordkeeping senior adviser Lisa Judge represented New Zealand, with speakers also from South Africa, Australia, France, Kenya and Malaysia.
The CAARA meeting was John’s last official duty as acting Chief Archivist. He has resumed his role of acting Manager Government Recordkeeping Group.
“Archives New Zealand enjoys a strong, healthy relationship with its colleagues in Australia,” John says. “Our programmes of work are held in very high regard.”
All go for Digital Archive programme
With the signing of the contract earlier this month with software vender Ex-Libris for the new Government Digital Archive the programme is well on track, says programme manager Alison Fleming (pictured above).
Funded in last year’s Budget to the tune of $12.6 million over four years the Government Digital Archive will provide a secure system to accept, store, preserve and give ongoing access to important government digital information.
“The new digital archive will share key elements of the National Library’s National Digital Heritage Archive system,” Alison Fleming said. “The contract we’ve signed extends the software licensing to cover our requirements for Rosetta, the core software that sits at the heart of the digital archive.
“Rosetta is a fundamental building-block for the new system and we needed to ensure it can work effectively for us in the future.
“We now have a firm base on which to develop the archive and we’re moving into the next phase of the programme to ensure the archive will meet our own, government agency and public user requirements.
“To this end we are out and about holding workshops to canvass agency and researcher views about how we can best work with them to get the most value from the system. In March next year another digital continuity conference is planned – an ideal forum to network and canvass ideas.
“We are looking for agency partners to work with us so we can further develop best practice systems and processes for taking in digital archives and ensuring they are easy to access in the short term and the long term.
“We are also starting to explore opportunities for government and the community to take further advantage of this considerable investment.
“Coupled with this we are considering how best to re-engineer business processes with Archives New Zealand to better manage the rapidly increasing volumes of digital archives alongside traditional paper and other media, and also to support interactions online with both government agencies and the public.”
For more information, check out the Government Digital Archives Programme page on the Archives New Zealand website.
After the earthquake - an update from the Christchurch Regional Office
Staff from Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office have regained access to the repository in Peterborough Street which was closed as a result of the earthquake on 22 February.
Acting Regional and Access Services Manager Mark Stoddart said the main damage to the repository appears to be to the shelving and not to the archives and other assets and the structure is sound.
Above: Staff from Archives New Zealand's Christchurch office, Archivist Rosie Ballantyne (left) and Administrator Sue McKenzie in office for the first time since the 22 February earthquake.
Above: Some of the damaged shelving in the Christchurch repository.
“The office will remain closed to the public while the repairs are carried out and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our users,” Mark Stoddart said.
“We are, however able to provide a limited written reference service and requests can be emailed to christchurch@archives.govt.nz.
“While every effort will be made to answer these requests, this is dependent on whether the relevant archives are accessible.
“People need to be aware that we may not be able to help them with their request until all repairs are completed and we are able to resume our normal reference services,” Mark Stoddart said. “Advice will be posted on the Archives New Zealand website when we reopen.”
Archives’ films reach the world online
Watching the movies - guests at the launch of Country Lads and Archives New Zealand promotional films.
It was a night at the movies when Archives New Zealand officially released a newly restored version of Country Lads – the first film made by the National Film Unit, together with a new promotional film and six one-minute vignettes showcasing some of archives’ hidden treasures in Wellington on 12 April.
Officially launching the films Hon Nathan Guy Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand said, “the films are informative, authoritative and delightful and will be appreciated; both for what they have to say about Archives New Zealand and for the insight they give into New Zealand’s culture and heritage.”
From left to right: Mel Smith, Deputy Chair Archives Council, Greg Goulding, Chief Archivist, Hon Nathan Guy, Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, and Richard Nottage, Chair Archives Council.
Feature film quality
Restored and digitised to feature film quality by Archives New Zealand Country Lads and the other films are now available online worldwide.
With ANZAC Day this month, Country Lads pays tribute to the heroes of the day. It is a timely reminder of their legacy to New Zealanders and recalls how ordinary New Zealanders willingly took up the call to serve.
Made in 1941, the film tells the story of country lads signing-up for World War Two, parading through central Wellington and departing for the Middle East. The film’s voice over refers to Adolf Hitler's derogatory comments about the allies: 'Poor deluded country lads they have been called’.
The film screened throughout New Zealand in support of the war effort and proved the concept of the Film Unit in Government communications.
