New Zealand ArchivistVol XIV No 2 Winter/June 2003 ISS 0114-7676

New Structure at Archives NewZealand

On 9 May Rosemary Collier interviewed John Roberts and Jeremy Cauchi on their new roles at the restructured Archives New Zealand. The narrative below is her transcript of the interviews.

John Roberts, Group Manager, Archives Management

Since 1 October 2002, Archives New Zealand has been operating under a new structure. This new structure creates four group manager positions: Archives M anagem ent (John Roberts), responsi­ble for Arrangement and Description and Context C ontrol, Preservation, and Film

Access Services (Jeremy Cauchi), responsible for Reference (including Gov­ernment Loans), and Outreach

Government Recordkeeping (M ichael Hoyle), responsible for Appraisal, Standards and Advice, and PolicyFinance and Business Services (Lindsay Ferguson). These positions cover the bulk of A rchives'

functions. All the group managers report to Chief Archivist and Chief Executive, Dianne Macaskill, as do the Regional Archivists, in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, the Human Resources Manager and also the Kaiarahi (Maori Manager). This group, minus the Regional Archivists, comprises the department's Senior Management Group (SMG). Group managers have oversight of relevant programmes in the regions.

John Roberts agreed that the previous management model was dictated by ideology (viz. policy/provider or operations split). The new model is more logical, and similar to that found in government archives institutions in other countries. New policy advice to government is tendered directly by Archives New Zealand now that it is a government department in its own right. This means that records issues are more likely to be picked up by government agencies.

Current issues for the Archives Management Group span several functions; for example, the development of capability for bringing electronic records into custody.

Electronic RecordsThis involves a range of problems including context

and media obsolescence. John says that any Archives New Zealand strategy will need to carry out 'media refreshing', which is a fairly common practice in overseas Archives now. This function may include the necessity for acquiring some old machines. But appraisal, metadata strategy, funding, and importantly, delivery methods are all questions requiring more development.

The many internal organisational changes there have been over recent years, especially the work involved in the transition to department status, have held Archives New Zealand back from pursuing these things more quickly. There is a need for improving skills on electronic records and the surrounding issues, amongst all staff. The importance of staff capability is reflected in the level of seniority held by the Human Resources Manager.

On the operations side, there is a need to test and trial methodologies for electronic records, and to ensure the integrity of the records. It is all very well reading about what others have done in other countries, but staff here must try things out themselves. There has been plenty of rhetoric — now they must do it, and transfer and actively manage electronic records. Additional funding will be necessary, but Archives must be able to make a credible case for it.

In practice, decisions on what is maintained as a record are not only made by administrators, nor only by archivists. Both departmental policy in the various agencies and individual personalities have a bearing on what decisions are made about retention. What is necessary is to design systems that will facilitate making those decisions. However, it is not a matter of black and white; like appraisal of paper records, decisions will still be ultimately a matter of judgement. Data quality is in the interests of both departments and archivists.

Arrangement and Description and Context ControlGLADIS (Government Locator Archival Description

Information System) is the largest single project at present: the project to automate descriptions from the item level, including also work-flow for internal management, and contextual inform ation about

records. It involves back-capture of finding aids into the system and will create interfaces to provide ready access to descriptive information.

The GAIM S system (Governm ent Archives Information Management System) is being extended to include a functional dimension, i.e. it will document the functions covered by government agencies and their records. Thesauri are being developed, and will be required when GLADIS gets to the stage when it is ready for on-line delivery.

Repository Management and PreservationArchives New Zealand is continuing to move

towards prevention of damage to archives (preventative conservation) rather than having to undertake remedial work. This can be integrated with the Government Recordkeeping side of the business, so that records can be managed well through their entire life. At Archives itself, repository management is carried out by both Arrangement and Description, and Preservation staff, with assistance and input from Building Services.

All work at all the repositories of Archives New Zealand needs to be co-ordinated, therefore there are plans to integrate relevant input from Arrangement and Description and other sections*. In all areas of work, he is trying to prioritise to get the best results. Priorities at present include processing all new accessions, and dealing with some of the backlog of unprocessed archives, to ensure that the more important old material is dealt with. GLADIS will help with this process, for example by making it easier for staff to improve poor quality lists of archives.

FilmArchives New Zealand holds a significant quantity

of film, including some old National Film Unit films; there is an arrangement regarding other NFU films held at the Television New Zealand Archive.1 The New Zealand Film A rchive is also part of the film preservation community. The organisations try not to duplicate efforts, to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

The treatment of nitrate film amongst Archives New Zealand's holdings is progressing well, but it is a long­term project.

There is considerable reference use made of the film resources, partly through the growing number of self- help reference videos. At the other end of reference use are the enquiries from film-makers for use of extracts from film holdings; it is pleasing to see this professional use of the film archives.

StaffThere are around 30 in the Archives Management

Group, including some temporary staff working on back-capture of lists for GLADIS. Janine Delaney is responsible for Context Control, and has 4V£ staff including herself; Matthew Hockey is in charge of Arrangement and Description, with 12 staff; the back- capture team employs 7 people, and Jonathan London (Preservation) has 5 staff in Wellington (including himself), and one part-time in each of the three regions.

Clive Sowry, the Film Archivist is the sole person working full-time on film, although he is supported by preservation technicians. This makes Archives Management the largest of the three professional business groups.

Interaction with other GroupsThe focus of the Archives Management Group is

internal; the other two professional groups have an external focus. This group could be seen as the hub of archives work.

Com m unication betw een arrangem ent and description, appraisal and reference functions is better than previously. There is recognition of how each part needs to feed into others. Technology can be used to capture and share information. There is also improved sharing between the four Archives New Zealand offices, by using e-mail facilities and other Archives' nation-wide IT systems, such as the electronic records management system, Objective.

VisionThe vision for the Group is to provide good

management of the archives held in Archives New Zealand's custody, and good systems for that management. The intention is that some of these systems can, in time, be used more widely: by government agencies, and by other Archives institutions.

John Roberts finds this a stimulating job, after spending a few years in recordkeeping policy and advice. He says it is nice to get back to more of a hands-on archives management focus, but in context of 'the effective management of the public record', for all purposes.

*John is also concerned with management of Building Services.

Jeremy Cauchi, Group Manager, Access Services

The Access Services Group consists of the Reference, Outreach and Governm ent Loans functions. One of the aims of the formation of the group was to give more profile to access services at the senior management level: this is a significant result. The establishm ent of the group has m eant a number of new positions

have been created, including that of Group Manager, two team leaders, and an Outreach Co-ordinator. It enabled more thinking to be brought to bear on how access services should be organised. It also provided for more support to reference staff, through training, m entoring, trouble-shooting and professional leadership. These are provided by the team leader positions and specialised expertise in Outreach work.

There are a number of challenges ahead of Access Services, including developing new access channels, improving existing ones, and raising the profile of the services offered.

Between the four offices there are 6,500 remote enquiries annually, and 50,000 archives items are issued. Government loans number 4-5,000 per year.

AccessOne of the main tasks for Access Services is

building capacity for on-line access to archives. This should open up the archives more to the public, as well as maintaining and improving the present means of access; for example, reading room service should improve through technology systems required for on­line access. Archives New Zealand also needs to look at how well access is provided to public records which are not in custody, e.g. those in approved repositories.

There needs to be an increase in the number of self- help materials, making researchers less dependent on staff. The aim is that researchers will be able to access digital copies of some archives remotely, without the active assistance of Archives New Zealand staff. However, there is probably only a small percentage of items that will ever be digitised and placed on the web-site, i.e. only the most heavily used items. Many steps need to be taken before any large-scale digitisation of the paper archives results in web access to images of them.

There are challenges involved in improving existing access channels; for example, improving consistency of the access conditions which apply to some records, ease of using finding aids, and the limitations in using the present ordering systems. The physical layout of the Wellington Reading Room needs attention. Routine processes such as the issuing of items, return of items and requests for photocopying are at present performed at the same desk at which advice is being given to readers. Having but one reference desk restricts splitting these functions, but it is recognised that there is a need to separate the quick turn-around requests from those which require lengthy advice.

There are also changing expectations from researchers. Approximately 60% of remote reference enquiries (i.e. those not made in person) are now made by e-mail, and these enquirers expect a faster response than do those enquiring by letter. Therefore an improved speed of response may not always be recognised, because expectations have also risen. Time lim its placed on answering enquiries create the challenge of how to balance work priorities yet do the work to required standards.

Jeremy has overall responsibility for Access Services in the Regional Offices also; ensuring consistency of the standards of service is an important part of his role. He therefore meets with the Regional Archivists regularly. Systems are being developed now which will soon be nation-wide, which will help in integrating the access channels across the four offices of Archives New Zealand. The new internal records management system has enabled the remote reference service to be better managed nationally. The GLADIS descriptive and finding aids system will help researchers to see

what records are available in all four offices, once it is fully developed. The number of researchers visiting regional offices is smaller, but it is still significant. Maintenance of similar standards and turn-around times makes for consistency, but Jeremy admits that it is easier in the regions for archivists to provide one- to-one attention to researchers than it is in Wellington. On the other hand, the greater number of researchers in Wellington means that some services are feasible there, but not in the regional offices.

OutreachThe Outreach programme consists of an exhibitions

programme, tours and talks, and one-off events such as open days. There is also the responsibility for advertising and promotion.

