OBJECTS OF TH E ASSOCIATIO N...OBJECTS OF TH E ASSOCIATIO N The objects of the Association shall be:...

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OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

The objects of the Association shall be:

i. To foster the care, preservation, and proper use of archives and records, both public and private, and their effective administration.

ii . To arouse public awareness of the importance of records and archives and in all matters affecting their preservation and use, and to co-operate or affiliate with any other bodies in New Zealand or elsewhere with like objects.

iii . To promote the training of archivists, records keepers, curators, librarians and others by the dissemination of specialised knowledge and by encouraging the provision of adequate training in the administration and conservation of archives and records.

iv. To encourage research into problems connected with the use, administration and conservation of archives and records and to promote the publication of the results of this research.

v. To promote the standing of archives institutions.

vi. To advise and support the establishment of archives services throughout New Zealand.

vii . To publish a journal at least once a year and other publications in furtherance of these objects.

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ARCHIFACT S

Published by the

Archives

and Records

Association

of New Zealand

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ARCHIFACT S

Editor: Susan Skudder

Editorial Committee: David Green Michael Hoare Gavin McLean Bruce Ralston

Reviews Editor: David Green

Archifacts is published twice-yearly, in April and October.

Articles and correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at:

P.O. Box 31553 Wellington

intending contributors should obtain a style sheet from the Editor.

Printed by Wright and Carman Ltd, Upper Hütt, New Zealand

Copyright ARAN Z 1994

ISSN 0303-7940

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Contents

Editoria l í

Mor e Perspectives on the Ham Report

Ken Scadden Smalkr Institutions 1 Trish Oliff , Bruce Symondson Records Managers 5 Rachel Lilburn The Ham Report: Miniskirt or Maxi? 21

Business and Archives David Retter Doubtful Guests: Business Archives in Research

Libraries 35 S. R. Strachan Worlds in Collision 47

Letter to the Editor Robin M. Startup Burn? Bury? or Donate? 52

Book Reviews 54

Accessions 70

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Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Inc.

P.O. Box 11-553, Manners Street, Wellington, New Zealand

Patron Her Excellency Dame Catherine Tizard, GCMG, DBE Governor General of New Zealand

Council

President Sheryl Morgan

Vice Presidents

Peter Miller

Thérèse Angelo

Secretary Philippa Fogarty

Treasur Michael Hoare

Membership Thérèse Angelo Secretary

Council Alison Fraser

Jan Gow

Tiena Jordan

Margaret Morgan

Brad Patterson

Mark Stoddart

Jane Tucker

Massey University Library, Palmerston North

114 Evans Street, Opoho, Dunedin,

c/- Royal NZ Airforce Museum, RNZAF Base Wigram, Private Bag, Christchurch

c/- National Archives, P.O. Box 12050, Wellington

Police Centennial Museum, Royal NZ Police College Private Bag, Porirua

c/- Royal NZ Airforce Museum, RNZAF Base Wigram, Private Bag, Christchurch

P.O. Box 2907, Wellington

P.O. Box 25025, Auckland 5

Whakatane District Museum, P.O. Box 203, Whakatane

Registry, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin

20 Khyber Road, Seatoun, Wellington 3

Regional Archivist, P.O. Box 91220, Auckland

53 Moana Road, Highbury, Wellington

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EDITORIA L

This issue of Archifacts is something of a miscellany. First, we have the remaining papers from the seminar on the Ham Report, for which there was not room in the April issue. We also publish a paper by David Retter from the Stout Centre seminar on Business Archives, which was somehow omitted from the October 1993 issue. The paper, on the Alexander Turnbull Library's holdings of business archives, complements Peter Miller's on the Hocken's holdings, and includes a very useful list of the business archives in the Turnbull Library. The editorial team apologises to David for the omission of his paper.

Rachel Lilbum's article on the Ham Report was not a paper presented at the seminar in March. Rachel provides the unique viewpoint of one who is now a provider of archival education, and has been a working archivist and a recipient of archival education. Her views make a valuable addition to the discussion on archival education.

Finally, we have a paper on collection valuation presented by Stuart Strachan to the ARAN Z conference in Wellington in August 1993. The requirement to place a monetary value on archival holdings now affects National Archives, the Alexander Turnbull Library and the Hocken Library. As one who has had some involvement in collection valuation, I fee that we do need to talk about the process, what it means for us and how it relates to our core archival work. I hope that Stuart's paper wil l be a starting point for that discussion.

In this issue we also provide an example of that rarest of beasts— a letter to the editor of Archifactsl We hope that this is the beginning of a trend.

This is the last issue from this particular version of the editorial committee. Neither Bruce Ralston nor I wil l be continuing our involvement, mainly because we feel that our other commitments mean that we cannot give the energy and time that Archifacts deserves. David Green wil l revert to being Reviews Editor only. The other members of the team wil l be continuing, and the search has begun for others to join them. I look forward to the next issue and wish the team well.

