New Zealand ArchivistVol III No 1 Autumn/March 1992 ISSN 0114-7676

Records Centres are ThirtyJudith Hornabrook

“ What! Any old files for dumping? Certainly NOT!”New Zealand Herald

On 28 February 1962, the National Archives Records Centre at Lower Hutt was opened by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. F Leon Gotz. Present at the ceremony was the local MP (and Leader of the Opposition), Rt Hon. Walter Nash, who is featured in the cartoon by Minhinnick which appeared the same day.

Aside from its interpretation of the news about the Records Centre, the cartoon indicates that Nash's reputation as an inveterate hoarder of papers was well-known. By this time Nash had been a major figure in New Zealand politics for over thirty years and Prime Minister as recently as December 1960, but

Minhinnick equates his interest in 'old records' with an irrelevant concern for yesterday's prob­lems. The 'acid drops' to which Minhinnick acidly draws attention, refer to Nash's comment about what smokers could turn to after taxes on tobacco had been raised, and contributed to his reputation as a wowser and puritan.

A second records centre was opened in Auck­land within a few months. Both facilities still oper­ate, although the Auckland records centre is now part of the Auckland Regional Office of National Archives. MHSS

It will be the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of National Archives' first records centre, at Daly Street Lower Hutt, on 28 February 1992. As one of the survi­vors of what was a most important event for us 1 have been asked to provide some recollections of National Archives as it was in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The aim is to try and convey something of what the working conditions were like, our plans and problems, and,

what is particularly significant in a pioneering stage when a few staff were laying the foundations, the personalities of those involved.

The Hope Gibbons fire of 1952 served to promote interest in archives and stimulate the staff in their endeavours. It was still much in mind when in August 1958 I joined Michael Standish and Pamela Cocks to make a staff of three at the Employers' Federation

Building, 8-12 The Terrace. They had recently moved to these more spacious premises from the attic of the General Assembly Library (where the Dominion Ar­chives had been closeted for thirty years); the Archives Act had only recently been passed.

One could not fail to be fired by a feeling of involve­ment at an exciting time in New Zealand's archival history. My colleagues were absorbed in trying to im­plement the Act and carry out the carefully laid plans they had made over a period of years. Already some progress was being made with records disposal and with information circulars for government offices. On one side there was hopeful anticipation of better accom­modation, staff, approval for records centres and other proposals - and on the other side worry about whether or not Cabinet would get around to discussing us, and if so whether the recommendations for more resources would be approved. There were disappointments too, and frustration with frequent setbacks and the every­day reality of having to carry out a worthwhile pro­gramme with inadequate resources.

At this stage I must diverge to say more of Michael and Pamela. Michael Standish was acting Chief Archi­vist (the Secretary for Internal Affairs being titular Chief). Michael was slightly built, unassuming and studious, but determined - a thinker who could adapt overseas theory and practice to the everyday New Zealand scene in a practical way. He was a bom archi­vist and one has only to look back at his work and read his reports to recognise his calibre. He and Pamela made an impressive team.

Pam, noted for her salvage action at the time of the Hope Gibbons fire, had not long returned from a Fulbright year in Washington DC. She was just as dedicated, in a more extrovert way, full of energy and very much a doer as well as a thinker. Michael had only to go on leave and Pam had some scheme afoot to surprise him on his return. For example the New Zea­land Company classification she developed for a large mass of uncontrolled correspondence has always im­pressed me. Her spring-cleaning bees were less popular - dusting down shelves and archives, and renewing paper wrappings could be a long, tiring, dirty job. Files were wrapped in brown paper tied with twine. The quantity of archives was comparatively little and the tidying-up also served as a stock-take.

Michael and Pamela were not the types to sit back. They would keep on pressing requirements but in the meantime would make the most of what they had and sought practical, economic expediencies, and thisadded spice to the work. For example we could not obtain adequate space to store archives, so the space cleared by appraisal and disposal of records in several govern­ment stores around Wellington was quietly appropri­ated, and filled with archives. The work of Michael and Pam, surveying records and presenting sound reports on records management, were in the end convincing arguments that began to be reflected in more resources for National Archives.

With such a small staff eveiybody had to be ready to turn their hands to anything. As best typist Michael landed a lot of typing on top of his administrative and professional work. I did much of the reference work, but it was Michael who had the uncanny reference skill. Pam was freed to be more active in records appraisal and scheduling.

At first our premises were just two rooms into which we packed as many stacks as possible, and we fitted our desks and a workbench in around them. The reference table (the only one) was placed close to my desk and at times I had to squeeze around readers to fetch a file. Not an ideal situation, but 'user-friendly7. Later we gained more space upstairs, soon crammed with more staff and accessions.

Tea breaks deserve special mention. We all sat be­tween the work bench and the stacks, and discussed work, our plans, and archival theory. I recall extensive debate on the gospels according to St Hilary (Jenkinson) and St Theodore (Schellenberg). Another time it would be an arrangement or disposal question, or how to cope with changes of departmental name or functions. The 'record group' was agonised over. This was an impor­tant part of my training and gave me a better apprecia­tion of the history and work of National Archives as well as the theory and practice. We used to invite readers to join us and participate in the discussions.

So far I have not mentioned what could be called the predecessor of the Records Centre, an old Second World War army shed at Seaview - an archival Siberia, dread­fully cold in winter. There worked storeman Ernie Higgs, who left soon after my advent, and John Christie, a retired engineer, who had volunteered to sort Works records including charred remnants from the Hope Gibbons fire. He took over from Ernie and continued working with Archives for years. Even at seventy he would not accept retirement and worked on with the archives he knew so well. A persistent searcher, his help was in great demand from grateful readers. Small, bespectacled, with hearing aids, Mr Christie had a Dickensian air. At staff meetings he would be asked: "are you tuned in, John?". His eyes would twinkle, and he would nod and give his invariably kindly grin. He might hear, but would not necessarily listen if he did not wish to learn of some impending obstacle to his labour of love. [Editor's note: Mr Christie later returned to the Ministry of Works as a specialist in their historical plans. He was still working there in the early 1980s, so that many current National Archives staff will recall him, a largely unnoticed hero of our archival history].