The exhibition programme is developed over a five- year period, based on staff ideas and a set of criteria, which the Outreach Co-ordinator then puts into a sequence. The programme is examined by the Strategic Management Group. A project team is formed for approved projects. This is headed by the Outreach Co-ordinator, and will involve other Access staff for research and curatorial work, Preservation Services staff for treatment of items for display and mounting, and also Building Services and the Communications Advisor. A pleasing feature of the current exhibition programme is the level of interest in participating from other organisations, through joint projects.

The Outreach Co-ordinator is responsible for organising the other outreach activities, but all Access Services staff are involved in their implementation, particularly in tours and one-off events.

StaffThere are 20 staff in this group, consisting of both

full-time and part-time people. There are two team- leaders and nine archivists, plus six archives support assistants, a Government Loans Officer and an Outreach Co-ordinator, who looks after tours and exhibitions. The team leaders both supervise the work of their staffs but also do some of the operational work alongside the archivists in their teams. One team leader supervises the reading room service, the other, the remote reference service. Each develops systems and services for their function. The staff of each team do the same tasks as each other, i.e. both forms of reference work. There is an emphasis on working together. There is also one staff member, with part- time support from one of the support assistants, who looks after governm ent loans, i.e. lending departmental files back to the departments of origin for reference relating to current work.

Assistance to Access Services provided by volunteers is important: the majority of supplementary finding aids, such as name indexes, are developed by them.

Interaction with other GroupsAccess Services works closely with all the other

Archives New Zealand Groups. Archivists in other groups work in the reading room on rotation, for a proportion of their time. This gives them experience and broadens their perspective on their other work.

It helps the level of service in the reading room, also.Access staff participate in projects that are the direct

responsibility of other groups, e.g. the GLADIS project. They work on research guides to groups of archives, or topics, or areas of research interest, which other staff also work on, and which will be integrated into GLADIS, for instance.

There is also interaction over access conditions on new transfers of archives to the institution, to help to ensure that they are practical for reference staff to operate. Input is given, too, to Arrangement and Description, by identifying repository problems and problems with finding aids. Reference staff identify items needing preservation treatment.

There is informal interaction in order to use the knowledge of staff in Appraisal or Arrangement and Description who have worked on records which are required to be used to answer reference enquiries. The movement of staff between groups also helps to spread knowledge.

Access Services staff deal with Finance and Business regarding the adm inistration of accounts for reprographic services, charges for research, and Building Services regarding preparation and presentation of exhibitions.

VisionThe purpose of the group is to provide access to

public archives in a timely and effective manner, through a variety of channels. The vision is to ensure that access channels are developed to meet changing expectations, and to take advantage of the opportunities provided by technology.

Jeremy says his job consists of an interesting mix of work, providing a host of challenges as well as satisfactions and variety; there is some management, some work with systems, work with staff, the public, and government agencies.

1 See note on visit to TVNZ Archive, under Council News in this issue. Ed.

Continuum: Launched and Reviewed

Rosemary Collier

Continuum: create and maintain.Tdhuhu te hanga me te tiaki: Recordkeeping resource kit. Archives New Zealand, Wellington, [March 2003], free to government agencies.

The kit was launched before an audience of recordkeepers, agency CEOs, and archivists at a suite in the Wellington Town Hall, on 27 March. A shortened version was handed out to all participants, with a letter (undated) from the State Services Commissioner, Michael Wintringham. Oddly, this folder contained the document Electronic Records: A vision and policy for the Nezv Zealand government sector; which was not in the larger kit (though there is the excellent Advisory Notice on e-mail (A/l). Michael Wintringham, along with Dianne Macaskill, Chief Archivist, addressed the gathering. After a glass of sherry (an unusual occurrence in itself these days, which Dianne Macaskill said was to celebrate the birth of a new initiative on government recordkeeping), everyone went through to another room where they were seated for the speeches and a data- show presentation. This was a very civilised and comfortable way to launch a publication; no standing for long periods on hard floors without chairs! After the presentation, which was introduced by Michael Hoyle, General Manager, Government Recordkeeping, Archives New Zealand, everyone returned to the ante­room for very superior refreshments. There was a computer available which displayed the full web version of the Continuum kit.

In her remarks, Dianne Macaskill said that the Continuum tool existed to support government agencies in meeting accountability and evidential requirements.

M ichael W intringham said that Continuum represented best practice recordkeeping, and was an integrated suite of products and services to assist government agencies. It supported the agencies' business needs for effective information, and was "a programme addressing contemporary challenges of records-keeping". It would help agencies to meet the new audit requirements which would be provided for in the new public records legislation. New government initiatives on information meant that much more information would be available to citizens, with the result of giving citizens more power.

The Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand, Hon. Marian Hobbs, told her listeners that it takes extra effort to turn information into good, reliable records. Records must first be created, and then well-maintained. She said "We will get the Public Records Bill through before 2007" (which surprised many, who were expecting it well before then; there is to be another election before 2007 comes around). She said Continuum was not about telling you how to do it, but how Archives New Zealand was working in partnership with agencies.

ReviewIt is very pleasing to see Archives New Zealand

publish a com prehensive tool for governm ent recordkeepers. Perhaps after all the managerial and

restructuring traumas of the 1990s, public servants will now be more interested in their records, realising what they lost when records were closed off wholesale, and new systems were not under any sort of expert control. This program m e represents a considerable achievement by Archives New Zealand, especially in the number of new documents issued as part of it. The kit is available also on the Internet. Although, like Bill Gates, most people prefer to read an item of four pages or more on paper, the Internet version will be very useful for quick reference using key words.

One of the splendid features of the kit is an excellent "Glossary of Archives and Recordkeeping Terms". This is one of the Guidelines in the kit. Guidelines are printed in blue, and numbered "G/l, G/2" etc. One item is numbered "RK /1", presumably representing "Recordkeeping Framework", not "Resource Kit". It is, like many of the documents in the kit, a reprint of an earlier publication of Archives New Zealand - but in this case, the publisher is shown as "Archive" New Zealand.

A third sequence consists of the Advisory Notices ("A "). Then there is the "S" series, the Standards, which have been previously published, and finally an "F " series, which are Fact Sheets. The items are arranged not under numerical order, but under four broad functional titles: "Recordkeeping Best Practice", "Appraisal and D isposal", "Access Regime" and "Preservation and Storage".

The new items cover most important topics. Besides the Glossary (G/5), they are (in the order that they appeared in my copy of the kit):

F/7 "M anaging G overnm ent Records. Your Responsibility."

F/l "What is a Corporate Record?" (which includes a useful Checklist)

F/4 "ISO 15489" (not a copy of the International Standard, but a brief description of it)

A/3 "Copying and Digitising Public Records" which summarises the legal position and the BSI Code of Practice, PD 0008.

G/6 "A Guide to Developing a Recordkeeping P olicy" with a sam ple recordkeeping policy Appendix

G/3 "What to Consider Prior to implementing: an IT 'Solution' to a Recordkeeping Problem" which gives excellent advice; however most if not all agencies have already put in systems; some good, some not.

A/5 "A p praisal and D isposal of Records" Advisory Notice

F/2 "How do I Legally Dispose of Records?" (correct grammar would demand that the word 'legally' come at the end of the question)

G/2 "Preparing Records for transfer: A Guide to Listing and Boxing". This last provides information not contained in the earlier (June 1999) Transfer Standard, such as ample sample listings using

Archives' Excel spreadsheet template. The example for Personnel files is very "p.c.", including males, females, Maori and someone named "Mohammed Kumar" (unlikely, since the former is a Moslem name and the latter a Hindu name). Different types of file classification systems are covered in the sample listings.

A/6 "Making Access Decisions" contains a succinct summary of the governing principles and factors.

In addition to RK/1 and A/l already mentioned, the documents in the kit which are reprints of earlier publications are:

S/l "Appraisal Standard"

A/4 "Methods of Destruction"

S/3 "Transfer Standard"

F/3 "Transfer Process"

S/4 "Access Standard"

S/2 "Storage Standard"All in all, the kit gives a first-class, comprehensive

coverage of what government agencies need to know about the functions required of them in relation to the Archives Act. It is not a manual of how to perform those parts of the recordkeeping function which do not relate directly to Archives New Zealand. However, it is unfortunate that the earlier documents reprinted here had not been revised. Alongside excellent definitions of appraisal in the Glossary, it is a pity to see the inadequate one in the Appraisal Standard of 1998 repeated in the new Appraisal and Disposal Notice. However, since revisions are going to be required when the Public Records Bill is passed, perhaps it was thought not worthwhile to make revisions at this stage.

There is nothing to assist someone in setting up a new records classification, for both paper and electronic records, as has been done in Australia (N ational Archives of A ustralia: D esigning and Implementing Recordkeeping Systems (DIRKS): Manual for Commonwealth Agencies, 2001). Perhaps this is still to come, or perhaps it has been decided that there are dangers in being too prescriptive. While there has been considerable reliance on Australian publications in drawing up the kit, nevertheless it is significantly a New Zealand publication, and signals a great step forward, as indicated by the use of images of steps as a symbol throughout the kit.

Which brings us to design. Overall design of the kit is very good: not too obtrusive, but symbolic and easy on the eye. Where it falls down is in the choice of font. All the documents have been printed in Arial font, in green or blue print; the originals of the reprinted ones were in Times New Roman in black.