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Mor e Perspectives on the Ham Report

Smaller Institution s

Ken Scadden

Wellington Maritime Museum

Lik e many of you I was directly involved in the abortive Training Review back in 1987. I strongly support the concept of a Training Report and was involved as a member of the Sole Charge/Small Institution Working Party. I hope that this report wil l not become a point of contention between groups or individuals for political purposes. It was largely to avoid such problems, I suspect, that ARANZ brought in an independent consultant.

My first reaction was that there are no real surprises. Nevertheless, it is a good solid effort which covers all the bases. In some respects, however, it may not go far enough towards taking archival training into the twenty-first century. It could have been written by many archivists practising in New Zealand today, but for reasons alluded to earlier this was done by an overseas expert. Let us ignore the 'colonial cringe/overseas expert telling us what to do syndrome' we may be suffering from. We must make the best of this opportunity—we may not get another! Whether we care to admit it or not, overseas influences have had a major influence on archives development in New Zealand e.g. the Smith Report, the founding of ARAN Z and postgraduate training.

Section V is where the substance begins. My initial reaction was that pegging our training on a postgraduate qualif ication was being overambitious, but careful reconsideration shows that this is the best strategy. We need a strong intellectual spearhead for the profession, and this graduate-level qualification wil l provide it.

The 'Past Training' paragraph notes that in the USA, Canada and Australia, pre-employment training has only comparatively recently been seen as a prerequisite to beginning archives work. I agree that we must follow suit. We also need to have parity with overseas colleagues. We must establish the qualification mark at a level sufficiently high to

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enable us to play a full role on the international archives stage; in meetings with international colleagues, contributions of articles to archives journals, etc. The impact on the profession in New Zealand made by the graduates from the University of New South Wales and elsewhere shows that a postgraduate qualification is the absolute minimum desirable standard. Furthermore, if the profession is to attain and then maintain parity with other professions, notably librarians and museum workers, a postgraduate course is essential.

In the area of programme delivery I was intrigued by the range of options. In spite of the need for a graduate-level training course, my gut feeling is that the greatest training need for the greatest number of archivists is for a polytech-level course which could be made available for people who are working full- or part-time as archivists. The report does not go far enough for these people. Wellington is the logical place for the postgraduate course but I am not convinced that the School of Librarianship at Victoria University is the ideal venue, at least without major reform. In a School of Librarianship, the archives course is bound to be the poor relation. Major structural change would be needed to give archival training an equal status.

In the case of the Wellington Maritime Museum I do not see the possibility in the foreseeable future of recruiting.an archivist with a postgraduate qualification who would be solely employed in archives work. When I was last looking at recruiting staff, I was asked whether I would employ an archivist, a librarian or a museum professional—my answer was preferably all three rolled into one. Versatility is the key in a small institution. A t this stage none of my staff would be able to undertake a postgraduate archives diploma.

Several non-graduates may be interested in a polytech-level certificate : or short block course or part-time training. I am not totally convinced by arguments that a polytech-level course and a postgraduate diploma could not coexist, although resources would obviously be a problem.

The report pays littl e attention to the training undertaken by other arts and cultural heritage professionals. Investigations should be undertaken to see i f common-core subjects (e.g. conservation, computerisation, biculturalism, etc) for archives, museum and library para-professionals could be taught jointly. The Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua has a course which, if modified, could become a model.

The option of a national archival institute is attractive. It could accommodate a range of training options, and would take training away from the avarice of polytechs and universities. The structure of such a

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course would have to be carefully crafted so as to not totally reflect a National Archives bias. Some potential employers might be reluctant to hire graduates from such a course if they felt the relationship between National Archives and the students was too incestuous, or tainted with the National Archives stigma. The one argument that would sway me in favour of a national archival institute is that such an institute should in theory be able to deliver training at both postgraduate diploma and certificate (polytech) level—plus block courses and part-time training.

The option of distance education for working archivists could be valuable, but archives theory and practice is difficul t to teach at a distance, so that the problems associated with long-distance delivery wil l need to be rectified. Hands-on practical experience is vital in thorough archival training.

I agree with the tenor of the discussion on overseas postgraduate training. The New South Wales course and other courses have been of great benefit to the archives profession in New Zealand. They have helped us learn to crawl, but now we are ready to walk.

Section VI I focuses on 'Training and Assistance for Sole-charge Archivists and Small Repositories'. Because of the numbers of archivists working in this category, it is vital to get this right. Part of the difficulty is the range of work experience and backgrounds of the archivists in this situation. We must accept that there are professional archivists and para-professionals who wil l never become fully qualified archivists. To establish a universally accepted standard of training throughout the country for professional archivists without alienating the para-professionals wil l be a major challenge. There must be a clear distinction between qualified archivists and para-professionals. The title 'archivist' must not be diluted.