The years up to 1962 saw some advances and an increase in staff. In 1959 Bemie Reid was seconded from his post as Records Clerk at the Department of Internal Affairs. At the same time we gained a clerk/typist. Later came two records managers and archives assist­ants. By early 1962 the total had risen to twelve. We also had the significant approval to take legal custody of departmental records stored in departmental cellars, and consequently assumed responsibility for twenty- six 'repositories' around town, most of them dusty unpleasant cellars pervaded with grime and badly in need of pest control. On one occasion a nest of cats in a cellar led to a plague of fleas, and a very itchy and fantastically speckled archivist.

The Records Centre was a great step forward from all this, and its success was quickly followed, by ap­proval for more space in Daly Street (in an adjacent building) and the new Records Centre in Auckland.

Sadly, we also had tragedies. Michael died suddenly in 1962, soon after his appointment as Chief Archivist. Within the year Bemie was also lost, in an accident.

It was not until 1963 that John Pascoe joined as the new Chief Archivist and brought his own special fla-

vour to the institution still badly affected by its losses. John was not a professional archivist, but he knew archives as a user and had wide experience. He was also a warm caring personality, loyal to staff and deter­mined to do all he could to advance National Archives. His sudden death in 1972 was to be another sad blow,

especially as Pamela left shortly before, to marry and settle in Gisborne.

Thirty years. A lot has happened, and it remains facinating to me, to observe the developments there have been.

NZSA NewsNew Members

Welcome to the following new members and sub­scribers. Pamela Hall (Gisborne Museum & Arts Cen­tre), Val McVety (Lower Hutt City Council), Barbara Olsen (Palmerston North City Council), and David Retter (Alexander Turnbull Library), are new Ordi­nary members. The Treasury has joined as a subscriber to New Zealand Archivist.

Total affiliations to the Society are now more than one hundred.

Council NewsAt the recommendation of the Associates Commit­

tee, Council has confirmed Pamela Hall as an Associate of th eSociety. As Pam Cocks, she worked at National Archives 1950-69, retiring as Senior Archivist. Her ca­reer there is summarised in her article 'National Ar­chives in Retrospect' (Archifacts #2, June 1974). Pam is now working in the Archives at the Gisborne Museum & Arts Centre.

Council accepted the resignation of Heather Buchanan as Secretary (for personal reasons), and has appointed Kevin Bourke, who is already a Council member, as the new Secretary.

EnclosuresWith this issue of the journal, members and sub­

scribers will receive their dues notices for the 1992 year. Please pay promptly. Preliminary material for the An­nual General Meeting is also being sent out with this issue. Lastly, the Survey of Archivists (The Archivist: A Profile'), is being mailed to all members with this issue. Please complete and return it by the due date.

Conference ReportThe first conference of the Society, sponsored by U-

Bix Ltd, on the theme The Papers of Public Figures', was held in the new National Archives building in Wellington on 14-15 February, with a programme of visits to other Wellington archives institutions on the 13th.

The conference was a great success. The venue and arrangements were excellent, nearly fifty archivists attended, and the programme itself proved stimulating

and focussed. Financially, the result was a healthy profit for our depleted coffers!

The conference was opened by the Minister of Inter­nal Affairs, Hon Graeme Lee. The keynote speaker was James McNeish, the author who has created a stir over the past year or so with his comments about the expa­triation of New Zealand literary papers.

Papers delivered at the conference will be published in a forthcoming issue of New Zealand Archivist.

During the conference the Society held a Special General Meeting, at which two items were discussed: the development of a Code of Ethics, and the Survey of Archivists. Mark Stoddart lead the discussion on ethics, and by the use of discussion groups and case studies soon convinced those present of the omnipresence of ethical situations and issues in archives work. Cheryl Simes then introduced her very comprehensive survey of archivists in New Zealand, which she has developed as a Society project.

Survey of Reader OpinionThe Editor would like to thank all who completed

and returned their questionnaires by the due date. The views about New Zealand Archivist expressed in your responses were both thoughtful and diverse. They will be carefully considered over the coming months, and incorporated into the journal as far as possible.

Some of the results of the survey that sprang out from the preliminary study done so far:

Your favourite articles were the Scrutiny of the UK PRO, and the PRO of Victoria, on the New HQ for National Archives, and on Managing Unlisted & Disor­dered Accessions. There were no clearcut least favour­ites' . It was felt there was too little news about the NZSA itself in the journal, that the frequency of appearance was spot on, and that an increase in size in return for a higher price was not a good idea at present. More practical advice for archivists in small Archives and sole-charge positions is wanted. You rated the short 'news items' highly, with a mean score of 75% and a mode score of 80%.

Overseas the best reception has been for Cheryl Simes' article on the Death of the Record Group (Au- tumn/March 1991). It has been reprinted in Canada (ACA Bulletin Nov 1991), and is to be reprinted in Australia (Archives & Manuscripts May 1992).

Auckland NewsAt the University of Auckland Library, the NZ &

Pacific Collection is expanding into new space, made possible by the relocation of the Law Library. There will be more space available for archives, as a result.

At the Public Library, archives and manuscripts services to readers are now made available through the George Grey Rare Book Room, which provides a secure reading area. Hours of service are Mon-Fri 10.00-1.00. The Cultural Conservation Advisory Council (seeN ZA Autumn/March 1991) is partially funding a project at the Public Library to photocopy and folder all the Grey Maori autograph letters, and Grey NZ letters.

Rosanna Orange has carried out a conservation survey of materials at the Anglican Provincial Ar­chives, as a basis for raising grant funds to do work on those at greatest risk.