Designers seem to know nothing about readability!I first read some time ago of tests of fonts for readability, and the results favoured serif type-faces. Then a few years ago I went on a desk-top publishing course, and the tutor (from USA) confirmed those findings. Trouble is, designers think Arial looks 'clean'

and 'modern'. Not much use if its harder to read! Colours other than black just exacerbate the problem. Yet it is increasingly common these days to see all sorts of publications use sans-serif typefaces, and colours, for that 'arty' appearance.

A sturdy three-hole punch binder holds the items and leaves a little room for expansion. It is a pity that "Archives New Zealand" was not printed on the spine,

where it can be seen when the binder is standing on a shelf. A contents page, which could be updated when new documents are released, would assist with navigation.

Continuum has content of value to archivists and recordkeepers outside of central government. All in all, the appearance of the kit is a milestone for government recordkeeping, and it deserves to be widely used.

Digital PreservationRosemary Collier

This report o f a talk by Dr Seamus Ross follows on well from Chris Hurley's article in the last issue of New Zealand Archivist and also with Theresa Graham's article in that issue.1

The National Preservation Office, which is located in the National Library building in Wellington but is supported by both National Library and Archives New Zealand, has just one officer at present: Jocelyn Cuming. She has been active in advocating and disseminating knowledge about digital preservation. The preservation of paper records, can on the whole be separated from their selection for permanent retention (although the present writer once planned to have typists select long­life paper when typing records for perm anent preservation). Given the manner in which digital records are created and the ease with which they can be destroyed, preservation here encompasses selection as archives at the earliest stages.

In March, New Zealand received another visit from Dr Seamus Ross of HATH (Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute).2

He addressed a meeting at National Library in March. In introducing him, the newly-appointed National Librarian, Penny Carnaby, said that National Library, Archives New Zealand and Te Papa (National Museum of New Zealand) were co-operating and working collaboratively on the digitisation of cultural heritage.

The title of Dr Ross's talk was "Digital Preservation — International Activities". He said that for digital archives to survive, we must be able to trust that governments, courts etc. will maintain information assets. There are numerous difficulties:

what to retain?

should ordinary staff in organisations know what to keep?

where should the records be kept?

how to deal with the diversity of document types?

how to access them?

how long should digital information be kept?

what is its value?

what are the costs of keeping it and how are the costs justified?

The reasons for keeping these records are the same as apply to traditional records. It is cheaper to store the underlying software them to have to recreate it. There are risks from loss of the software as well as the risks associated with keeping it.

The meaning of the records can be lost over time, if a number of conditions are not fulfilled:

1. The contextual information is required.

2. Integrity and authenticity must be maintained.

3. Legal and organisational impediments must be removed.

4. Hardware and software obsolescence must be recognised.

5. The medium of the records (e.g. tape, disk) is subject to degradation.

6. There may be loss of docum entation, or divergence from what is stated in the documentation.Against these difficulties, there are important points

which justify preserving the records. They may facilitate:

1. Managing the business (whether private or public sector)

2. Accountability

3. Compliance

4. Business resumption planning.Just as with paper records, these records need

appraisal; we don't need to keep everything. There needs, how ever, to be a proactive attitude to preservation. Otherwise there will be economic and social loss to businesses and to the community. Preservation of essential records needs to be built into the electronic systems.3 That way, costs can be kept down. The material will not survive by accident. There are various methods which can be used to preserve the records. One is emulation. That is, systems can be run on later versions of the earlier software. Emulation of an old environment which does

not have later versions is very expensive, but has been done successfully, e.g. for the Domesday project, when it was found that no versions of the software on which it had been run had survived.

The National Digital Archive of Datasets run by the Public Record Office, London obtains and makes available government data-bases. Erpanet (Electronic Resource Preservation and Access Network), an activity funded by the European Com m ission, provides training, advice, workshops, tools and other services; it also carries out case studies. These can be seen on the web-site: www.erpanet.org

Other methods for preservation include data migration, which can lead to data and information loss, and to loss of functionality, and software and hardware preservation to enable the programs to continue running. However, this is a technically complex and expensive solution. Dr Ross recommends preserving the bit stream and creating metadata for the data it is intended to preserve; access can be sorted out later. Digital archaeology is required to retrieve the information. The archivist needs to know about the authenticity of the programs, and especially the software. Audit trails are required, to keep track of what has been done.

Other needs for the preservation of digital archives:We need collaborative action to share knowledge and costs.

We need to experiment in order to gain necessary experience.

We need trusted repositories.

We need guidance on creating repositories.

We need a set of standards for the certification of repositories.

We need more emphasis on digital preservation to be made by computer science communities, so that

students will write preservation into the software they develop.

We need the automation of metadata creation.

We need access to metadata repositories.

We need digital objects that can notify their originator/manager if they need to be protected, migrated or secured.

We need help for organisations, especially smaller ones.

We need policy statements, obtainable 'off the shelf'.

We need business cases, with models obtainable 'off the shelf'.

We need digestible guidance and simple guidelines.

We need improved models.

We need cost-modelling help.

We need more research on the whole subject4.

Among the advantages of preserving digital records are their reuse, i.e. the economic value of the information can be high. Costs need to be kept moderate, so that public information can enable the private sector to make commercial use of it, thus adding value.

1 New Zealand Archivist March/Autumn 2003.2 See item on erpanet in Nezv Zealand Archivist June /Winter 2002.3 See Chris H urley's article in New Zealand Archivist

M arch/Autumn 2003.4 See HATH web-site for research domains and the reasons

for them, e.g. Archival media tapes; Salvage and rescue; Accelerated ageing tests.

Events, Past and FutureNZSA recently co-operated with ARANZ, the Records

Management Association of Australia, New Zealand Branch (RMAA), and the Health Information Association of New Zealand (HIANZ) in organising a one-day seminar on the state of health information. Entitled Crook Records: Patients', Providers' and Politics (CRP3) it was held in Wellington on 13 May, in the congenial environment of the 14th floor Conference Room in the Treasury building. A variety of speakers covered aspects of the subject, mainly around the contention that there are silos of records in various parts of the health system, and these do not necessarily talk to each other.

We heard a 'worst case scenario' from Sue Lovelace, Whangarei Health Group Medical Records and Clinical Coding Co-ordinator, at Whangarei Hospital. She also described progress within her hospital, and at Hutt Hospital where she worked until two years ago, towards more electronic storage and communication of medical records.

Janet Marsland, a retired health science educator, spoke from her point of view as a patient, about the lack of communication between health professionals, and the impact this can have on an individual's health. Dr David Rankin, General Manager of Health wise (the provider division of ACC) told some stories about the negative impact of inadequate information, especially on ACC's role in paying for healthcare for accident victims and ensuring that they are rehabilitated. He described IT solutions being established in his organisation to minimise these impacts.

After a generous lunch sponsored by Recall Total Information Management, who along with a couple of other organisations ran a trade display, Dr Jim Vause, deputy-president of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, gave an entertaining talk and data-show on the view from the provincial GP's angle, and advocated for more practitioners to make their notes electronically.

Dr Rowena Cullen, Senior Lecturer, Information Management, at Victoria University spoke on the topic "Universal electronic health records for all New Zealanders: nirvana or nonsense?", using examples she had observed in the United Kingdom, and others. She also sketched briefly the history of paper-based records on m edical m atters, and described what an ideal medical record should be, as against the problems with paper-based records. In urging the adoption of integrated electronic systems, Rowena Cullen urged that ARANZ, RMAA and NZSA promote public debate on key issues of access to and use of personal health information.

Eamonn Bolger talked on "Issues surrounding appraisal of Health records", and the implications of legislation and regulations, including the 2001 Neiv Zealand Public Health and Disability (Archives) Regulations. Eamonn concluded that public debate was needed on access to health records, i.e. not personal access to health records, but access by all health providers to the records of ind iv id ual patients.

Finally, P eter A agaard , C orp orate and Information Directorate, Ministry of Health spoke on progress towards inter-operability between the health information 'silos'. His presentation showed participants that real progress was being made, and that the Ministry is attacking the problem on several fronts . He thought part of the problem was a reality gap between professionals. Should one try and leap across it? It was better to fill the gap with stepping stones consisting of a series of smart projects that would gradually fill it in. He concluded by saying he believed the silos were disappearing, and that 'pylons' was a better term: i.e. communication points along which the information could travel from one to another professional. Like other speakers, Mr Aagaard quoted from a recent Harvard study that received wide publicity, which found that 1 in 4 patients in New Zealand (similar figures applied to other cou ntries) could suffer m inor or m ajor consequences from m istakes m ade by health professionals.

Publications which could assist with aiding the developm ent of better com m unication without compromising privacy were quoted during the day: the Health Information Privacy Code 1994 (a revision is currently in process of being compiled) and the Health Netzvork Code o f Practice, issued by Standards New Zealand in 2002.

The Wellington Sole Archivists' Group visited the splendid new premises of the Television New

Zealand Archive at Avalon, Lower Hutt on 7 May 2003. M anager Alan Ferris greeted m em bers, showed them an impressive audio-visual about the A rchive and the new bu ild ing , explained the functions of the organisation, and showed members around the premises, which included the well- appointed theatrette where we began. He said that currently, TVNZ Archive was the best such facility in the world. It was opened on 31 March, 2002. All storage and work areas were built one metre off the ground, to protect against possible flooding of the Hutt River. Modern design, security, lighting and technology required for the job were first-class. All formats of video recordings and film are housed here, and also material transferred from the New Zealand Film Unit when it ceased functioning. Photo stills and music tapes are also kept.