The proposed in-service education track and field service programmes both have merit. The model for the latter is that of the museum liaison service; something similar for archives would work very well.

Sec t ions V I I I to X I I conta in a number of interest ing recommendations—many of which focus on the individual archivist working in a small or sole-charge institution. The key issue for the training of archivists in this category is flexibility. Many are working full-time and in small provincial centres. There may be some possibility of training archivists in tandem with library and museum colleagues at this level.

The crucial issue of the whole exercise wil l be the Qualifications and Implementation Team. Even though the project has been an ARANZ initiative, it is important to have NZ Society of Archivists representation. In my opinion a bipartisan approach should be tried. We cannot afford

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fragmentation over training. I support liaison with related disciplines. We should endeavour to learn from the experience of our museum and library colleagues.

I have endeavoured to do a bit of crystal-ball gazing—say to about ten years out from now—and imagined what the situation could be like ten years down the track, particularly from the perspective of the staff working at the Wellington Maritime Museum. My ideal would be a national archival institute which offers:

• A one-year postgraduate diploma (with in the long term possibilities for M A or PhD-level courses in archives).

• A polytech-level certificate course—with plenty of flexibility for after-hóurs and weekend tutoring for working archivists.

• An extramural archives course for those archivists working in other parts of the country.

• Block courses and part-time training for working archivists, to keep up with the latest developments and practices.

• Full implementation of the recommendations relating to an archival field service, continuing advanced education, and a clearing-house for archival information.

• An archives liaison service covering the country.

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Records Managers

Trish Olif f

Land Transport Authority

Gerald Ham has 'penetrated the complexi t ies of Ant ipodean idiosyncracy' and articulated our professional needs very succinctly. I would lik e to congratulate him for his report Towards Career Professionalisation. I found l itt l e to disagree with and much to commend in this report. Indeed the survey figures tell a story for themselves; 73 per cent of records managers are female, and only three have computer training. Is it any wonder we find ourselves in our current position? Having such a slender argument on which to base this paper, I decided to take the opportunity to look more closely at these vital needs Ham talks about and 'tell it like it is'.

As a practising information manager, perhaps I could begin by briefly stating the aptitudes and skills that I would look for in any member of my team (which may be a good deal smaller by the time I have finished! ). Firstly, they would need to be committed, innovative, flexible, enthusiastic, and above all able to work without supervision. I would not accept less than five years secondary education followed by two years experience in the workforce. General office practice or Human Resources would be excellent starting points.

I t is not enough to have keyboard skills. Records people must have both computer knowledge and the ability to conceptualise. Herein lies my biggest criticism of Ham's report: mention of this factor is made only briefly, firstly in discussing a curriculum for the Certificate in Records Management and again on p. 19. I believe there are more affinities at the moment between records management and technology than between archives and records management. Increasingly today's structures are being scaled down to almost below minimum requirements, especially in the support areas. Staff are required to be able to handle minor problems with systems, must be willin g to troubleshoot and able to assess and critique software. Managers have many functions to handle, with records often a very small part of their total responsibility.

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Wit h the devolution of many routine tasks back to business groups, records staff wil l also have a monitoring and audit role—after all, the power wil l lie with the PC on the desktop. The use of optical technology is imminent, �n d a reduction in paperwork already a reality. I'm not sure that the urgency of this has come through in the report. As a manager, I simply do not have the time to train staff on the job. Neither do I have the luxury of supervisors. If expertise is not on hand, consultants wil l fil l the vacuum and learning opportunities wil l be lost.

By inference then, Ham quite rightly states in his overview that the lack of the above skills is a severe impediment to advancement.

We are now operating in a workplace driven by multi-skilling and technological forces. I f individuals do not have the opportunity to gain a recognised certificate endorsing their particular mix of skills, they are no better off than the general run of clerical/ technical staff.

Records staff may already be members of a professional group, but in practical terms they are only catching a glimpse of the possibilities of networking, which realistically may rate only a bare mention in their performance appraisal, i f their manager is even aware of it. This wil l certainly not provide them with the solid foundation of knowledge, vision and empowerment that is required to fight for their share of the resources in today's business environment. (I use the word business advisedly, as most government departments are devolving and becoming attuned to private sector ideals and methodology.)

Advancement is difficul t because records are placed under a variety of umbrellas—just look at the job titles in Appendix D. This merely reflects the confusion of upper management as to where we belong. Where are the leaders and communicators? Our needs are being lost within middle management, which of course has its own priorities. We are liable to end up only with discretionary funding because we have not promoted ourselves. Given our own inadequacies, lack of self-esteem and lack of pol i t ical nous, we are condemned to powerlessness. This of course comes home to roost when archivists struggle to make sense of the consequences. This is pessimistic, you may say. But is it? Can you point out to me a truly integrated Information Management team that reports directly to the General Manager or Director? I can only think of the State Services Commission off the top of my head.