Two surveys are also in progress, based in Auck­land. Megan Wishart has been employed by the Centre for Business History (University of Auckland) to pre­pare a Guide to Business Records in the region. Rebecca Hayter has undertaken an historic records search for the Northern Archives & Records Trust (NART). The focus is on three gepgraphical areas (Newmarket, Mt Wellington, Rosebank Rd) and three industries (trans­port, building, entertainment). The NART contact ad­dress is PO Box 345 Manurewa NZ.Narelle Scollay/Mark Stoddart

Access to Stasi FilesFrom 1 January, Germans who were the subject of

surveillance by the Stasi (the secret police of the former East German state) have been able to inspect their own files. The files are not available to anyone else, for example historians or other researchers except under severe restrictions, and access by the media is banned. An access committee can refuse any request by a third party to see the files on a public figure if publication of the information would be an intrusion on the person's private life. These are the main features of the law passed by the German legislature as a means of coming to terms with a painful part of recent history.

The decision to allow any access at all to the files has been strongly criticised by many, including civil liber­ties groups in Germany. At first sight strange, their concern is based on the fact that the information in the files (on 1.5 million citizens) came from an estimated 300,000 informers, whose identities will be revealed to victims reading their Stasi files. Informers sometimes included other family members, and close personal friends. Some parents informed on their children, for example, and wives and husbands on each other. Objec­tions also came from the successor to the former East German Communist Party, and from journalists con­cerned at restrictions on press freedom - for opposite reasons.

Germans have been advised to think carefully be­fore applying to see their own files, because of what, or who, they might find mentioned in them and its impact on their own lives and relationships. About3000people uplifted application forms to view their files in the first day the law became operative, and more than 300,000 have indicated they will do so in the future.

The German decision about what to do with secret police files contrasts with the decision taken in Greece a few years ago. By 1989, when a conservative-commu­nist alliance government came to power, there were security files on millions of Greek citizens compiled since 1944, during the civil war and subsequent periods of military dictatorship and bitter political factionalism. The new government decided to destroy the files as a gesture of national reconciliation, and they were re­ported to have been consigned to a steel-mill furnace. Files on about 2,000 Tiistorical figures' were said to ha ve been preserved.Sydney M orning H erald 16 Nov 1991,3 & 4 Jan 1992. Tim e 11 Sept 1989.

TransitionsAt the Turnbull Library, Jim Sullivan is the new

Manager of the Oral History Centre. He was previously an archivist at the Radio NZ Sound Archive, Timaru. Kay Sanderson the former Manager has become a policy advisor within the National Library. Rachel Lilbum has resigned as Appraisal Archivist atNational Archives, to take up a Junior Lecturership at Victoria University. She will be developing and teachinga course on archives in the Department of Librarianship (see note elsewhere in this issue). The position of Appraisal Archivist has been advertised in Australia as well as New Zealand. Nicola Timms has also resigned from National Archives. New appointees as Assistant Archi­vists are David Billborough (who has undertaken the Archives Certificate course at the Wairarapa Polytech­nic), Margaret Batchelor (formerly archivist at the DSIR Antarctic Division), and Janet K nott Jeanine Delaney, formerly at the Tumbull Library, has been appointed as an Archivist. Leigh Duncan, an Archivist at the Auck­land Office of National Archives, will be in Sydney during 1992 undertaking study for the UNSW archives diploma. She will be there at her own initiative, as NA has been unable to find the resources to keep up the practice of sending staff to UNSW on paid leave. In Melbourne, Mary Ronnie has retired as Head of the Department of Librarianship, Archives and Records at Monash University. She is a former National Librarian of New Zealand, and City Librarian of Auckland.

ARCHIVES NEW ZEALAND 4

2nd revised edition

The publication of this directory of archives and manuscript repositories in New Zealand has been delayed. The task of editing the 180 entries has taken longer than anticipated and the work will not now be ready for the printer until April or May.

Enquiries regarding the work should be addressed to Archives Press, 43 Gordon Road, Plimmerton.Tel (04) 233-8155.

Copies of Archives New Zealand 3, Medicine & Public Health are still available at $17.00, posted in New Zealand.

A Chronology of Archives Keeping in New Zealand to 1990

This chronology is intended to delineate the principal events in the history of archives keeping in New Zealand, during the first 150 years of organised European settlement. In particular, it traces the emergence of a national archives system, and illustrates the development of other fields of archives and manuscript keeping. We hope it will also serve to mark the growth of awareness of the importance of archives, and of perceptions and responses to issues relating to archives keeping. Lastly, it indicates some of the milestones along the route to an archivist profession in New Zealand.

The chronology is based on work done by Cheryl Campbell (Simes) in 1983. Additional material by Rosemary Collier, Mary Donald, Caroline Etherington, Judith Homabrook, Margaret and David Retter, Frank Rogers, Cheryl Simes, and Mark Stevens. The latter acted as editor and compiler, and takes responsibility for errors that may have escaped scrutiny. Please contact the editor if you spot any errors or regret any omissions, and they will be considered for a supplementary chronology in a later issue of New Zealand Archivist.

The Chronology1839

The New Zealand Company, planning the model settlement of 'Britannia' to be founded at Port Nicholson (Wellington), included a Public Record Office among the principal public buildings envisaged (Public Record Act passed in England, 1838).

1840Instruction accompanied Captain William Hobson

RN, who became New Zealand's first Governor, that provision was to be made for the security of the colonial records. No special provision was in fact made, the Colonial Secretary (to 1907) then successor official (Min­ister of Internal Affairs) nominally responsible.

1848Births & Deaths Registration Act began civil regis­

tration in New Zealand and committed the government to systematic permanent retention of records on a sig­nificant scale.

1853Canterbury Provincial Council passed the Public

Record Office Ordinance, creating the Office and the position of Keeper of the Public Records. Principal duties were to accept the deposit and ensure the safe custody of, and supervise lawful access to, specified categories of provincial government records. First Keeper: James Spowers. The Office was presumably swept away with the abolition of the provincial govern­ments, 1876. Ten Keepers are attested during 1853-76, including the Provincial political heavyweights Henry Tancred, Joseph Brittan, and John Olliver.

1862Wreckof the steamer 'WhiteSwan' carrying govern­

ment records from Auckland to Wellington. Some records of Colonial Secretary and General Assembly lost.