Items selected for preservation are extensively indexed, and can be transferred online to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch television studios, and are transferred to video for other users.

The Archive is open to the public for visits, and items are available for public research, though TVNZ users take precedence. The con tact is Sally Williamson, Client Liaison Executive, New Zealand Television Archive, PO Box 30 945, Lower Hutt, telephone 04 914 5301, fax 04 914 5319 or e-mail Sally. Williamson@nztvarchive.co.nz

PARBICA (Pacific R egional Branch of the International Council on Archives) will hold its 10th biennial conference in Wellington from 21 to 26 July 2003. Delegates from about 20 Pacific countries are expected to attend, including East Timor. The meetings will be at a suite at the Michael Fowler Centre. One day will be at the National Library, and Archives New Zealand. There will be a series of lectures and workshops during the week, and it is hoped that a number of delegates will be able to stay on in W ellington after the conference for professional work placem ents at Archives New Zealand and the National Library.

A social function will be held in the early evening of 21 July, and all members of NZSA are invited. If you do not receive an invitation and would like to attend, please contact Ken Scadden at Archives New Zealand, telephone 04 499-5595 ext. 330, e-m ail ken.scadden@archives.govt.nz NZSA will be one of the host organisations, together with ARANZ and RMAA. It will be held at Archives New Zealand, and there will be a small charge. This is a chance for New Zealand archivists to meet their Pacific colleagues.

Remembering Ian MathesonThe New Zealand Society of Archivists is to set up a Scholarship fund, for an award to he known as

the Ian Matheson Scholarship.

The Scholarship is to honour and remember Ian Matheson, a former President of the Society, and long­time archivist at Palmerston North City Council who died in July 2002. His enthusiasm, knowledge and generosity in sharing what he knew with others have been an inspiration. We wish to remember him in a way that we think he would have approved, to enable archivists to improve their skills, and thus their ability to assist those who use archives for all kinds of research. Ian Matheson's family have approved the idea of the scholarship.

The purpose of the Scholarship is to assist archivists (people currently working with archives or about to be) to receive further education and training in the profession, principally through internships in New Zealand archives institutions, though it could be to assist with fees for tertiary archives education. The amount to be awarded will vary, depending on the circumstances and location of the Scholars, who will be selected by ballot. At

this stage we cannot say when the first award will be made, since it w ill take some time to build up sufficient funds.

WE ARE ASKING YOU TO SUBSCRIBE!NZSA Council is appealing initially to its own

members to contribute to a fund to be set up specifically for the Scholarship. Later, donations of any amount may be made to the Fund. Cheques should be made out to Ian Matheson Scholarship Fund a/c, and will be deposited to a separate account under that title. They should be sent to NZSA Treasurer, PO Box 27- 057, Marion Square, Wellington. Receipts will be issued for all donations.

For further details write to:SecretaryNZSAPO Box 27-057 Marion Square Wellington.

NR AM NewsKay Sanderson

On 5 June, NRAM completed the series of training courses made possible by last year's grant from the Stout Trust. The courses were held in Wellington, Palmerston North, Dunedin, Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton, and were attended by approximately seventy people. Tutors were Nicola Frean, John Timmins and Pauline Porteous.

The decision to charge an attendance fee of $50, and practical support received in the form of free venues, stationery and equipment, enabled us to reach a much larger group than would otherwise have been possible. NRAM gratefully acknowledges the assistance of A rchives New Z ealand, Victoria U niversity of Wellington Library, Palmerston North City Library, Otago Settlers' Museum, Auckland City Library, Christchurch City Library, Waikato Institute of Technology Library and Westpac Bank.

Over the past three months it has been clearly demonstrated that NRAM courses are very much in demand. Nearly all the courses offered were booked out, with many people travelling for two or three hours to attend them. As always, those who came represented the full range of types of NRAM contributors: local history librarians, business archivists, school archivists, museum archivists and volunteers working with local historical societies. The fact that many represented organisations which have not previously contributed to NRAM is evidence of NRAM's huge potential for growth.

Unfortunately, there were those who missed out. Sometimes the dates were inconvenient and sometimes the courses were fully booked. Some archives curators simply couldn't make it because of the long distances which they would have to travel to reach the nearest venue. If you missed out this time, please contact the NRAM Administrator, who is keeping a "waiting list" in case the opportunity should arise to offer further training during the 2003-2004 financial year. Remember that it is not necessary to attend a course prior to contributing entries to NRAM. The Administrator is always happy to offer one-to-one advice and assistance.

Kay SandersonNRAM Administrator and Training Co-ordinator ph. 06-379-9333 e-mail: hodsan@wise.net.nz 23 Connolly's Line, Carterton.Website: www.nram.org.nz

Footnote: A document received from Archives New Zealand at the end of May, entitled Archives New Zealand’s Purpose has under the section "Archives New Zealand's Future" a paragraph headed "New Zealand Archives" which reads hopefully for NRAM: "New Zealand has a large number of institutions that hold archives of importance to New Zealanders. Archives New Zealand will work towards providing systems to support these archives and to support access to their holdings." Ed.

Edukit CoursesIt is still intended to run a

course in Wellington before long. Now, a new initiative has taken place in regard to the Edukit. Rosemary Collier approached Jocelyn Cuming, the National Preservation Officer, about co-operating in use of the Edukit. She was aware that frequently the people Jocelyn spoke to about preservation measures had little or no training in archives theory or practice. From the NZSA side, there was the possibility of using the bigger networks of the National Preservation Office to publicise the chance of training using the Edukit. People who attend training courses run by the National Register of Archives and Manuscripts also sometimes lack basic archives skills, and so can benefit from Edukit courses.

It turned out that Jocelyn Cuming was already interested in archives training for small, predominantly volunteer-run institutions. Jocelyn fields many preservation enquiries from these institutions. The greater issue, however, was that these volunteers had little knowledge of archives work. Jocelyn had already had the Edukit brought to her attention by an archivist, and saw it as a possible answer to providing some regional training at a very basic level.

Jocelyn Cuming and Rosemary Collier were both keen to organise joint courses that would cover both archives theory and practice, and preservation. They decided to first get together people who could act as trainers, so that courses could be run more frequently,

and in a range of locations. This began on 23 May with a group of eight people, selected because of their archives qualifications and experience, and their ability and experience as trainers. This was by no means an exhaustive list of people; it was a good start. They represented Auckland, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Rosemary Colliercondensed the Edukit course of 1 Vi days into two hours, endeavouring to present both

the content, and the organisation and rationale of the kit. We did manage to work in a short session using soft toys! (See New Zealand Archivist Vol. XII no. 2, June 2001). Then Jocelyn Cuming briefly presented the main topics which she covers in an introductory Preservation course. Participants discussed improvements which could be made to the kit, and expressed themselves pleased with its overall content and structure. They were enthusiastic about the possibilities for presenting courses based on it.

NZSA is grateful to Jocelyn Cuming for taking up the proposed expansion of the use of the kit, and for organising the day — and the splendid lunch — and to National Library for hosting the course and covering the costs. A small group from the participants will meet shortly with Ellen Ellis, who developed the kit for NZSA, to work on updating it. Watch this space for further developments!

Archivists - Back row standing L-R: Rachel Lilburn, Jocelyn Cuming, Narelle Scollay, Lois Robertson, Rosemary Collier, Geraldine Pickles. Front row seated L-R: Pauline Porteous, Lucy Marsden, Libby Sharpe, Dorothy Neilson.

National Library ActAt the end of April the new National Library Act

passed into law, by a unanimous vote in Parliament. NZSA was one of the many organisations which at the appropriate stage made submissions on the draft. The President of The Friends of the Turnbull Library, Rachel Underwood, states in her annual report for the year ended 31 March 2003, that during the process MPs were made much more aware of the importance of the collections and work of the Turnbull Library.

Provisions which are new in the 2003 Act cover

Maori interests, provide for legal deposit of electronic publications (both on-line and off-line), enable further development of oral history by clarifying its status (and making it no longer dependent on charitable support), establish a Library and Information Commission, and provide for protection of the position and status of the A lexander Turnbull Library. This latter is particularly through the establishment of the position and functions of Chief Librarian and of the Guardians of the Turnbull.

Council NewsOn the afternoon of 2 May Council held a planning

session, in which we looked at options for the future and how we could improve what the Society does. Rosemary Collier facilitated this, using the de Bono Six Hats method. Some ideas emerged from this which

we hope to implement. We would also be grateful for ideas from members as to what they think the Society should be doing, and also offers from those who would like to assist their fellow-archivists by standing for Council.

Archives of ArchivesDavid Retter has compiled a series of historical newspaper clippings and other documents about archives. We will print several of these over the next few issues of New Zealand Archivist.