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In my view, records managers are being challenged, but more often overwhelmed, by the sheer magnitude of what has to be accomplished with such slender resources. Decisions are made further up the line about whether projects wil l be contracted out or run in-house. These decisions are often made with littl e or no knowledge of what is involved and even less consultation. When objectives are so varied and apparently irrational, how can staff be expected to understand and give of their best? They are not in control of the situation. Their productivity suffers because of their frustration, and they become part of the self-fulfillin g prophecy with which we are all familiar.

Records staff need to feel comfortable and equal to other professionals. They need to have a better deal in their relationships with managers. But they wil l only succeed in this if they can be exposed to the very best philosophies, practices and technologies that are available. Ham is absolutely spot-on when he rates this as of critical importance on p. 21.

Unt i l records practitioners can exercise their minds and their muscle more freely and knowingly, they wil l continue to do as they have always done, and finally lose out in their jobs to others who have greater influence over management.

In a sense, it is a chicken and egg situation. For until we can build a cadre of skilled, knowledgeable, and above all committed individuals, we wil l not have an integrated profession. The divisions are very wide at the moment. A professional qualification should bring together like-minded people who wil l retain these contacts throughout their professional lives. We must make sure that this is achieved when considering distance learning. Their courses and personal interaction must provide them with the ongoing strength to meet their practical and intellectual needs, which may well arise in a sole-charge situation.

Of greater importance at the moment is the need for continuing and advanced education to provide a vision for the future, one which can be articulated and communicated to senior management. This requires considerable professional self-esteem when other business activities appear to have greater priority.

It is with great optimism and delight therefore that I view Ham's idea of scholarships for advanced training, for unless we can gain status in the workforce now we are going to lose out completely to the other major players. I am wholly in agreement with the idea of programmes outside work hours or small block courses. Every staff member counts, and my budget wil l not run to temps. Neither would

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I like to see the costs rise beyond the reach of individuals. We already have elitism operating given the cost of computer courses, particularly 'flavour of the month' exercises.

To sum up, the report and the initiative of ARANZ have provided excellent starting blocks. It only remains for me to stress the urgency with which this programme must be put in place. For some people in the field it is already.too littl e and too late. But fot the sake of those who are struggling or are about to enter the arena, remember that employers cannot and wil l not wait. For them actions are imperative.

We must play our part by giving our full support to the efforts of a Qualifications Implementation Team.

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Bruce Symondson

Records & Archives Manager, Auckland City Council

A t the seminar on the Ham Report held on 4 March 1994,1 was asked to provide the perspective of a records manager. Even then it was neither sensible nor practical to separate records management from archives, as each is a part of the other. In this paper I wil l be concerned with the Ham Report as a whole, and its recommendations and consequences for both professions.

My experience with Auckland City Council, my involvement with the Auckland Chapter of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) , other contacts with records managers both here and overseas, and the professional literature, have all contributed to my views concerning the present state and future direction of records management. The most important single theme in all these sources is that records managers must become pro-active in their attitude to the new information technologies and the developing 'information age'. Obviously this has fundamental consequences for their skills, knowledge and training, especially as part of that theme is the recognit ion that the issue is not purely one of technical expertise.

The many presentations and comments at the seminar have, obviously, become an important element of this paper, and I apologise to those who detect their comments here yet find them unacknowledged—they are simply too many. For both records management and archival information, by no means the least valuable part of the Ham Report is the statistical appendices, which on many points can replace assumptions and plausible generalisations with facts. Their value would be further enhanced if they could be repeated at regular (five-yearly?) intervals.

Broadly, my response to the Ham Report is positive. The options and framework proposed are both challenging and sensible, and I wholeheartedly agree with the split between a postgraduate-level diploma for archivists and a polytechnic-level certificate for records managers. My primary disagreement is, however, a very important one, and that is the report's opposit ion to a cert i f icate- level polytechnic archival qualification, on the grounds that 'training at this level falls far short of the professional education needed for archivists

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to operate effectively in the new information age'.1 Four interlinked concerns with the report lead me to this conclusion. First, insufficient attention to new technologies, and despite the above quote, the consequences of the 'new information age' for archives and records management, especially the latter. Second, the need to keep the two professions linked. Third, the current and likely future managerial environment of most records managers and archivists. Fourth, the likely future structure of both professions.