1870Land Transfer Act introduced the Torrens registra­

tion system for land title to New Zealand and commit­ted the government to large scale retention of records of permanent value.

1872Fire in Auckland Provincial Government buildings:

many records lost.Commission (William Gisborne and Charles Knight)

appointed 'to enquire into the mode of keeping and providing for the safe custody and protection of the records of the Colony7. No action resulted.

1884In the House of Representatives Mr John Holmes,

the member for Christchurch South, asked if the gov­ernment intended to introduce a bill for the protection of public documents (principally against unauthorised destruction by Ministers). Sir Julius Vogel (Colonial Treasurer) responded that such a bill might fitly be termed a bill to abolish waste-paper baskets and would make it dangerous to tear up a single scrap of paper. The government had no such intention.

1887Sir George Grey (Governor 1845-53 & 1861-68, Pre­

mier 1877-79) presented a large collection of books and manuscripts, particularly relating to Maori history and culture, to the Auckland Public Library. Further gifts followed until his death in 1898.

1890Edward T regear urged a formal archives programme

for the Colony, in an article published in the MonthlyReview.

1893Survey records of the New Zealand Company, dam­

aged by long storage in a damp strongroom in the Lands Department at Wellington, were destroyed in a cleanup. One bundle was temporarily saved, and tran­scribed, by an interested bystander, W. H. Trimble, later the first Hocken Librarian.

1900At about this time, a Mr Izett was appointed to work

in the Colonial Secretary's Department, binding up the old in-letters into volumes for their better preservation. The task continued for several years.

Records disposal schedule prepared for records of the House of Representatives submitted to the Speaker

for approval by the Clerk of the House, Henry Otterson. It was laid on the table and ordered to be printed. There is no record of a decision to adopt or reject it.

1907Parliament Buildings fire: extensive losses included

mostNativeDepartmentrecords.TheTreatyofWaitangi sheets are said to have been saved by being thrown out a window of the burning building. The General Assem­bly Library wing survived.

Augustus Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Mu­seum, advocated the appointment of a Director of Co­lonial Records, and construction of a reinforced con­crete building. No action resulted.

Dr Thomas Morland Hocken's collection of books and manuscripts given to the University of Otago, and became the nucleus of the Hocken Library. Hocken died in 1910.

1908Hamil ton set up a store of old government records in

the Alexandra barracks on Mt Cook, Wellington, which became known as the 'National Historical Collection'. First volume of Historical Records o f New Zealand by Robert McNab published (Vol 2 1912), printing pub­lished and archival records relating to the European discovery, exploration and early history of NZ 1642­1842.

1909In an interview given to the Otago Witness Dr

Hocken claimed to have discovered the original sheets of the Treaty of Waitangi, lying forgotten in the base­ment of the Government Buildings and damaged by rats. He did not give a date for this discovery, which has so far eluded confirmation from the records of the Internal Affairs Department.

1912Hunt Commission on the Public Service (established

the modem non-political form of the NZ Public Service which endured until 1988) deplored the lack of ad­equate and safe accommodation for government ar­chives and urged that provision be made for them. No action resulted.

Catalogue of the Hocken Library published, organ­ised principally by subject, including Hocken's collec­tion of manuscript material.

1914-18First World War: the Army reclaimed Alexandra

barracks, the National Historical Collection was dis­persed.

1920Alexander Turnbull Library established as a gift to

the nation, following Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull's death in 1918. He had bequeathed his collection of books, manuscripts, and artworks to the Crown, 'to form the nucleus of a New Zealand National Collec­tion'. The Library constituted an office of the Internal Affairs Department until 1966 when it became part of the newly-created National Library.

1926General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church cre­

ated a Committee on Early Records (allocation £20) to

co-ordinate archival endeavours within the Church. Later known as the Historical Records Committee. Not much success was achieved until after a revival in 1978 and the involvement of professional archivists in the initiatives of the Committee. A Church archivist (part­time) appointed at Knox College in 1984.

Guy Hardy Scholefield, a former journalist, became Controller of Dominion Archives in addition to his principal post as Chief Librarian of the General Assem­bly Library. The extra title was the administrative solu­tion to a question about the justification for a higher salary level, and an historical accident.

No archives staff or accommodation, but a consider­able quantity of government archives were gradually assembled from all over the country and housed in the attic of the General Assembly Library.

The principle gradually came to be recognised that government records should not be destroyed without Scholefield's consent. In fact this was never seriously enforced and very large quantities of public records were destroyed in cleanups, especially during the pe­riod c l930-50.

Scholefield published Archives Bulletin No 1, other­wise known as Historical Sources and Archives in New Zealand, the first general description of the public ar­chives.

1927-29Scholefield undertook field surveys of archives, of

central and local government, throughout New Zea­land - from Warkworth to Invercargill.

1936Eric Hall McCormick employed to work on the

archives, but interrupted by his successive appoint­ments as Editor of the NZ Centennial publications and Secretary of the National Historical Committee, and then Chief War Archivist.

1940New Zealand Centennial: increased interest in NZ

history. Original Treaty of Waitangi sheets and other constitutional documents exhibited publicly for the first time, at Waitangi on 6 February.

1941McCormick appointed to collect and collate archives

generated by NZ forces fighting in the Middle East. A War Archives section was formed within the adminis­trative organisation of 2NZEF.

1944McCormick appointed Chief War Archivist.

1945War History Branch established within Internal Af­

fairs Department, to manage the war archives and coordinate the writing of the official war histories: Brig Gen Howard Kippenberger the first Chief Historian. The Branch was renamed the Historical Publications Branch in 1968, and continues to the present day.

1946McCormick produced a report on archives and a

plan for future archival work, which was submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs and received general approval. It focussed on proposals to undertake ap-

praisal of public records still not in archival custody, the arrangement and description of archives, and the im­portance of microfilming - including of NZ-related archives held overseas.

1947Dominion Archives held 110m of archives in cus­

tody (lots more records under its supervision in cellars of public buildings), and received 12 visits from re­searchers.