Greg Goulding, Chief Archivist and General Manager, Archives New Zealand, said the promotional film and the six Moments in Time vignettes delve into New Zealand’s culture and heritage.
“The six vignettes each showcase an event or an identity that has made an outstanding contribution to New Zealand’s history and life,” he said.
“They tell the tale of that firm New Zealand favourite hokey-pokey, the influence of the School Journal on the lives of our school children, our immigration policy from the 1940s, how people from all over the world fell in love with dolphin Pelorus Jack, the political world of Sir Walter Nash and how the first All Black Captain, David Gallaher, made a contribution to New Zealand on the rugby field and ultimately with his life in World War One.”
The new films, plus several films from the New Zealand National Film Unit collection, are available on the Archives New Zealand website, via the internet channel http://www.ecasttv.co.nz/ and on YouTube.
Students throughout New Zealand also have access to this primary resource material through the Ministry of Education's online Digistore.
Production team thanked
Greg Goulding thanked staff who led the production of the films and those who supported the two projects.
The ingenuity of David Smith, Senior Advisor Audio Visual Records, sees Country Lads brought back to life in feature film quality. David Smith saw the opportunity for Archives New Zealand to piggy-back on the changes in the film industry to ensure that moving images are now archived to world-class standard.
Left to right: David Smith, Senior Audio Visual Adviser Archives New Zealand, Nick Booth, Weta Workshop and David Wright, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Affairs, Weta Digital Ltd.
Alan Ferris, Manager Access Development and Operations, project manager for the promotional films also provides the voice over in the vignettes.
In the promotional film Archives Senior Adviser Jeremy Cauchi explains what happens when you visit an archive. While from the customers’ point of view historian Dr Gwen Pasons, from Christchurch and Taranaki o Te Reo Trust researcher Neavin Broughton tell of their experiences using the Archives’ holdings.
Digitisation - makes access to military records easy
The Archives New Zealand digitisation machine is in full swing, with 20,000 New Zealand Defence Force personnel files of New Zealanders from the South African War and World War One available through the online search engine Archway and many thousands more to come.
The records of the 10 contingents of New Zealand Mounted Rifles who served in the South African war (1899-1902) are now online, in time for ANZAC Day, 25 April this year.
Recent additions to the World War One records on Archway include the personnel files of 291 New Zealander servicemen who are buried at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.
The records of 13 All Blacks who were killed in action during World War One are also on Archway. These include David 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.
Screenshot from vingette featuring All Black Originals captain, David Gallaher.
Gallaher features in Moments in Time a newly released series of six promotional vignettes telling the stories of people and events that have made a contribution to New Zealand’s culture and heritage.
Over 15 per cent of 128,000 World War One files are now online and steady progress is being made towards having all these records available by 14 June 2014 in time for the 100 years’ commemoration of the beginning of the War.
The personnel records contain information such 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.
To search for military personnel records go to Archway.
The Moments in Time vignettes were released on 12 April and can be viewed on the Archives New Zealand tv channel.
Brand new recordkeeping training programme
From explaining the Public Records Act 2005, to outlining how recordkeeping impacts on business systems – Archives New Zealand’s Government Recordkeeping training programmes are designed to help you better understand your records.
The brand new Recordkeeping in Business Systems – Tools & Strategies course being held in Wellington on 18 May is one of the training programmes coming up.
Piloted in January, this training programme is aimed at people working in public offices and local authorities who are involved in the selection or maintenance of core business systems.
Government Recordkeeping Programme Adviser and training programme coordinator, Rebecca Smart said, “linking recordkeeping to business systems is something we haven’t focused on in the courses before – it’s an exciting new challenge.”
Two other training courses are also being run in May.
Rebecca Smart said, “we are taking our ever-popular The Public Records Act 2005 and Local Government Records and Archives training programme to Rotorua on 5 -6 May.
“Recordkeeping Metadata – getting to grips with data about data, another really popular course, will be held in Wellington on 17 May.”
For more information on these training programmes, or to register, go to the Archives New Zealand website.
What value are the archives?
Left to right: Paul Nelson, Dunbar Sloane Senior and Dunbar Sloane Junior inspect the 1776 Letter from Captain James Cook during the revaluation of Archives collections.
Putting a value on Archives New Zealand’s collections is a mammoth task, but one recently accomplished thanks to Arrangement and Description archivists Paul Nelson and Paul Frawley who pulled the treasure trove together.