Before going further, it is desirable to have at least a working definition of a profession. This is an apparently simple matter about which whole books have been written. When certification was proposed and then introduced for American archivists, one of the arguments revolved around its value for the perception of archives as a profession, 'a vocation whose practice is founded upon an understanding of the theoretical structure of some department of learning or science and upon the abilities accompanying such understanding ... while there is considérable diversity of opinion about what constitutes a profession, one commonly accepted characteristic of profession groups is the effort to define, promulgate, and enforce statements of the credentials expected of anyone practising that profession'.2 These characteristics are obviously relevant to the Ham Report. Interestingly, another very common characteristic noted in the discussions was a code of ethics to which members of the profession were held accountable. Attainment of a specified postgraduate qualification is not a prerequisite of a profession, however common a requirement this may be in practice.

The diploma/certificate split recognises the differences in the knowledge and skills required in the two professions. To simplify, archivists are concerned with historical information, and with current information only insofar as it may become of historical value, while records managers are concerned with current records for current use. The enormous diversity of historical records has resulted in the development of intellectual principles designed to ensute control of and access to those records. These principles inevitably include some flexibility and evolution. Occasionally disagreement is substantive, e.g. that which currently exists between advocates of the record group and the series as the basis for arrangement and description. The holdings of each archives are unique (though the consequences of this can be, and have been, exaggerated), and even electronic finding aids have only a

Ham, p. 18.

Will ia m J. Maher, 'Contexts for Understanding Professional Certification : Opening Pandora's

Box?', American Archivist, LI , 4 ( 1 9 8 8 ), p.409.-

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limited degree of uniformity. That records managers are concerned only with current information does not simplify their job, but rather shifts their concerns. Their control has to be more detailed, more certain, and faster. Archivists are far less likely to find their documents used in a court case concerned with thousands or even millions of dollars, or have their decision to deny information appealed to the Ombudsman. The lack of theoretical principles akin to those of archivists does not therefore mean that the records manager's job is any less challenging.

Concern that records managers are not to be offered a diploma-level course to challenge and raise their standards ignores the fact that effectively this is already available. The American qualification of Certified Records Manager has the prerequisites of a degree and three years' relevant experience. Only about 5 per cent of ARMA' s members hold it, a figure A R M A is trying to improve. Though only one New Zealander holds the CRM, the presence of ARM A in New Zealand makes it a more practical option than non-records managers might suppose.

Many archivists believe that most archival positions should be held by people with a professional qualification (defined as a postgraduate diploma) rather than a certificate from a polytechnic course, to ensure adherence to professional standards and not just a knowledge of routines. 'As the profession grows, there may well be a need for polytechnic training for archival para-professionals, and for some part-time sole practitioners for whom a graduate qualification is not attainable'.3 While it is clearly vital that understanding of established archival theory is thorough, I believe the above concerns, in themselves, do not recognise the need to upskill everyone doing archival work, or the increasing importance to archivists of non-technical knowledge and skills. Records managers are clearer about the need to improve the knowledge of all their staff, because the changing office environment that necessitates this is their daily experience, as is the realisation that successful records management is not just a matter of technical standards, but of competence in skills such as budgeting, planning and advocacy. For reasons I wil l explain in greater detail below, this brings the records manager nearer the sole-charge archivist.

Two of the Ham Report's five purposes are especially relevant to my concerns. First, 'Assessment of existing qualification standards for entry into, and advancement in, the fields of archives and records management,

Ham, p. 18.

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together with an evaluation of their appropriateness in the light of recognised overseas standards and likely future New Zealand needs'.4

Second, 'Consideration of the appropriateness of the development of •an integrated, multi-layered indigenous education and training programme leading to an accepted qualification in archives and records management'.5 These are clear and admirable so far as they go, but like the report as a whole, they are concerned only with professional knowledge and skills narrowly construed. Neither they nor the other purposes are sufficiently concerned with the wider requirements of an effective archivist or records manager, which are imposed by the wider environment in which they operate.

Archivists have only begun to grapple with the archival consequences of the new technologies. Archival institutions have never been flush with resources, and the last ten years have been no exception. Some archivists are concerned that it would be a crucial error of judgment not to make the new technologies the profession's top priority. Records managers and their staff have absolutely no doubt of their importance— over the past five years they have increasingly become a part of their daily work. Many offices now use electronic databases to access files, correspondence and other information. Suppliers, anecdotal evidence and surveys here and overseas all support the belief that in the next five years the use of image technology wil l become much more widespread in New Zealand. If records managers do not improve their skills, the information managers of the future are likely to be primarily computer or other information specialists. Records managers are ajl too well aware of how rapidly their environment is changing, and therefore how urgent the issue is. The Ham Report recognises that 'as records management becomes more integrated into the larger field of information management, the educational requirements, at least for key positions, can be expected to change'.6 However, the importance and urgency of this is underrated. The 'new information age' is mentioned only twice in the report.7 That may suffice for archivists, but it does not for records managers. 'There is solid evidence that records professionals are now in a different arena, and this thrust has begun to create a whirlwind of.activity around us. In some instances, due to a lack of technological skill, our own stubbornness to deal with these changes, or worse yet, an inability to read the writing on the wall, we

4 Ibid. , p.5. 5 Ibid . 6 Ib id . ,p . l9 . 7 Ibid. , pp.18 and 27.

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may have begun to be circumvented'.8 This comment is typical of many in the professional literature in recent years, and represents not the opinion of a few but a professional consensus.