Scholefield retired as Controller of Dominion Ar­chives.

McCormick resigned, went to an academic post at Auckland University College.

Michael Wordsworth Standish seconded from the War History Branch to look after the archives.

1948Control of the Dominion Archives changed from the

General Assembly Library to the Internal Affairs De­partment, where it was placed with the War History Branch under the general supervision of John Cawte Beaglehole.

1949Increase in staff (a research assistant and cadet) and

accommodation (wooden war-surplus shed at Seaview near Wellington).

F. H. Rogers, who earlier in his career had been an archivist at the University of Bristol (UK), appointed Otago University Librarian. Served 1949-56.

1950Standish set out policy on regional archives reposi­

tories for public archives, later embodied in the Ar­chives Act 1957, but lack of resources meant little ac­complished.

Public support for archives gathered momentum: raised in newspaper articles, history conference. New Zealand Libraiy Association (NZLA) archives seminar, chaired by Scholefield, held at annual conference.

A committee of professors of the University of New Zealand called for archives legislation and increased resources for the Dominion Archives, but put off a deputation to the Prime Minister, convinced of inevita­ble failure.

1951NZLA Archives Committee established, chaired by

F. H. Rogers.Supervision of the Dominion Archives became a

responsibility of the Chief Librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library, within the Internal Affairs Department. Dur­ing the next thirty years there were several attempts to subordinate the Archives to the Turnbull or National Libraries, initiated by Library managers, by advocating either complete administrative incorporation, or shar­ing of the same accommodation.

1952Standish travelled overseas to study archival meth­

ods. He visited France, Britain and Australia, on half salary but otherwise at his own expense. A secondary objective of the trip was to discover material of interest to New Zealand for microfilm copying.

Hope Gibbons building fire in central Wellington: loss or severe damage to early records of Public Works,

Lands and Survey, Labour and Employment (Immigra­tion Division), Agriculture and Marine Departments. The initial newspaper coverage referred in passing to the loss of records, and that this might cause 'slight inconvenience' but they were mainly 'dead files'. In Standish's absence, salvage work wascarried out by the other two Dominion Archives staff, Pam Cocks and Betty O'Dowd.

1953NZLA Archives Committee began a survey of local

government records, and appointed regional consult­ants to give advice to authorities concerned about their records. The Committee also urged the Government to invite a suitable overseas archivist to visit New Zealand and make recommendations about future archival de­velopment.

1953-66Dominion Archives (later National Archives) pub­

lished a Guide to the Dominion Archives and nine Prelimi­nary Inventories, covering the principal nineteenth-cen­tury record groups.

1954Short visit (one week) to New Zealand by Theodore

Roosevelt Schellenberg, Director of Archival Manage­ment US National Archives. Schellenberg took the time off from a longer visit as a Fulbright Scholar to Aus­tralia, where his experiences and discussions were im­portant influences in his book M odem Archives (Chi­cago 1956).

Pamela Cocks, Senior Archivist at Dominion Ar­chives, travelled to the US as a Fulbright scholar to study archives administration, at American University Washington DC, with Ernst Posner.

Dominion Archives moved from the General As­sembly Library attic, to accommodation in the Employ­ers' Federation building, 8-12 The Terrace, Wellington.

NZLA Archives Committee laid plans for a Union Catalogue of Manuscripts.

1955NZLA Archives Committee published An Elemen­

tary Guide to Archives Practice, edited by F. H. Rogers.Standish submitted the first draft of the Archives Bill

to Internal Affairs. It was based on 1953 South African legislation, and included an Archives Advisory Coun­cil with substantial representation from the academic community, a provision opposed by Internal Affairs and later dropped.

1956New Zealand Broadcasting Service began a radio

Sound Archive, based in Timaru because space was available there.

1957Archives Act passed. It provided for the creation of

National Archives (taking over from Dominion Ar­chives), and the appointment of a Chief Archivist with statutory duties and powers charged with the custody care and control of all public archives and sole respon­sibility for authorising disposal of public records.

National Archives was positioned by the legislation within the Department of Internal Affairs (unlike for example the Turnbull Library, which had been in Inter-

nal Affairs since 1920 but only by administrative ar­rangement. So it was easily excised and given to the National Library in 1966).

The Secretary for Internal Affairs exercised the pow­ers of Chief Archivist until 1962.

1959National Archives empowered by Cabinet to take

custody of records in departmental cellars without transferring them (this in response to lack of archives accommodation). National Archives holdings in Wel­lington scattered between 26 separate sites.

Two recordsmanagementadvisory staff began work­ing at National Archives, with responsibilities for im­proving records management throughout the Public Service.

1961Genealogical Society of Utah (Mormons) began mi­

crofilming operations in New Zealand, starting with Anglican burial records.

1962The State Services Commission also began to work

in the records management advisory field. The two (N A and SSC) programmes worked in parallel until the retirement of the personnel, and changing manage­ment attitudes, saw these initiatives fade away during the late 1970s.

Records Centres opened in Wellington (Lower Hutt) and Auckland, after previous attempts over several years had been stifled by opposition from the Treasury.

Standish appointed first Chief Archivist. Died a few months later.

1963John Dobree Pascoe (Illustrations Editor, War His­

tory Branch), prominent writer and mountaineer, ap­pointed second Chief Archivist.

1966National Archives moved to Borthwick House, 85

The Terrace, Wellington. Total staff 15, including 8 professional and 4 at the Records Centres. Total hold­ings of textual records (including temporaiy records) 6000m.

Agreement between Statistics Department and Na­tional Archives to retain every second census. Reten­tion of the schedules of the 1966quinquennial census of population for release in one hundred years.

1966-77National Archives published annual Summaries of

Work in addition to a section within the Annual Report of the Internal Affairs Department.

1967Appointment of the first full-time manuscripts li­

brarian (Margaret Scott) at Alexander Turnbull Library. Previously, manuscripts were cared for by general li­brary staff or part-time manuscripts assistants.