Carried out in March, the revaluation is undertaken every three years by external valuers who recalculate the collection rates used to value the Archives New Zealand’s archival holdings for financial accounting purposes. The valuation covers all the holdings, and took place in the National Office in Wellington.
“The preparation process involved identifying examples of each category to be examined by valuation company Dunbar Sloane,” says Paul Nelson. “We were assisted in the process by staff from across the organisation, including Preservation and Access and IT Services."
The holdings are classified into 22 categories of archives. This is based on their format such as whether it be: text, artwork, photograph, sound recording, film, map or plan; plus items of significance, which include the Declaration of Independence of the Northern Chiefs 1835, draft of the Declaration of Independence 1839, Hobson's Appointment as Lieutenant Governor 1839, Draft of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840, Letters Patent Constituting New Zealand as a Separate Colony 1840, Proclamation of the Constitution Act 1853, Women’s Franchise Petition 1893, and Letter from James Cook 1776.
Every item transferred to Archives New Zealand is given a monetary value through our electronic collection evaluation system.
The holdings were valued onsite by Dunbar Sloane senior and Dunbar Sloane junior, over a three day period, with Paul Nelson overseeing the process.
One important item of significance not included in this revaluation is the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which because of its great significance has previously been valued by Sothebys UK.
We have the Wills - now we have the way
Left to right: FamilySearch volunteers Lupe Pulu, Lorraine Ditchburn, Lynne Van Cleave and Roy Ditchburn with Archives New Zealand's Project Manager Sarah McClintock (middle back).
Four volunteers are working eight hours a day, five days a week to make the wealth of information contained in 300,000 probates held at Archives New Zealand’s Wellington office available online.
The project, a partnership between Archives New Zealand and Utah-based genealogy organisation FamilySearch, began in May 2010 and involves making electronic copies of the probates (estate documents – often including wills) and uploading them onto the FamilySearch website.
Project Manager Sarah McClintock, Archivist, Archives New Zealand says, “the ultimate goal is that this rich source of genealogical information will become available to anyone in the world, at any time and completely free of charge.
“Digitisation also means the original probate documents – the earliest being from the 1840s – will no longer have to be handled,” she said. “As a result they will be better preserved in their current condition.
“These records become available for public access 50 years after the last date of action on the probate,” said Sarah McClintock.
The digitisation is being carried out by FamilySearch volunteers Lupe Pulu and Lynne Van Cleave from USA, and Roy and Lorraine Ditchburn from Wellington.
Sarah McClintock said, “so far all of the records from Blenheim have been digitised and the team is nearly half way through the Nelson probate records.
“Probates from the Napier, Whanganui, Palmerston North, Masterton, New Plymouth and Wellington courts (all held at Archives New Zealand's Wellington office as they are historically part of the Wellington region) are set to be digitised as part of the current project and the plan is to also digitise probates held in our three regional offices.
“We started with Blenheim as it is a relatively small court, and had only 190 boxes of records up for digitisation.
“Every box holds between 20 to 50 probate records, each with 10 to 20 pages of information needing to be individually photographed. We’ve even had probates that were up to 200 pages long," she said.
Roy Ditchburn says the digitisation process takes time and care: “Lupe and Lorraine open up the probate packages and place them between boards to flatten them (which makes digitising easier); Lynne and I take digital photos of each of the pages, and Lupe and Lorraine then refold the records and they are taken back to the stacks.”
Above: FamilySearch volunteer Lynne Van Cleave digitises one of 300,000 probate records held at the Wellington office.
Lynne Van Cleave adds, “it’s a big job, but it’s a privilege to be here and to do work that will be beneficial to so many people.”
The digitised probates will become available online via the FamilySearch website once they have been processed. This involves sending the images to America where the quality of the images is tested and other available information is identified – such as, names of the lawyers involved, places mentioned. The first records are expected to be available next year with the project expected to take at least five years to complete.
“The FamilySearch volunteers have been fantastic, it would be impossible to complete this task without their hard work and commitment,” Sarah McClintock said.
Film footage brings back the good old days in Otago
Screenshot from Pictorial Parade No.183 – A Hundred Years From Gold, accessible at Archives New Zealand's e-cast channel.
Film footage from the National Film Unit highlighting the gold rush days in Otago was an extra draw-card for many people who visited an exhibition at Archives New Zealand Dunedin Regional Office from 18 March to 15 April.