One of the difficulties faced by records staff is that in contrast to archivists, and certainly in contrast to planners, engineers, etc., they are not seen as professionals. Yet,.like archivists, they have been expected in recent years to do more with less, or a lot more when given more. They are less likely even than archivists to be allowed a year off from current duties to complete a diploma. In this context the Ham Report was unduly harsh in describing the offerings to date in the records field as 'much like the mini-skirt: they reveal a lot without covering very much'.9 Two of Auckland City Council's Area Records Administrators completed the Auckland Institute of Technology course. Both found it useful and challenging. Certainly the course has its limitations, but it is an excellent building block which reflects one of the major differences between archivists and records managers: the latter are less concerned with the job market of the future, and more with the vital need to upgrade the thinking, knowledge and skills of those working in records management now.

The at best lukewarm attitude to certificate-level training for archivists concerns me both as an archivist and as a records manager. It has become a cliché that the records of today are the archives of tomorrow. It is doubtful that the Ham Report has taken into account the full implications of this, particularly as in many organisations when the records become archives they ultimately wil l be the responsibility of a records or information manager.

In many local authorities and other organisations, the archives come under records and/or information departments, with a part-time archivist who does other duties. To expect that such positions wil l be held by people with either postgraduate diplomas or elementary training is to accept an unfortunate and dangerous dichotomy in qualifications. It would also perpetuate the present differences in the availability of archives and records management training. ARANZ remains the only national organisation concerned with records management. Its journal and annual conference provide outlets for the concerns of records managers, although not as successfully as they might. A t the local level

Jo A n n M . Constantini, 'CRM , Survival Skill s for Informario n Professionals in the Decade of

Turbulence', Records Management Quarterly, XXVI I I , 1 ( 1 9 9 4 ), p.26.

Ham, p.7.

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the Auckland experience is that ARAN Z fails miserably with respect to records management. Most, though not all, of the archivists in the Auckland ARM A chapter are records management specialists who would be thoroughly bored if they ever went to Auckland ARAN Z meetings (though I should make it clear that I am not bored when 1 go to them! ). The Auckland A R M A chapter has been very successful in increasing the knowledge and skills of records managers in its region. It must be doing something right, as it has won two awards in the past two years for membership growth. The big limitation is the obvious one, that a fully national network has not yet developed.

Despite this divergence at the local level, it is clear that records and information managers need archival training, if only because many of them are responsible for archives. In the survey of records managers appended to the Ham Report, 49 of 117 who replied to this question cited 'Archives' as one of the 'other duties' which they performed. Almost as many saw 'Archives Management' as a 'most important' area of study for a future national qualification as gave this rating to 'Retention 6k Disposal Scheduling'. Both rated ahead of'Information Technology', with respondents presumably assuming that the latter would be best studied via other sources.1 0The reality for these records managers is that the postgraduate archival diploma is neither necessary nor practical. However a certificate-level records management course that included archival units would be seen by archivists, rightly, as littl e more than an introduction to. the field. Far more satisfactory would be a certificate-level course in archives which could be undertaken by those records managers who wished to do so. If all that is available is the postgraduate diploma, the archives section of a records management certificate, or very short courses, all but a few records managers wil l receive too littl e training in archives.

There is, however, an equally important risk for archivists if the certificate level of archival training is absent. As an archivist who became a records and archives manager, I find compelling the argument that the priority for archival training is the postgraduate diploma. I have severe reservations about the absence—-even subsequently^—of a certificate-level course, notwithstanding the reasoned and trenchant case made in the April 1994 Archifacts by Stuart Strachan, and the concerns expressed in the Ham Report itself. It is not only what Stuart and the Ham Report say, but what they do not say, that is important. Both are preoccupied

1 0 Ibid. , pp.88, 95.

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with the need to improve the understanding of traditional archival theory, and its application. No one would dispute that a thorough grasp of that theory and how to apply it is a necessary requirement of being an archivist. Increasingly, and especially for sole-charge archivists, it is not sufficient. In the working situation of many archivists, no level of technical expertise wil l compensate for inadequacy at budgeting, planning and advocacy, the skills noted above as essential for records managers. In this crucial sense, the needs of the sole-charge archivist are nearer those of the records manager than those of their colleagues in the larger archival institution, though it should be noted that all archivists are managers of their own priorities and time, and wil l benefit from knowing how to do so effectively. Without a certificate-level course there wil l be littl e to challenge the archival para-professional, who gets very littl e mention in the Ham Report. While it is important to raise the standards of the best, we should not overlook the need to improve the competence of everyone working in archives.