1970First archivist position created at the Hocken Li­

brary (Stuart R. Strachan appointed).

1972Pascoe died. Senior Archivist Judith S. Homabrook

appointed Acting Chief Archivist.S. R. Strachan became the first NZ archivist to re­

ceive a professional archives qualification, the Diploma in Archives Studies (University College, London).

1973First business archivist appointed, Robin Griffin at

the Bank of New Zealand.J. S. Homabrook appointed third Chief Archivist.

1974NZLA Archives Committee was revived after being

in abeyance for several years, began publication of Archifacts, the first NZ publication wholly devoted to the subject of archives and manuscripts.

1975First archives training seminar (sponsored by Na­

tional Archives, Alexander Turnbull Library, and NZLA Archives Committee).

1975-77Inter-departmental government committee to con­

sider a photograph archive: identified problems and issues, collected information, but made no recommen­dations for action.

1976Archives and Records Association of New Zealand

(ARANZ) founded, superseding the NZLA Archives Committee, as an organisation through which the com­bined efforts of archives users and archives keepers could be directed towards improving the levels of re­sources devoted to the care and accessibility of ar­chives.

Option of a purely professional organisation for archives keepers rejected because the number of archi­vists was considered too small to have any persuasive influence on resource allocators. First President: Thomas Wilsted, Alexander Turnbull Library manuscripts li­brarian, a US expatriate.

Local Government Act amended to include provi­sions for protection of local government archives. Chief Archivist empowered to promulgate regulations relat­ing to their identification, retention and destruction.

Intervention by the Security Intelligence Service to ensure the removal of sensitive documents from the Walter Nash Papers (Deputy Prime Minister 1935-49, PM 1957-60), during their processing by National Ar­chives.

1977National Archives moved to Air New Zealand Build­

ing, 129-141 Vivian St Wellington. Sufficient accommo­dation available for the first time, in this building and the two Records Centres, for all archives in custody. Total staff 18 including 10 professional and 5 at the Records Centres. Total holdings of textual records (in­cluding temporary records) 9100m.

First National Archives archivist (Michael Hodder) sent to University of New South Wales to study for archives diploma. From 1982, at least one staff member was sent every year, until 1992.

1978Union Steam Ship Company archives established

and archivist appointed (Timothy J. Lovell-Smith). Po­sition and archives disestablished in 1983.

Wilfred I. Smith, Dominion Archivist of Canada, visited New Zealand at initiative of ARANZ, to report on state of archives keeping. Made 28 recommenda­tions (the 'Smith Report'), resulting in much discussion but little immediate action.

1979Publication of the first installment of the National

Register o f Archives and Manuscripts in New Zealand (NRAM), a joint undertaking by the Alexander Tumbull Library and National Archives. Later, it became an entirely Turnbull publication. First Editor: Jane Tucker.

Management audit of National Archives by the State Services Commission and Department of Internal Af­fairs (the 'Wards Report'). It presented 89 recommenda­tions, especially for increased resources, largely follow­ing and enlarging on the Smith Report of 1978.

First Gazette notice (records disposal schedule) for local government records published, listing 153 classes of records which could not be destroyed without the prior approval of the Chief Archivist. It was soon with­drawn after opposition from local governments, which considered it too complex and intrusive.

1980Second local government Gazette notice published

(amended 1990). The number of classesof records sched­uled was reduced to thirteen.

First consultant archivist and records manager be­gan private practice: Rosemary Collier, formerly Senior Archivist at National Archives.

1980-85Circulation within National Archives of 'Alterna­

tive D' paper by Michael Hodder proposing means of arranging and describing successive accessions from active series. Study group subsequently focussed on the Australian 'series system' and these two approaches merged as the basis of the GAIMS system adopted for the arrangement and description of public archives.

1981New Zealand Film Archive founded as a charitable

trust. First Director: Jonathan Dennis.Ray F. Grover (former Deputy Turnbull Librarian)

appointed first Director of National Archives, a posi­tion created pursuant to a recommendation of the Wards Report.

1982The General Synod of the Anglican Church in New

Zealand passed a Canon on Provincial Archives, estab­lishing a Provincial Archives, encouraging archives­keeping at diocesan and parish levels, and setting up a Provincial Archives Committee which included mem­bership by professional archivists.

R. F. Grover appointed fourth Chief Archivist fol­lowing the resignation of J. S. Homabrook; position thereafter held concurrently with Directorship of Na­tional Archives.

Official Information Act passed, bringing 'freedom of information' to New Zealand. The Act established

the principle that government information should be made available unless there were good reasons not to do so. In cases of conflict with the Archives Act, the provisions of the latter Act permitting access restric­tions that the OI Act did not countenance, take prec­edence.

1983First issue of biennial Directory o f Official Information

published, containing overviews of the functions and activities, and the records systems and categories main­tained by agencies subject to the Official Information Act.

Northern Archives and Records Trust formed by Jolyon Firth and other business and community leaders in Auckland, to press for improved archives-keeping arrangements especially for local government and busi­ness in the region. Began user-pays advisory work in these areas the following year, under a partnership arrangement with National Archives.

1984National Archives regional office in Auckland

opened (taking over from the former Records Centre). Christchurch regional office opened 1985. First regional archivists Mark Stevens (Auckland), Chris Adam (Christchurch).

Publication of Archives New Zealand, by Frank Rogers (Archives Press) identified more than 160 archives re­positories holding more than 35000m of textual ar­chives alone in New Zealand, and more in the Pacific Islands.

Public Records and Archives Bill, intended to super­sede the Archives Act, introduced into the House of Representatives, and killed the same evening by the dissolution of the House for a snap general election.

First draft of the GAIMS manual prepared by Cheryl Campbell (Simes), completed and promulgated.

1985Archives and records manager (Bruce Symondson)

appointed by Auckland City Council.First purpose-built archives building constructed,

Manukau City Council.An archivist (S R Strachan) appointed Hocken Li­

brarian.The Waitangi Tribunal given jurisdiction to investi­

gate Maori grievances over land rights back to 1840, resulting in greatly increased awareness by both Crown and claimants of the importance of the archives, and extensive employment of researchers to search them.