Curated as part of the Dunedin Heritage Festival celebrating the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Otago – Refer to Gold Fields Secretary:Administration of the Otago Gold Fields highlighted archives from the Otago Provincial Government and the Lawrence Warden’s Court and illustrated the multifaceted nature of the roles they had in managing the gold rushes from the 1860s.
“We had a steady stream of people coming in to see the display and the feedback has all been very positive,” said Geordy Muir archivist and exhibition curator. “Many people sat for an hour or more watching the film footage and reminiscing about Otago in the 40s, 50s and 60s.”
The exhibition also featured records illustrating the often complex relationship between Chinese mining communities and the gold fields’ bureaucracy, along with the testimony of one of the 15 people held captive by the infamous Garrett Gang of highway robbers of 1861.
“With well over 160 people having visited the exhibition, this is one of our most successful events to date,” Geordy Muir said.
The films screened as part of the exhibition can be viewed on Archives New Zealand’s website, and include:
Otago – “The impressions of a New Zealand Province. This is Otago as it is today with its background of Scottish pioneers and gold rushes. There are plenty of traces of its romantic history – men still fossick for gold in out-of-the-way places and there are still gold dredges on the Clutha River. Here is some of the most enchanting of the famous New Zealand Scenery.” – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1950. [Archives Reference: ARNZ / 18828 / R.V. 92]
A Conducted Tour Of Central Otago – Gold – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1946. [Archives Reference: ARNZ / 18828 / R.V. 615]
Pictorial Parade No.183 – A Hundred Years From Gold – “The Central Otago Town of Cromwell celebrates its 100th anniversary. For two weeks townspeople go about their business in 19th Century costume.” – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1966. [Archives Reference: ARNZ / 18828 / R.V. 383]
Pictorial Parade No.133 – Queenstown – The Golden Years – “Centenary celebrations and large-scale reconstruction of the Gold Rush days of Queenstown and Arrowtown.” – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1962. [Archives Reference: ARNZ / 18828 / R.V. 333]
Otago – Gabriel's Gold – “Crowds converge on Lawrence for the celebrations and to see the Historic Places Trust unveil a memorial to gold discoverer Gabriel Read.” – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1961. [Archives Reference: ARNZ / 18828 / R.V. 312]
New Zealand Mirror No.7 – Otago Gold – “Gold mining as it is today in Otago, once the scene of exciting gold rushes.” – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1950. [Archives Reference: ARNZ / 18828 / R.V. 129]
In Days Of Gold – Produced by New Zealand Government Publicity Office in 1928. Archives Reference: AAPG / W3471 / 923: 1259]
The Last Gold Assayer – Produced by New Zealand National Film Unit in 1965. [Archives Reference: AAPG / W3471 / 920: 1257].
Boosting the profile of services to Māori and the community
The Community Archives and Responsiveness to Māori team. From left to right: Executive Assistant Awhimai Brown, Acting Group Manager Jolene Armadoros, Ngāti Rangitihi researcher Toma Mason, Iwi Research and Training Adviser Tikina Heremia, Senior Adviser Iwi Development Julie Black, and Community Archives Senior Adviser Lafaele Lupo.
New resources and training programmes for stakeholders are top priorities for Archives New Zealand’s Responsiveness to Māori and Community Archives Group.
“With new staff settling into the team, we are building on our relationship with community-based archives and the wider community,” says Jolene Armadoros the Group’s Acting Manager. “This includes our work with Māori, iwi and hapu, to ensure they know how to care for their tāonga and records of high value and historical significance to the country’s heritage.
“We are developing a recordkeeping best practice toolkit for Māori and are looking at ways that we can provide greater training opportunities for community-based archives to help them manage their archives. We are also looking to raise the profile of The Community Archive website so that many more people will be able to use it.”
New team members Lafaele Lupo Senior Adviser Community Archives, and Awhimai Brown Executive Assistant joined at the end of 2010. Jolene Armadoros was appointed acting manager following the departure of Terehia Biddle, Group Manager and Kaihautū earlier this year.
Other team members are Julie Black, Senior Adviser Iwi Development and Tikina Heremia (Pou Whakataki) who provides training and support for The Community Archive and supports the Responsiveness to Māori project work.
Four months into the job, Lafaele Lupo has been getting to know about the business of Archives New Zealand.