That the large-institution archivist was surveyed separately from the sole-chärge/smal l - inst i tu t ion archiv ist is ev idence of an assumption, which I believe to be correct, that their situations are significantly different. There were 44 responses to the approximately 70 questionnaires sent to archivists working in 'large' institutions (any which employed more than one archivist). This can be taken as an accurate figure for the total number of archivists employed in these institutions, which are few and well known. With respect to sole-charge archivists, some 350 questionnaires were sent out, and 103 returned. Wi l l this numerical disparity continue? Overseas experience suggests that it will . Successive surveys of its membership by the Society of American Archivists have shown that most work in institutions with either one or two professional staff.11 Interestingly there was also a gender imbalance in favour of women, though not to the extent of the survey result in the Ham Report. There may have been a time when the archival profession believed its objective was to have all archives in large institutions with professionally qualified, specialised staff. The lesson from the United States is that the desirability of such an objective is irrelevant because it wil l never happen. As the larger institutions become larger and more numerous, the number of small archives also increases. This explains the heavy emphasis placed on training courses for sole-charge archivists by the Society of American Archivists in the past five years, and probably

S AA Newsletter, January 1992, p.3.

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is part of the reason for its just-introduced 'mentor' programme. Whi l e the evidence is more impressionistic, I believe that the American experience has been duplicated elsewhere, including in New Zealand. I regard this as a healthy trend, though I suspect that the size of National Archives in relation to the New Zealand whole is evidence that the New Zealand institut ional structure is an immature one. It is not that I do not want a larger National Archives, Turnbull or Hocken, but I see as equally if not more important upgrading the archival skills of the sole-charge and/or part-time archivists in private companies, local authorities, museums, schools, etc. For this the certificate level is crucial.

The small size of the profession in New Zealand means that a postgraduate archives diploma would be viable in only one location. In theory the greater number of potential students would permit two locations to be used for the certif icate. Experience to date, however, is that concentration at one location would allow the best use of teaching staff and library resources, with greater use of various distance learning methods. Wi t h respect to the locat ion of a postgraduate diploma course I cannot usefully add to the Ham Report, which canvasses the advantages and disadvantages of a university and a national archival institute clearly and succinctly.1 2 With respect to the certificate level, however, concern about 'particularism' (that teaching would overemphasise National Archives' own philosophies, systems and methods) becomes stronger.

The Ham Report notes that the records management profession is larger, younger, and more dynamic than the archival profession. The outline of the provider requirements and curriculum for a records management certificate course are excel lent .1 3 However, the full consequences of earlier comments are not followed through when the question of programme delivery is considered. The report assumes a need to choose between Auckland and Wellington, but does not do so because of their differing strengths.14 Given all the other actual and potential demands on the resources of National Archives, and that National Archives is not (and is never likely to be) as crucial to records management as to archives, and that the records management resources available in Auckland are more diverse and stronger than the report.allows for, if one had to choose Auckland would be preferred.

1 2 H a m , p p . l 3 - 1 6. 1 3 Ibid. , pp.19-22. 1 4 Ib id. ,p.22.

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The choice, however, is not necessary. The course wil l be useful for many records staff below management level, if not in whole then in part. Given the size of the available market, demographic factors, and the different strengths of Auckland and Wellington, both locations should be used.

The impact of the new technologies on records management has been mentioned above. Understanding these technologies, while essential, is only half the issue. Records management has always struggled to be appreciated. The current management philosophy delegates money and responsibility wil l down the administrative hierarchy, but expects in return strategic and annual plans, and measurable objectives and outcomes. Records managers who cannot meet the requirements of this philosophy, and convincingly advocate an effective role for records management as part of, i f not in the forefront of, information management, wil l be failing their profession as well as their staff. While their role is not under the same immediate challenge from new technologies, the general pressures and requirements for the sole-charge archivist are the same. Success is as much a function of their ability to impress non-archival managers as of their archival knowledge and skills. The situation is not quite the same for an archivist in a larger archival institution. Like records managers and other records staff, the sole-charge archivist wil l find it hard to obtain extended leave to do a diploma course. The preference of the sole-charge archivist for polytechnic training is understandable. As with the records manager, if this is not available the actual training undertaken is in too many cases likely to be of a lower rather than a higher level.