PUBLIC DOCUMENTSMr. HOLMES asked the Government, If they intend

during this session to introduce a Bill to provide— (1) That all Bills, documents, papers, and memoranda made, procured, furnished, printed, written, obtained, or supplied for public use or information at the public expense, whether by Ministers, or officers or servants of the Crown, or any other persons whomsoever, are public property ; (2) that it shall be a crime punishable by fine and imprisonment for any Minister, officer, or servant of the Crown, or any other person, to destroy, remove, or to aid or abet in destroying or removing, any such public property, without being lawfully authorized so to do ; (3) that any person may lay an information against and prosecute any person reasonably suspected of being guilty of having destroyed, removed, or having aided or abetted in destroying or removing, any such public property? He desired briefly to explain why he asked this question. It had been brought before the House that a certain Bill—the materials of which were provided at public expense, and which Bill was drawn by an officer of the Crown, who was paid for doing so—was printed at the Government establishment and at the expense of the colony, [had been destroyed is implied, but not stated. Ed.]

Further remarks to this wordy question were that Holmes considered some Parliamentarians thought "certain officers o f the Crown had a right to destroy property o f the Crown".

Sir J. VOGEL ...the Government did not intend to bring down a Bill of this character this session. Indeed, he might say that a Bill framed with the severity indicated in the question put would be a Bill which might be fitly termed a Bill to abolish waste-paper

baskets, and it would be dangerous for any member of the Government to tear up a single scrap of paper...the question of destroying or preserving documents depended very much on their nature or contents. It would be exceedingly absurd to say that a member of the Government, having a memorandum which he wished to submit to his colleagues, should not be at liberty—if his handwriting was as bad as his (Sir J. Vogel's) unfortunately was—to put it before his colleagues in such a shape that they could read i t ; and it would be equally absurd to say that such a document might not be destroyed, being in its nature a private one. On the other hand, there were documents sent to the Printing Office which it might be equally improper to destroy.. .he thought it would require a very clever draftsman to produce a Bill which would draw a satisfactory line between documents which should be preserved and those which should be ultimately destroyed.

Mr. HOLMES did not at all agree with the Colonial Treasurer. He did not think there would be any difficulty whatever in framing a short Bill to carry out what he proposed. He would suggest to him that a small clause giving a certain discretionary power to Government to authorize the destruction of useless papers would meet the whole difficulty ; and then would come in that portion of his question which referred to not being lawfully authorized to destroy papers which might be of use or benefit to the public.

Sir J. VOGEL said that, if the honourable gentleman would frame the Bill, it would receive the very respectful attention of the Government.

Mr. HOLMES said he would do so.P arliam entary D ebates vol.48 pp.367-368, 17

September 1884.

News Items[Archive of historic recordings]

An archive opened in the United States yesterday, for the 50 most memorable American recordings ever made. Who chose the items to go in this archive at the Library of Congress? The public, and the board of the Library of Congress. It includes music, and important speeches, and is selected from two-and-a- half million recordings already in the Library of Congress or other collections, going back as far as Edison's recordings. This new archive will ensure that an additional copy will be kept of the 50 most important recordings.

News on Radio New Zealand Upbeat programme, 29 January 2003.

Selling the silver to satisfy the taxman

Britain's hefty inheritance tax is returning all sorts of unusual objects into public hands.

FACING a big bill for inheritance tax? Don't worry, just take your pictures off the wall, wave goodbye to that mahogany sideboard and sell the family silver. It all goes some way toward satisfying the demands of the British taxman.

For about 50 years, the British Government has run a scheme under which people can use their valuables to settle their death duties. In a country stuffed with stately hom es, forgotten trinkets and dusty

manuscripts, it has proved a popular and successful way for people to settle their debts and return works of art to the public domain.

In 1998 someone used The Sherborne Missal, a 14th century Roman Catholic liturgical book, to clear a tax bill of nearly £7 million. The book, made for a Benedictine abbey in southw est England and considered an unrivalled masterpiece of English book production, was snapped up by the British Library. Weighing just over 18 kilograms the Missal is nearly 700 pages thick and contains some of the most famous illustrations of animals and flowers in English art. As with all cases of items sold as Acceptance in Lieu, the ministry [of Culture, Media and Sport] did not reveal the seller's identity.

In the same year, someone paid off £1.6 million of tax using manuscripts, books, portraits and ceramics relating to the composer George Frederic Handel.

Gideon Long, Reuters; Dominion Post, 17 February 2003.

Tinseltown raids Brit TV archive

They have plundered comic books, video games and even their own back catalogues. Now Hollywood studios are turning to vintage British television in their latest bid to find bankable new franchises.

As critics discuss the merits of Mel Gibson's big- screen version of The Singing Detective at this week's Sundance Film Festival, plans are afoot to turn a host of other classic serials into movies.

Even Brideshead Revisited is about to be given the movie treatment. Evelyn Waugh's novel, which was turned into the most acclaimed ITV drama serial ever, is being adapted by the prolific British screenwriter Andrew Davies. The Prisoner, the cult 60s science fiction series starring Patrick M cGoohan as an abducted agent who wakes up in a mysterious village, is being reinvented for cinema audiences.

As with many big-screen adaptations, there were early signs that the producers of The Singing Detective had taken worrying liberties with Dennis Potter's original script in an effort to simplify it for multiplex audiences. The BBC serial starred Michael Gambon as Philip E. Marlowe, a writer of detective novels, who, while bed-ridden in hospital with the skin disease psoriasis, lapses into a fantasy world peopled by his own creations. In the new version, his character is renamed Dan Dark, and played by the younger and more photogenic Robert Downey jnr.

His psychiatrist, Dr Gibbon (Scottish actor Bill Paterson in the original), is portrayed by Mel Gibson, who also co-produced the film. But early reports suggest that it is something of a minor triumph. In the Sundance festival's guide, it is described as a "jewel of a film ", and Downey jnr is praised for his "outstanding performance". The success of the film can be put down in part to the fact that Potter himself

was able to complete its screenplay before his death from cancer eight years ago.

However, not all of the upcoming adaptations of TV serials will be sim ilarly blessed, prompting speculation that the latest Hollywood trend may prove to be a fleeting fad.

(sourced from The Independent) New Zealand Herald, 23 January 2003.

Archive to preserve black history

Researchers behind a project to create the world's biggest video archive of oral African American history believe that, taken together, the stories and testimony of up to 5,000 black Americans - famous or otherwise - will create a resource of unparalleled richness. They also hope that when viewed as a whole, scholars and students will become more aware of the role in the development of black consciousness played by people whose names did not make the headlines. Thus the project is a radical attempt to amend the received wisdom about who were the key people in the black American struggle.

Not since the 1930s, during the Roosevelt era, when out-of-work writers were sent out across the United States to record interviews with 2300 former slaves, has there been such a comprehensive attempt to record the African American experience as told in the first person, those behind the project claim.

"We are preserving living history," said Julianne Richardson, who established the HistoryMakers project. "In today's world you hear Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. You keep hearing the same names over and over again.. ..But if it had not been for the lawyers behind the scene and funders like Harry Belafonte there would not have been a Martin Luther King. The stories are out there, but you never get to hear them. It's a humungous resource and people will want to tap into it. It is a resource that will not easily be replicated."

The project, based in Chicago, was started when Ms Richardson was a graduate student at Harvard and was completing a project on oral history. She said that she was inspired by the discovery that the history of blacks in America contained so many different stories and yet people heard very few of them.

The closest comparison is to Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation archive, which involved interviewing 50,000 Holocaust survivors in 57 countries.

Ms Richardson said her team have set themselves the task of interviewing on video 5,000 black Americans by 2005. So far the team .. .have completed 400, each interview running for up to two hours in length. The team estimate that to complete the project they will require $30m. They have so far raised $2.4 m, mostly with money from grants and foundations.

Ms Richardson said that she hoped eventually that the HistoryMakers video recordings would be stored in a digital archive that would be available to black

colleges as well as libraries and national research centres, including the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, which is based in Harlem, New York...

(sourced from The Independent) Wanganui Chronicle, 16 January 2003.

City Archives open longerBig changes are taking place at Wellington City Archives, the Council's wonderful repository for the documentary history of Wellington.

From May 5, the Archives will be open five days a week, from 10.00 am until 4.30 pm Monday to Friday. This m eans that the archives are accessible an additional four and a half hours a week but, more importantly, it is hoped that the hours will be more convenient for many customers. City Archivist, Joanna Newman, says "There is a tremendous amount of work to do behind the scenes in an archives but we have at last reached the point where we can provide good access to our holdings without having to close for a day to do so."

Public use of the Archives is steadily increasing - partly, Joanna believes, because the holdings are now so much more accessible and so much more of the collection is catalogued. Part of that accessibility is the new online database which can be browsed in the Reading Room at the Archives. This gives researchers access to information on over 300,000 files, maps, plans, photographs and other items in the collection. Images of about 3,000 photographs of historic Wellington can also be viewed on line.

To find out more, call the Archives on 801 2096 or visit the website at http://wcc.govt.nz/services/ archives/

Absolutely POSITIVELY Wellington: Your city council newspaper, May 2003.

Our Plan for Wellington: New initiatives for 2003/04Community Archive

Under this project, the role of the Council's City Archives would be expanded to include the archives of other organisations that have played a significant role in the city's development. The records and memorabilia of local businesses, societies, associations, interest groups, churches and religious institutions or clubs could be included. We propose to spend $31,000 in each of the next three years on part-time archives staff and storage materials.

Absolutely POSITIVELY Wellington: Your city council newspaper, May 2003.

Newspaper history to be preserved for posterity

Wanganui history was relocated from Taupo Quay to Queen's Park in the back of a truck yesterday, a move that will ensure its safekeeping for generations to come. Around 250 volumes of newspapers, covering almost

three decades, were collected from their birthplace, the Wanganui Chronicle, and transported to the Whanganui Regional Museum where they will be catalogued, cleaned and stored.