“I have gained a wider understanding and appreciation of the role of Archives New Zealand and the important work of each business unit to ensure that records of long-term value to both government and community are preserved and kept safe and secure, “ he said.
“The knowledge will serve me well in my work with the community.
“Our regular newsletter to stakeholders has been given a new name and a facelift. Ngā Pūrongo ā Hāpori tells the news about our activities as well as the many exciting things happening in the wider archival community.
“We are holding another series of the Introduction to Archives training courses, with two sessions scheduled for 21 and 22 May in Wellington.”
Julie Black says the Responsiveness to Māori strategy takes a whole of Archives approach, involving input from staff across the organisation.
“Māori organisations and trust boards are required under the Public Records Act 2005 to meet recordkeeping standards. The toolkit and best practice guidelines will help Māori manage their records and archives,” she said.
Archives New Zealand also works with Māori iwi to make available, and assist in the digitisation of records of significance to iwi. An increasing number of iwi are seeking formal relationships with Archives New Zealand either as part of the cultural redress under their Treaty settlement or through formal agreements.
Through the iwi projects with Ngāi Tahu, Tainui, Taranaki and Tūhoe, Archives New Zealand has built relationships with iwi towards relevant outcomes for them.
“We are currently assisting Ngāti Rangitihi in a 12-month research project which involves providing training and access to archives of significance, particularly in relation to Tarawera,” Julie Black said.
Ngāti Rangitihi researcher Toma Mason is based at Archives New Zealand’s Wellington office, working with staff across the agency. Rangitihi is a key ancestor for many of the iwi and hapū from the Arawa waka who today live in the Rotorua district.
The project aims to strengthen the identity of Ngati Rangitihi, raising awareness within the iwi of their history through archival documents, including correspondence between the Crown and other iwi from 1850 to 1920.
Japanese visitors get the gen on recordkeeping
Seeking information on the management of New Zealand’s public records and public archives systems brought two visitors from the Mitsubishi Research Institute in Japan to Archives New Zealand in March.
The two-day visit, organised by Archives New Zealand’s Government Recordkeeping Group, included meeting staff from Archives New Zealand’s Wellington office, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and Government Technology Services.
At Archives New Zealand, the visitors, Mr Yutaka Oyastu and Mr Makoto Sato met with Evelyn Wareham, acting Manager Government Recordkeeping Group, Patrick Power, Manager Government Recordkeeping Programme, Mark Crookston, acting Manager, Digital Continuity, Mick Crouch, Adviser/Analyst, Digital Continuity and Derek Clear, Advisor Appraisal. They also enjoyed a tour of the archival respository and digital copying centre.
Left to right: Mick Crouch and Mark Crookston meeting with Yutaka Oyastu and Makoto Sato at Archives New Zealand’s Wellington office.
“We spoke about the recordkeeping and information management systems and tools we are currently developing to ensure easy transfer of electronic records to Archives New Zealand,” Mark Crookston said. “The discussion focused mainly on electronic records, but they also asked a lot of questions about paper-based information systems.”
Mark Crookston says New Zealand is internationally recognised for having a modern efficient public recordkeeping and archival framework and operation.
The visitors, accompanied by their interpreter and Derek Clear, then met OGCIO and Government Technology Services staff.
Ros Coote, Senior Adviser gave a presentation on Government ICT in New Zealand, which outlined the government’s directions and priorities for delivering lower cost, higher quality technology.
Danny Mollan, Director, OGCIO, met with the visitors to answer their questions on topics ranging from tracking records with high security classification, to the use of offshore ‘cloud’ services, ways in which government records managers collaborate with each other, use of file plans and disposal schedules in government offices, and the official disposal of public records.
On day two, Mark Crookston accompanied the visitors to the Ministry of Social Development and State Services Commission to see practical implementation of recordkeeping standards and guidelines put into practice.
“They were excellent visits – MSD and SSC have recordkeeping programmes with good information management systems,” he said.
“There was very lively discussion – the visitors expressed their admiration for how the recordkeeping framework in New Zealand is operated and reported they had gained much practical knowledge to apply to the situation in Japan.”
A message from a legendary Count
Above: Archivist Tony Connell with the signed photograph of Count von Luckner, and the album (owned by the late Hon. William Lee Martin) it was discovered in.