1986Survey of records keeping in the Public Service, with

recommendations for improvement, commissioned by the State Services Commission and National Archives. Undertaken by Canadian records management con­sultant (Patricia Acton) supported by a team drawn partly from National Archives. The recommendations and action plan in the report Information Can Be Managed (the 'Acton Report') were rejected by the State Services Commission as out of step with Government policy to atomise the Public Service.

Anglican Provincial Archives Committee published Parish Archives Handbook.

1987Records Management Branch established by Na­

tional Archives to manage records centres, and provide records management consultancy and training on a cost-recovery basis.

Fletcher Challenge Ltd (New Zealand's largest pub­lic company outside the financial services sector) estab­lished an archives and records management program. First archivist and records manager: Joanna Newman.

Alexander Tumbull Library moved (with other parts of the National Library) into the new NL building in Molesworth Street Wellington. Subsequently there was publicly-aired acrimony over a perceived intention by NL management to reduce the independence of the Turnbull within the larger NL.

1988Association of Records Managers and Administra­

tors (ARMA) chapters founded in Auckland and Wel­lington.

Archives Amendment Act permitted National Ar­chives to charge for records management services.

1989Purchase of Government Printing Office building in

Mulgrave Street to be the new home of National Ar­chives in Wellington.

National Archives total staff 49, including 42 profes­sional. Total holdings of textual records, excluding temporary records: 38400m. Alexander Turnbull Li­brary Manuscripts Section had 9 staff, 5035m of hold­ings.

1990Foundation of the New Zealand Society of Archi­

vists, principally devoted to fostering the archivist pro­fession in New Zealand and advocating and furthering its interests. First President: Mark Stevens. Publication of New Zealand Archivist began. Publication of the Directory o f Archivists in New Zealand 1990-91.

Further readingActon Information Resources Management Ltd Infor­

mation Can Be Managed . Wellington (State Serv­ices Commission) 1986. The 'Acton Report'.

Bagnall A. G. The Historical Perpective' Archifacts (7 & 8, Sept - Dec 1978: special issue Perspectives on the Smith Report).

Campbell C. Y. 'Miracles Take a Little Longer - Balanc­ing the Books at National Archives' Archifacts (1985/1).

Hornabrook J. S. The Development of Archives in NZ' Archives & Manuscripts: A New Zealand Seminar eds R. S. Hill & M. D. W. Hodder. Wellington (NZLA) 1977.

McCormick E. H. The Fascinating Folly: Dr Hocken and His Fellow Collectors. Dunedin (University of Otago Press) 1961.

New Zealand (Department of Internal Affairs) National Archives o f New Zealand, A Review and Summary of Work 1966. Wellington (Government Printer) 1967.

New Zealand (Department of Internal Affairs). Report on National Archives (unpublished 1979) The 'Wards Report'.

Piggott M. 'Schellenberg in New Zealand' Archifacts (October 1990).

Rogers F. Archives New Zealand. Auckland (Archives Press) 1984.

Rogers F. Archives New Zealand Statistics. Auckland (Archives Press) 1985.

Smith A. The Acton Report - Right Message, Wrong Timing' Archifacts (October 1991).

Smith W. I. Archives in New Zealand, A Report. Welling­ton (ARANZ) 1978. The 'Smith Report'.

Stevens M. H. S. Directory of Archivists in New Zealand 1990-1991 Wellington (NZ Society of Archivists) 1990.

Stevens M. H. S. 'National Archives: A Scorecard For The Eighties' New Zealand Archivist (Summer/ December 1990).

Wilsted T. 'Face to Face Across the Counter: Archivists & Historians in New Zealand' Archives & Manu­scripts 7(1) August 1977.

Directory of Archivists in New Zealand1990-1991

The D irectory is a 'w ho's who' o f the archivist profession in N ew Zealand, containing over eighty individual entries. Inform ation in entries includes present position, qualifications,

career synopsis, professional and other affiliations, principal publications, special archives interests, address. 36pp, A4, printed on the sam e high quality paper as the N ew Z ealand

A rchivist. ISSN 1170-313X

Reduced to clear: $18.00 from 1 April 1992

Cheque or institutional order form to NZ Society of Archivists Inc PO Box 27-057 W ellington. GST not payable. Price includes postage

National Archives NewsThe Prime Minister was able, after all, to take part in

the formal opening of the new National Archives head­quarters on 4 December. The Minister of Internal Af­fairs was also present. The texts of their speeches will appear in the next issue of New Zealand Archivist.

The opening of the new reference services area brought unprecedented levels of demand by research­ers. In the first few days after the public doors spun open on 9 December, an average of 200 items were issued to readers, per day. This does not count demand for microfilm, and some other of the most heavily used series (such as copies of immigrant passenger lists C1860-1880) which are now available in a self-help arrangement.

The number of reader-visits to the building in Janu­ary 1992 was 871, and the number of archives produced to researchers 3,067 (plus self-helps). These figures represent increases of 91 % and 97% over January 1991.

If this level of demand were to persist, it would imply something like 37,000 issues per year, and more than 10,000 reader-visits annually. Tlrese figures, if they eventuate, will be about double the levels of the mid 1980s, and represent increases of over 400% in readers, and well over 500% in productions, since 1982.

Two thirds of the letters arriving are from new clients seeking help. In order to cope with demand, strategies include confining research for written en­quiries to 30 minutes per letter and using form letter replies in many cases, referring out-of-town enquirers

Geomatic RecordsGeomatics is the scientific and technical domain

concerned with the methods, procedures and technolo­gies associated with systems for the collection, manipu­lation, display and dissemination of geographically referenced data. Geomatic systems subsume a host of specific systems, including land information systems (LIS), geographic information systems (GIS), automated mapping and facilities management (AM/FM), com­puter aided design/drafting systems (CAD/CADD), photogrammetric systems, and digital image-process­ing systems.