Wanganui Newspapers donated bound volumes of the Wanganui Herald from the early 1970s to 1986, when it closed, and the Chronicle from around 1965 to 1980. These papers joined the museum's already extensive collection of local newspapers, which starts with a number of issues from the 1850s and 1860s and includes the bulk of works from the early 1870s onwards.

Taking charge of the collection, archivist Libby Sharpe said the newspapers were an invaluable, "totally unique" resource that needed to be treated with care. "They're one of a kind. No other collection in the world is like this. What better way is there to investigate a specific topic than to look at an original contemporary account," she said.

Once each volume has been prepared for storage, a job expected to take three months, they will be placed on purpose-built shelves within the museum "and probably only brought out to be microfilmed or scanned when necessary". Ms Sharpe said some people questioned the need to collect and maintain the papers when the majority of issues through to the 1990s were already copied to microfilm. " The format we use to view things may change in the future. The point is, none of us knows how long film and digital formats may last, so we need to retain original newspapers just in case. We know that paper, stored in optimum conditions, lasts for centuries."

Those wanting to access the microfilm for research purposes, such as shedding light on their ancestry, can visit the museum's Heritage Room from lpm-5pm on weekdays. Issues of the Chronicle and Herald from the 1870s to 1900 are also available online via the National Library's website found at paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Tony Abel, Wanganui Chronicle, 16 May 2003.

[Study on health misadventure]

A Harvard University study has shown that, as in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, one in four patients in New Zealand suffers some medical mistake or misadventure. It is particularly prevalent amongst those with multiple doctors.

Radio New Zealand News, 8 May 2003.[Surely this points to poor recordkeeping and poor

communication of what is in those records. Ed.]

Artist of death confided horrors to diary

AS ANATOLE DEIBLER led his 395 victims to the guillotine, he observed them with the detached lucidity of a true professional. Their howls of fear, their cries of anger, their final cigarettes: he watched it all, then noted it [in] his diaries.

Mr Deibler's 14 notebooks were auctioned in Paris this week. Sold in two separate volumes, Executions and Condem nations, they fetched 100,249 euros

(NZ$198,000), seven times more than expected. The buyer was not named.

France's last public executioner left about 2000 pages of detailed, handwritten comments on the rapists, murderers, anarchists and presidential assassins whose heads he removed between 1890 and 1939, when he collapsed at a railway station on his way to an execution and died aged 76.

Dominion Post, 8 February 2003.

Courts under fire over document shutdown

The Department for Courts was under attack yesterday for abruptly moving to limit the public's access to the High Court register. In an apparently arbitrary move prompted by the introduction of its m uch-criticised new com puter system , court bureaucrats have told the public it is no longer possible to look at the register of cases filed at the court in Auckland.

Registrar Tony Mortimer said the computer system had a single level of access, which was designed for staff to see all details of cases, so it had been decided not to offer the public service any longer. "Anyway, you appear to be the only person who asks for it," Mr Mortimer told The National Business Review. The public could still search for details of a particular case, but only if they knew the name of one of the parties, Mr Mortimer said. Each search of each name would cost $25 - the fee previously charged to look at the entire register.

The decision was made at a meeting of court officials and it was unclear whether it was backed up by a ju d icial ruling, w hether any judges were informed or whether any legal opinion was obtained. The move has enraged the media, which fears the important principle of having an open court system is being undermined. The Press Freedom Committee of the Commonwealth Press Union said the move was an unacceptable constraint on access to official information and it would raise the issue with the Department of the Courts [sic].

"We have to ask ourselves whether the court bureaucracy does not have the same commitment to open justice that is embraced by the judiciary. Or is this a matter of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing?" Commonwealth Press Union chairman Gavin Ellis said. Under rule 66 of the High Court rules, any person has the right, for a fee, to "search, inspect and take a copy of... all registers and indexes of court records."

Deborah Hill Cone, The National Business Review, 4 April 2003.

Secrets rise from ashes as looters" fury subsides

AFTER SADDAM; A box lined with tigerskin paper reveals a British MP's dealings with Iraq

Inside the blackened, gutted shells of Iraq's government ministries, a frenzied hunt is on for loot and evidence. Foreign journalists search through battered, dust-covered archives metres away from Iraqis hammering at light fittings and wheeling out furniture.

There are few parallels for a totalitarian regime collapsing and leaving so many of its secrets behind. The Iraqi files are in pale blue folders, crammed inside brown box files. The boxes labelled "Britain" found in the Foreign Ministry were, for reasons best known to Iraqi officialdom, lined with tigerskin wallpaper.

Everyone has been hunting for loot or evidence except, it seems, Western intelligence agencies, who appear to have let the chance pass. The early document hunt, which engaged a large number of foreign journalists almost from the moment Saddam Hussein fell, concentrated on the headquarters of the Mukhabarat, the intelligence service.

Much of the Mukhabarat's archives fell victim to the fires, and the remainder was scrutinised by Western journalists. By last week, every government ministry had suffered the same treatment and the tide of looting had slowed. Yet the Foreign Ministry appeared to have largely escaped the attentions of journalists, perhaps because it lacked the obvious macabre glamour of the Mukhabarat headquarters. It had been looted and many of its floors were gutted by fire, yet it remained structurally intact.

So I chose this ministry for my search on Sunday. The blackened office containing archives of correspondence crossing the desk of Iraqi foreign ministers happened to be about the only room on the ministry's first floor with anything left inside it at all.

Standing on a heap of grubby box files piled on the floor, I dropped to my knees and started rummaging. Documents stamped "confidential and personal" emerged from pale blue folders, all carrying the Iraqi eagle, the symbol of the state. Letters signed by famous names in Iraqi politics such as Tariq Aziz, once deputy prime minister, and Naji Sabri, the former foreign m inister, cascaded on to the floor. Some were blackened and torn. All were covered with a thick coat of ash and soot. Within minutes, both of us had sweaty black sleeves.

Then my Iraqi translator found an orange box-file with the Arabic label "Britain". Its interior was lined with tigerskin wallpaper. Four blue folders lay inside. Opening the first, I found George Galloway's letter nominating Fawaz Zureikat as his representative in Baghdad [George Galloway is a British MP who tried to foster relations with Iraq. Ed.]. Another folder contained a letter from Sir Edward Heath, thanking

the Iraqi representative in London for attending a lunch in Salisbury.

Two more boxes were labelled "Britain". Others were labelled "United States", "Security Council" and "France". Each appeared to contain documents that had crossed the desk of an Iraqi foreign minister. They were piled inside a tiny room on the first floor. Nearby was a large room that must have been the ministry's main archive. The metal frames of row upon row of folders still survive. Everything else has been burned to a cinder. Why the room with the box-files survived is a mystery. Its walls are blackened by fire, yet most of the folders are intact. The looters who ransacked the ministry clearly had no interest in them.

David Blair, Telegraph Group Ltd; New Zealand Herald, 24 April 2003.

Files tell story of secret assassins

The chief of Saddam Hussein's secret police "151" division knew how to test the mettle of his officers. Hazal al-Nasire handed down the Iraqi President's orders to kill political and religious opponents, praising successful assassins and ordering investigations into the motives of those who dared refuse him.

As recently as six weeks ago the assassination chief was still giving orders to kill Saddam's opponents, according to secret and signed documents discovered in a two-storey stucco home in Baghdad. On the cover of one white folder is scribbled, "Names of officers who did not agree to execute people in the street." Many of the other documents in the same house had already been destroyed in a fire, but these pristine papers were hidden in a garage.

In the files, officers excuse them selves from assassination duties on the grounds of ill health, or because they are compassionate fathers and do not want to dirty their hands. But others who carry out their allotted tasks receive praise in the files for their courage and bravery.

Philip Smucker, New Zealand Herald, 24 April 2003.

US Senate unseals private transcripts from McCarthy investigation era

Pushing an anti-communist crusade that riveted the United States a half century ago, Joseph McCarthy manipulated his Senate hearings by calling witnesses he could intimidate and ignoring those likely to oppose him, newly released transcripts show.

Among the nearly 500 w itnesses covered in transcripts of closed-door meetings made public yesterday by the Senate are composer Aaron Copland, New York Times journalist James Reston and Eslanda Goode Robeson, the wife of blacklisted singer-actor

Paul Robeson. Some 4000 pages of newly released documents also show that McCarthy was convinced many writers, government officials and secretaries had access to classified information.

NZPA/ AP, Manawatu Evening Standard, 7 May 2003.

Humble clay tablets are greatest loss to science

One month after the looting of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, it is clear that the consequences will be devastating. The plunder is already being compared to the legendary destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria centuries ago. But the losses that will wound archaeologists most deeply are... the mass of information recorded in thousands of cuneiform tablets and other small artefacts that have been reported missing. These items formed one of the most comprehensive records of the lives and thoughts of Mesopotamian people thousands of years ago. "What's really interesting about this civilisation is not the high art," says Paul Zimansky, a specialist in Mesopotamian antiquities at Boston University. "Most of the stuff I dug up that went into that museum would not strike anyone as terribly beautiful. But they tell us how people lived in our first civilisation, and that's very important."