While investigating records to be used in the online Politicians’ Papers exhibition, Archives New Zealand archivists Tony Connell and Jeff Carr uncovered something remarkable: a photograph of legendary German hero, Felix Count von Luckner inscribed with a handwritten note to then Minister of Agriculture and Friendly Societies, Hon William Lee Martin.
Luckner, wrote: “Never say die. To Minister of Agriculture Mr. W. Lee Martin. From a sailor. Felix Count Luckner 2/6 1938”.
The album containing this photograph can be ordered online and viewed at the Archives New Zealand Wellington Office.
Luckner led a notorious and illustrious life, parts of which are captured and recorded in the archives held at the Wellington office.
His first encounter with New Zealand was somewhat tumultuous and involved his incarceration here in 1917 as a prisoner of war; his escape – by grabbing the coastal sailing vessel Moa, his recapture, and then repatriation back to Halle, Germany in 1919 after the end of World War One.
Above: Von Luckner's Prisoners of War file.
Tony Connell said, “it’s remarkable that we can track Luckner’s encounters with New Zealand through the archives.
“One Defence file has a hilarious report about the cook of the Moa – who was captured by Luckner, along with the ship – asking for overtime payments after being made to prepare meals for Luckner and his crew.”
Luckner returned to our shores 19 years later, during his great journey around the world.
“It was on his second visit to New Zealand that Luckner gave Mr Martin the signed photograph.
“This 1938 visit is documented in an Army file full of mixed opinions of him. Although Luckner did his best to avoid any associations with the Nazis, he was denied access to certain places due to the growing suspicions of Germans by New Zealanders at that time," Tony Connell said.
During his visit he also gave the Secretary for Defence, Francis Dwyer a signed portrait with a message that read: “Men fight not ships. To Mr Dwyer with a shipload of good wishes from a sailor. Felix Count Luckner, Wellington - 18 April 1938”.
“Luckner lived an interesting life, and is a fascinating figure of a bygone era where sailing and navigation was a lot harder than it is today,” Tony Connell said.
During World War Two, Luckner was responsible for saving the town of Halle, Germany by negotiating with American forces. For this he was awarded the Great Order of Merits of the Federal Republic of Germany, and was recommended for a Nobel Peace Prize.
News Bytes
One-stop shop for Continuum products
Accessing Archives New Zealand’s recordkeeping guidance has been made easier with all the Continuum publications now on the main website.
Continuum, an all-of-government programme run by the Archives New Zealand Government Recordkeeping Group, provides a comprehensive resource kit of tools, standards and guidelines to support recordkeeping and information management across the public sector in accordance with the Public Records Act 2005.
The publications help keep people up to date with good recordkeeping practices and mandatory requirements under the Act.
The Continuum programme was first established in 2003 as a physical toolkit. In 2006 a website version of the resources was developed. When the Archives New Zealand website was redeveloped in 2009, all the Continuum content excluding the recordkeeping publications was migrated to the main Archives New Zealand web portal.
Government Recordkeeping forums
May 5-6: The Public Records Act 2005 and Local Government Records and Archives (Rotorua)
May 17: Recordkeeping Metadata (Wellington)
May 18: Recordkeeping in Business Systems - Tools & Strategies (Wellington)
May 26: Digitisation (Wellington)
For more information on the forums, have a look here on the Archives New Zealand website or check out this Ngā Tapuwae article.
Recordkeeping/archival events on the horizon
2011 Annual ALGIM Web Symposium 2-3 May, Wellington: premier event for website, online services and communication teams in the public sector (local and central government). Check out the ALGIM website for more information.
GOVIS Conference 2011: Connect 20-21 June, Wellington: a public conference, bringing together over 200 Government leaders and Information and Technology staff. Check out the GOVIS website for more information.
Records and Archives Week 1 to 7 May 2011
From the Hangi pit to the Weetbix kid: Recording the history of food in New Zealand, is the theme for this year's Records and Archives Week organised by the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand.
Check out the ARANZ website to see what activities are being held in your area, or contact event organiser Kirsty Cox for further information.
Heritage Month September 2011
Sport and Recreation is the theme for this year's Heritage Month. Organised by the Wellington Region Hertiage Promotion Council, the event will promote the history of sport and recreation though a programme of activities and displays across the region.
People and organisations with a heritage link to the theme are invited to participate. To find out more about the event and how to take part go to the Wellington Heritage Promotion Council website.