In recent years there has been a proliferation of information created in the geomatic disciplines by the New Zealand government. This is quickly apparent if one consults the Directory o f Geographic Data Systems Within Central Government (LINZ Support Group, Wel­lington, 1986 + updates. ISSN 0113-0226) which lists twenty-nine principal agencies and well over250 records series or databases, though not all automated. Local government also creates large quantities of geomatic records, for example through the carrying out of its land-use planning role, and exercise of rating powers.

Generally these systems are created to support one of the following major applications:(a) Environmental analysis, where the data in the sys­

tem are collected and defined according to specific environmental phenomena, such as physical landforms, biological climatological or hydrologi­

with complex requests to researchers available for hire, and two-hourly batching of the collection of requested archives from the repository areas.

During the first days after reopening, the new com­puter system (the production control system, for track­ing the issuing of archives to readers) proved trouble­some, but the main difficulties have been overcome now. The system is an add-on to REPOMAN (the re- pository/location management system). Both are new in automated form for National Archives, replacing paper-based systems, and were developed specially for operation in the new building.

Another innovation adopted formally from the reo­pening, has been the policing of dress standards for all archivists whose duties involve meeting the public. Research conducted for National Archives (by Mark Stevens) in 1990 suggested that readers rank the dress standards of archivists relatively lower than other fac­tors such as archivists' knowledgeability about the archives, helpfulness answering queries, rapidity with which readers receive the archives they order, and comprehensiveness and ease-of-use of the finding aids. But readers do nonetheless factor the standard of ap­pearance of the staff into an overall assessment of their experience in the institution.

The new contact details for National Archives in Wellington are: PO Box 12-050; Telephone (04) 499­5595; Fax (04)495-6210. The street address is 10 Mulgrave Street.

cal zones etc. The primary purpose of these sys­tems is environmental research.

(b) Facilities/ infrastructure management, where the data are collected and structured according to en­gineering or utility management needs. The pri­mary purpose of these systems is, as the name implies, facility identification and management.

(c) Land tenure and taxation, where the data in the system are collected and structured according to land parcels that delimit ownership. Legal infor­mation is also provided. These systems are used principally for land valuation, taxation and plan­ning purposes.

(d) Social area and regional economic analysis, where the data are collected and organised according to particular social phenomena, or census or political boundaries.

(e) Automated cartographic/mapping systems, where the prime purpose is to produce maps or charts. These systems are used mainly by the national m apping agencies to produce topographic bathymetric, and military maps.

(f) Structural analysis, where the data are collected andorganised in order to analyse architectural and engineering problems.

[Based on an item by David Brown in The A rchivist(Nov/Dec 1990)]

Scholars Question Eichmann Papers

David Irving, a British historian who in the past has outraged orthodox opinion by arguing that the Holo­caust took place without Adolf Hitler's knowledge, has claimed to have come into the possession of the mem­oirs of war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who played a key role in organising the extermination programme. Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli agents from his hiding place in Argentina in 1960, and tried and ex­ecuted in Israel.

Irving claims the 1000pages of memoirs were handed to him after he had delivered a lecture in Buenos Aires in late 1991, that they have the 'smell' of authenticity about them, and had been written in the early 1950s. He had sent the originals to the Federal German Archives.

Of the details Irving has released so far, the most striking is a reference to a direct order by Hitler for the destruction of the Jews. Mr Irving said he would now have to reassess his view of Hitler's role, although he still believed Eichmann to have been mistaken about this.

David Cesarini, the deputy director of the Wiener Library in London, said he believed the memoirs would turn out to be fake. All Irving is doing is to ditch some of his more preposterous ideas, he said. Martin Gilbert, another Holocaust writer, pointed out that Irving had been denying for years facts that he has now made a virtue of finding.

Irving's claim is the most sensational to appear since the storm over the 'Hitler Diaries' in 1983. They were quickly exposed as a forgery once they had been exam­ined by archivists at the Federal German Archives. Sydney M orning H erald 14 Jan 1992

In This IssueRecords Centres Are Thirty Judith Hornabrook

NZSA NewsWelcome to new members; Council News; Enclo­sures; Conference Report;Results of Reader Survey

News ItemsNew Archives course at VUW; Auckland News; Scholars Question Eichmann Papers; National Ar­chives News; Access to Stasi files; Transitions.

A Chronology of Archives-Keeping in New Zea­land to 1990

About the Contributors

About the ContributorsJudith Hornabrook, now retired, is a former staff

member of National Archives (1958-81), Chief Archi­vist (1 973-81), and Chief Archivist of Papua New Guinea (1982-86). She is an Associate of the NZSA. Narelle Scollay is an Archivist, and Mark Stoddart is the Re­gional Archivist, for National Archives in Auckland. He is an Associate of the NZSA.

New Archives Course at VUWThe Department of Library & Information Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, will offer an elective

course in archives and records management beginning in the second semester of 1992. The course will be available to Diploma of Librarianship students. Rachel Lilbum, of National Archives, has accepted a position as Junior Lecturer to develop and teach the course.

The extra staff position and funding to establish the course have been made available because the Department has begun to offer the Diploma of Librarianship through distance education as well as to on-campus students, and the level of interest in the distance option has been very encouraging.

The Diploma is a one year full time qualification, or two years taken through distance learning. The archives and records management course, like all the electives, will be for fourteen weeks with two contact hours per week. It will be offered to the internal (on-campus) students in 1992, and to the distance students in 1993.

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. The editor is Mark Stevens, whose authorship may be assumed for all items not otherwise credited. Copyright NZSA & contributors 1991. Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the NZSA. The editorial address is PO Box 136 Beaconsfield NSW 2014 Australia (Fax {2} 313-6680). All other correspondence to the Secretary NZSA, PO Box 27-057 Wellington New Zealand. Contributions for publication are invited. Deadlines for next issues are: 8 May and 7 August 1992. The journal is available through membership of the Society ($40.00 in NZ, $50.00 overseas) or separately by subscription ($40.00 in NZ, $50.00 overseas). Overseas airmail, add $10.00.