Fortunately, not all the information from such artefacts will be lost. Archaeologists keep careful records of the material they excavate - especially if, as in Iraq, foreign workers are often not allowed to take the objects out of the country. Instead, they photograph everything, write careful descriptions, and often make casts of the originals to take home for further study.

These records form a back-up of the original material, scattered among universities and museums around the world. Archaeologists are now trying to pull these back-ups together into a coherent, usable archive. "There's been a real mobilisation of scholars to try to start assembling this information," says Ellen Herscher of the Archaeological Institute of America in Boston. But these secondary records can never provide as much information as the originals. "There's no substitute for the originals," says Herscher. Worse, no secondary records exist at all for much of the material that was held in the Baghdad museum....

This lack of back-up is particularly serious when it comes to the thousands of cuneiform tablets held by the museum that have never been read or translated. "There's a whole world that opens up as a document is deciphered," says Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. "If it's never read, it's a loss to our collective past."

Among the unread tablets reported missing are those containing a second copy of the Gilgamesh epic, one of the oldest recorded stories in the world. These could have filled in the gaps left by missing or broken tablets in the first version of the tale. Other tablets record more routine inform ation: business transactions, inventories of livestock, legal records and the like. Yet even such apparently trivial information

can be valuable to archaeologists, especially when they uncover a complete archive as they did in the late 1980s in the city of Sippar, south-east of Baghdad.

Such sources provide a snapshot of what people considered important and how they organised their lives and possessions, providing a rich picture of the workings of an early civilisation. Much of that value is lost if the archive is scattered or partially destroyed. "Are you ever going to get those materials back together so they can be studied? You're not. This is a great loss to hum anity," says Sam uel Paley, an archaeologist at the State University of New York at Buffalo. There is, however, some good news: most of Iraq's archaeological treasures remain buried in its soil, awaiting discovery.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Iraq's libraries. The National Library in Baghdad, and several others, were destroyed in the aftermath of the war. Among their contents were Korans and other texts going back five hundred years, as well as more recent papers documenting the founding of the modem state of Iraq after the break-up of the Ottoman Empire. "The library is a disaster on a different level," says Irving Finkel, an archaeologist at the British Museum in London. "Burnt manuscripts are gone forever."

Bob Holmes and James Randerson, New Scientist, 10 May 2003.

They're keeping our secretsThe world's intelligence agencies are coming in from

the cold and opening their records for inspection, but not yet New Zealand's Security Intelligence Service.

Surprising as it may seem, our SIS is one of the more secretive in the developed world. Unlike the intelligence agencies of Australia, the United States and even Britain, the SIS doesn't have an archival policy which requires it to release its records after a certain period of time.

But change is coming. The SIS is developing an archival policy which means secret documents will eventually be released. SIS director Richard Woods doesn't want to comment on the proposal till it has been announced by Prime Minister Helen Clark, but it is likely to be finalised this year.

At the moment, it is expected that the SIS will follow the example of its British counterpart by imposing a wait period of 50 years on most records. More sensitive information may be withheld even longer. A draft of the proposal has been sent to the Chief Ombudsman, the Privacy Commissioner, the Chief Archivist, and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security for comment.

The move to release old files has been a long time coming. Right now, it's easier for New Zealanders to access Australian Security Intelligence Organisation files or US Central Intelligence Agency files than those of our own intelligence service.

Though the SIS is bound by the provisions of the

Official Information Act (and, in respect of personal information, the Privacy Act), the very nature of most SIS documents means they are exempt for security or privacy reasons. Some of the files created by its predecessor - the New Zealand Police Special Branch- have been released in response to requests from academics. But, to date, no SIS files have been released.

Both the US and Australia have more accessible archival policies than the SIS. The CIA releases millions of pages of documents each year, much of it in response to specific request. Currently, it is reviewing all non­exempt records 25-years or older for declassification- which amounts to some 40-60 million pages of secret material. For example, over 227,000 pages of records on the assassination of President Kennedy have been released.

Australia's equivalent of the SIS - the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) - has a policy of making many files available to the public after 30 years.

---- [Researchers Aaron Fox and Anne-Marie Bradyin New Zealand have been unsuccessful in obtaining access to files, and have said former Soviet bloc archival policies are more open than those in New Zealand.]

[Dr Anne-Marie Brady] "It's really weird for a democratic society. The research is not going to hurt anybody."

Written parliamentary questions by Green MP Keith Locke have revealed the SIS was granted a 25-year exemption from depositing its classified material in the National Archives when it [the SIS] was established in 1969. Since then, that exemption has been extended twice for 10-year periods. The latest extension was certified by then prime minister Jim Bolger in June 1995. The basis for the exemption is that releasing the material "may adversely affect the national security of New Zealand or relations between the Government of New Zealand and the government of any other country".

That argument rankles with Mr Locke. "No files have ever been deposited in the Archives, which raises two questions: Why not, in terms of accountability? And why have they been hidden from the public for so long? If you go back to 1969, all the people in charge back then are out of the picture now. That's not very good for historical research or accountability." He doubts the information held by the SIS is sufficiently sensitive to warrant such secrecy. Even the proposed 50-year time lapse is too long, he believes. Mr Locke suggests the maximum wait period should be about 25 years with a sliding scale that allows less sensitive material to be released sooner.

"Not enough pressure has gone on yet because the preferable situation for intelligence agencies is always total secrecy. It's the way intelligence agencies work. If they can get away with putting nothing in the archives, it's simpler for them... and you can only counter it by having a bit of public debate."

But historians are doubtful the SIS will adopt a more

flexible policy. Dr Fox points out that because it is both a domestic and overseas intelligence agency, a lot of its material is probably sourced from overseas. This complicates its ability to disclose information. For exam ple, the activities of A ustralia 's overseas intelligence collection agency - the ASIS - remain fully protected by secrecy. Second, much of the SIS's information - particularly in the early days was probably sourced from its British counterpart. Dr Fox believes our trans-Tasman cousins have found a good middle-ground. "I would like to see us follow the Australian (ASIO) example, which is a healthy one in that they have a 30-year time limit."

Diana McCurdy, Dominion Post, 23 May 2003.

Changes at Commonwealth Bank Information Management & ArchivesARCHIVES RELOCATION

The Com m onw ealth Bank's A rchives was established in June 1954. The Archives, initially located in Sydney in the building at the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place, will shortly be moving from its present location at Elizabeth and Foveaux Streets, Sydney to new state-of-the-art prem ises being outfitted at Liverpool and Castlereagh Streets, Sydney. This relocation will enable the State Bank/ Rural Bank Archives and the Colonial Archives (ex Melbourne) both acquired as part of the Colonial m erger to be housed together with the Commonwealth Bank Archives. The relocation is scheduled [for February 2003]

NEW APPOINTMENTSA review undertaken in April 1999 resulted in a

change of nam e and focus of the section to Information Management and Archives, with the Archivist's position becoming Information Manager. This new position oversees many aspects of the m anagem ent of inform ation w ithin the Bank, including Records M anagem ent, A rchives and Knowledge Management, with a focus on electronic records. An organisational review has resulted in additional appointments to the Section.

ARCHIVESChris Hurley has been appointed as Manager

Archives. Chris is well-known in archival circles being a prolific writer and active contributor to archival listservs. Chris comes to the Bank from National Archives NZ, with previous appointments at PROV and A ustralian Archives as well as at Monash University.

aus-archivists listsero, 6 February 2003.

One hundred years of photographic histoy [sic]Gifting of images from The Dominion and Evening Post

Since the 1950s the [Alexander Turnbull] Library has received by donation large collections of photographic negatives (some 30,000), albums and photographic prints. The images themselves date from the 1890s to the 1980s and have been used extensively in works published about New Zealand.

Wellington Newspapers Ltd. were most anxious that materials they could no longer retain at their premises [after the merger of the two newspapers in July 2002] would be preserved and made available, for the public to use for research purposes.

The Library was able to fill significant gaps in holdings of both metropolitan newspapers, to the point that it now has complete paper copy sets of the Evening Post (1865-2002) and The Dominion (1907 to the present). In addition complete sets of the New Zealand Times (1874- 1927) and the Sunday Times (1965-1994) were received.

The Turnbull's Photographic Archive has received a vast number of additional negatives and prints. In excess of 350,000 photographic negatives from The Dominion and the Ei’ening Post, dating from the 1950s to the year 2000, cover New Z ealand topics: everything from Royal tours to the Fiji coup! In addition 40 x 4 drawer filing cabinets of photographic prints (1925-2000) were received.

Philip Rainer, Manager Research Centre, Off the Record, Number 10, 2003 [May].

Rothschild On-line

The [Rothschild Archive] Trust was established in 1999 to develop for educational purposes the rich and varied archives which have accumulated in the central Rothschild Archive, located in the City of London within yards of the site where N athan Mayer Rothschild first set up a merchant bank in the early years of the nineteenth century.

The [Rothschild Research] Forum ... can be approached from the A rchive's w ebsite: www.rothschildarchive.org...The site will show how even the most humble of records can be of value to researchers once placed in an electronic environment with fast search capability. For example, the series of receipts for goods and services... can... reveal... details of the seeds and plants bought for the family's gardens and the names of dealers who supplied works of art for their growing collections.

Victor Gray, Director of the Rothschild Archive, History Today, May 2003.

Antarctic artefacts just the ticket

Canterbury Museum has bolstered its excellent Antarctic collection with rare item s from early expeditions to the continent. At an auction in Auckland last week, the museum purchased 14 historic pieces including a copy of the Blizzard pamphlet for $23,625, and Captain Robert Falcon Scott's last rail ticket for $1856.

The Blizzard pamphlet is a collection of written item s from E rnest Sh ack leton 's crew in the Discovery expedition. Only 50 were printed and the copy obtained by the museum is believed to be the only copy left in Australasia.

Scott's ticket was used to travel in Australia in 1910 as he raised m oney for his last A ntarctic expedition. The museum purchases were funded from a bequest.

"These im portant acquisitions are p art of a purposeful build up of materials by the museum," museum director Anthony Wright said. "We are gearing up for a fantastic new Antarctic experience in the revitalised museum and items such as this newsletter and train ticket will help to bring to life the stories of Antarctic discovery and exploration." The museum plans to have the new acquisitions on display in early April. Visitors should check with the museum on 366 5000 or visit www.bethere.org.nz for details.

Jarrod Booker, The Press, 13 March 2003.

History in the Media - NewsThe Vatican has announced that it will declassify its

archives relating to the years leading up to the Second World War in an attempt to prove the Roman Catholic Church was opposed to the Holocaust. During this period, its ambassador to Berlin was the man who went on to become Pope Pius XII from 1939 to 1958, and has long been accused of ignoring the plight of the Jews in concentration camps. The Vatican has said that the released documents will show Pius XII's 'great works of charity and assistance' towards those persecuted by

the Nazis. The archive will is [sic] open to academics by special appointment. (December 29th)

MI5 has chosen Christopher Andrew, Professor of Modem and Contemporary History at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, to write an authorised history of the Secret Service, to mark its centenary in 2009. Professor Andrew will became [sic] a 'part-time' member of MI5 to compile the volume and will be allowed access to classified files. (December 19th)

History Today, March 2003.

Draft ASA policy statement on appraisal

Appraisal has long been one of the most contentious and hotly debated topics in our profession. It has been covered extensively in professional literature; vigorously debated on the list, and in recent years disposal action has been the centre of a number of political events and legal cases [in Australia]. In the current climate [Australian Society of Archivists'] Council decided to develop a policy statement to establish a Society position on appraisal.

Appraisal should be undertaken by professional records and archives staff. Their professional expertise is based on education that provides them with competencies outlined in the Archives and Records Competency Standards, [Australian; similar standards exist for New Zealand, under the aegis of the Public Service Training Organisation, but are overdue for revision, which Archives New Zealand intends to undertake. Ed.] and on experience in records and archives administration.

aus-archivists listserv, 16 April 2003.

The document is quite lengthy, consisting mainly of the draft appraisal policy statement. Readers are encouraged to send comments to members of the Council, who include John Roberts of Archives New Zealand. His e-m ail address for com m ents is john.Roberts@archives.govt.nz; by 30 June.

Archives New Zealand in the News

Archives New Zealand Receives New Budget Allocation

Amongst the budget announcements today was one to the effect that Archives New Zealand has received extra funding for a new repository in Auckland. Archives Chief Executive and Chief Archivist Dianne Macaskill said the funding will mean Archives can build a top quality repository in Auckland which will ensure the safety and security of the archives kept there, as well as improving Archives' ability to provide good service to their readers.

"I personally am delighted with this new budget allocation and I look forward to using it to continue our progress towards becoming an organisation that has effective systems and processes in place to meet the many and varied challenges we face in the coming years," she said.

An announcement from Archives New Zealand onNew Zealand Records listserv, 15 May 2003.

Consultation Group meetsA group loosely referred to as Archives New

Zealand Consultation Group met again on 10 April at Archives' Head Office in Wellington. It consists of individuals invited by the Chief Executive, representing a range of stakeholders, rather than being directly representative of organisations. Dianne Macaskill reported on proceedings of the Maori Consultation Group, and on the Statement of In te n t,1 a sum m ary of w hich was produced. Interestingly, there are comments in the minutes of the former which foreshadow a new building in A uckland , but th is did not com e up in the Consultation Group meeting in April.

Senior staff introduced a variety of subjects during the course of the morning. John Roberts (Archives M anagem ent), Jonathan London (Preservation Services) and Matthew Hockey (Head Archivist, A rrangem ent and D escrip tion ) d iscussed D igitisation and the Digital Repository. It was explained that Archives New Zealand is committed to becoming a digital repository. Because of the importance of providing readier access to archives, a bu siness case was being developed for the digitisation of certain frequently-used records.

Dianne M acaskill and Eamonn Bolger (Head A rch iv ist, A ppraisal) talked about the new "Continuum" product (see separate article) and the m ove tow ards d evelop ing general d isposal

schedules, i.e. those that schedule similar records from all departments and agencies for destruction or transfer to Archives, not just from one department at a time. The appraisal function is now part of the Government Recordkeeping Group within Archives New Zealand. Under the old structure it was part of operations.

John R oberts described developm ents with G LA D IS, the electron ic G overnm ent Locator Archival Description Information System. He said that GLADIS can document government records still held in departments, not only those transferred to Archives New Zealand. This use then prompts departments to make further transfers, and also provides access to more records for the public, in clu d in g governm ent records held in other repositories. Greg Goulding (Policy) discussed developments with the legislation. He stated that the Public Records Bill is on this year's legislative programme, and probably it would be introduced this year and referred to a Select Committee (but see p.4, under Continuum). A paper had been sent to Cabinet describing which government agencies were included in the Bill, and which records. In answer to a question Greg said that Government wished universities to be included.

It is apparent that there are major developments at Archives New Zealand, particularly since it became a separate government department. It can now steer its own course, with increased staff and increased funding.

Rosemary Collier

OutreachThe latest edition of Archives New Zealand's

newsletter, labelled Summer/Autumn 2003 but received on 27 May, reports on the launch of the Continuum Recordkeeping program m e in Wellington, and also in Auckland and Christchurch. The Chief Archivist reports on some significant new sections in this year's Statement of Intent. The questions of d igitising some records and also managing "bom digital" records will be addressed. Progress with the GLADIS electronic system is reported. Archives New Zealand has bought a licence for the new international recordkeeping standard, ISO 15489, which it can make available to government agencies at no cost. The new organisational structure is mentioned, and also the allocation of funding for a purpose-built repository in Auckland.

Plans for a published Standard on Electronic Recordkeeping System s, and a Recordkeeping Metadata Standard are announced.

There is a short obituary of R.I.M. (Bob) Burnett, probably Archives' longest-serving researcher. He was certainly around before your Editor joined National Archives' staff in 1965! In the 1970s Bob described archivists (tongue-in-cheek, as so often) as "paper-massagers".

Finally, a lengthy list of accessions covering October 2002 to January 2003 is particularly strong on politicians' papers - but why are they described in different form ats in October com pared with January? The former are shown as 'Miscellaneous Political Papers (name of politician)' and in January as 'nam e of politician , M iscellaneous P olitical Papers'.

Outreach/kia whakakautoro, Summer/Autumn 2003.

1 See New Zealand Archivist Summer/December 2002 for a review of the 2002 Statement, by Michael Hodder.

In this Issue

New Structure at Archives New Zealand. Jeremy Cauchi, John Roberts, Rosemary Collier Continuum : Launched and Reviewed. Rosemary CollierDigital Preservation. Rosemary Collier Events, Past and Future Remembering Ian Matheson NR AM News. Kay Sanderson Edukit Courses National Library Act Council NewsArchives of Archives. David Retter News Items: Archive of historic recordings; Selling the silver to satisfy the taxman; Tinseltown raids Brit TV archive; Archive to preserve black history; City Archives open longer; Community archive; Newspaper history to be preserved for posterity; Study on health misadventure; Artist of death confided horrors to diary; Courts under fire over document shutdown; Secrets rise from ashes as looters' fury subsides; Files tell story of secret assassins; US Senate unseals private transcripts from McCarthy investigation era; Humble clay tablets are greatest loss to science; They're keeping our secrets; Changes at Commonwealth Bank Inform ation M anagem ent & A rchives; One hundred years of photographic histo[r]y; Rothschild On-line; Antarctic artefacts just the ticket; History in the Media - News; Draft ASA policy statement on appraisal. Rosemary Collier, Michael Hodder, David Retter, Noelene Wevell. Archives New Zealand in the News.

----------------♦----------------About the Contributors

Jerem y Cauchi is Group M anager, Access Services, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. Rosem ary Collier is Editor of New Zealand Archivist and a semi-retired archives consultant. David Retter is President of NZSA and Team Leader, Research Centre, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.John Roberts is Group M anager, Archives Management, Archives New Zealand, Wellington. Kay Sanderson is NRAM Administrator and Training Co-ordinator, and lives in Carterton.

New Zealand Archivist (ISSN 0114-7676) is the quarterly journal of the New Zealand Society of Archivists Incorporated. It is published each year in: Autumn/March; Winter/June; Spring/September and Summer/ December. It is compiled by the editor: Rosemary Collier. Copyright © NZSA and contributors. Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the NZSA. The editorial address is PO Box 27-057, Wellington, NZ. All other correspondence to Secretary, NZSA, at the same address. Contributions for publications are invited. The journal is available through membership of the society (personal $45.00 in NZ, $55.00 overseas, or institutional $100.00) or separately by subscription at the same rates. Overseas rates include airmail postage. All charges payable in New Zealand dollars only.