Despite the above reasons for advocating certificate-level archival qualifications, the opposing argument of inadequate professional standards remains. Here I believe insufficient notice has been taken in the Ham Report of the growing fluidity of the New Zealand educational structure. There is no reason why a certificate-level course in archives could not provide a thorough grounding in established archival principles—indeed, it is essential that it do so. It can and must go beyond a 'nuts and bolts' approach. The diploma-level course would spend more time at the frontier of archival thinking, but a certificate course can produce a trained archivist. My impression is that too much weight has been given to the difficulties in the existing course at Wairarapa and the Auckland Institute of Technology. Insufficient funding for a full-time director, and an initial absence of library resources, have caused problems, but there is general agreement that the course's students have benefited the profession. We should learn

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from the problems, and do better, not dismiss the efforts as a failure. We should also be wary of comparing a real-world case, with its inevitable hiccups, with an ideal model on paper. .

Before summarising my central themes and arguments, I wish to discuss a number of other ideas mentioned in the Ham Report and/or raised at the seminar. Inevitably there was concern at the latter as to whether New Zealand could sustain a diploma-level archives course. It was disconcerting but predictable to hear institutional managers say that they favoured the diploma, but doubted that they could spare any of their staff for a year to complete it. The experience with the New South Wales course, and the Canadian masterate under Terry Eastwood,15 has been that graduates do find employment. While the report is probably correct to assert that in the long term the diploma wil l be completed primarily by students who have chosen archives as a career but lack work experience, this is unlikely to be true initially , and Peter Orlovich maintains that the New South Wales diploma course has benefited from the presence of experienced archivists as students. If the profession is so sure about the need for the diploma, it must be equally strong in its willingness to actively support it.

Whil e it is likely that history wil l always be the dominant intellectual breeding ground for archivists, the extent to which Dr Ham emphasised this possibly owed something to his American experience.1 6 In the early 1980s Ray Grover consciously tried to appoint staff with more varied backgrounds, and I believe he was correct to do so. Certainly the diploma should have very liberal prerequisites. The 'factors to consider in developing a diploma', and the 'course content ' ,1 7 are excel lent as far as they go. The former would result in a course that would appropriately challenge students. The latter, however, reflects the report's preoccupation with matters purely archival. It is true that the management topics discussed previously could either be taught separately or as an integrated part of the teaching of traditional fundamentals. However, the report does not discuss how they should be included, and this silence suggests that their importance has been underrated.

I have not yet discussed distance education. Its importance is recognised by the report, and the value of flexibility in delivery (whether at a distance, part-time, by tele-conferencing, etc.) wil l be clear from

1 5 T. Eastwood, ' Nurturin g Archiva l Education in the University' , in T. Nesmith, ed., Canadian

Archival Studies and the Rediscovery of Provenance, New Jersey, 1993, p.489. 1 6 Ham, p.9. 1 7 Ibid. , pp . l 0 r ! 2 .

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much of what I have written. South Islanders wil l no doubt have begun to wonder if anyone from the North believes them able to support any course. Unfortunately, in archives especially, the smallness of numbers appears to preclude the possibility. Not a part of formal course structures, but certainly an aspect of education in the wider sense, is the proposal for a field service programme.1 8 The potential value of this is unquestionable. Comments at the seminar emphasised the question of access to professional literature. This has been a problem for the existing certificate course, and large-scale photocopying is a palliative, not a solution. I f the holdings of Auckland Public Library—17 texts on archives, and approximately 45 on records management—are any indication, the public libraries' stocks are meagre, particularly as they include some older and dated volumes. If archivists asked for more texts, however, the libraries would presumably buy them. The concept of a 'clearing-house for archival information'19 was supported at the seminar. Just how much National Archives can do, however, was questioned, and not only by National Archives management. The budgetary environment is a tough one, and we need to look at solutions that include both self-funding and self-help. The survey results suggest that almost no New Zealand archivists belong to any of the overseas professional associations,20 and records managers fare littl e better. The existence of ARM A blurs the issue, but given the importance of archives to records management, the fact that I am a member of three of the overseas professional archival associations listed leaves littl e scope for my colleagues.21

I wil l now pull the threads of my comments together. Despite the impression much of this paper may have given, I agree with far more of the Ham Report than I disagree with. The diploma-level archival qualification is essential, as is the certificate in records management. If , however, there is not to be a dangerously large hole in the structure of training options, there must also be a certificate-level archives course. It need not, however, be at the same location as the diploma. We should take advantage of the current changes in the New Zealand education system to provide flexibility of delivery. In both setting priorities and course content, more account needs to be taken than has been done by the Ham Report of the urgency created by the new information technologies. Now and in the future, the effective

1 8 Ibid. , pp.25-6. 1 9 Ibid. , pp.29-30. 2 0 Ibid. , pp.55, 74. 2 1 Ibid.,p.96.

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professional requires not only a sound grasp of the theory and techniques of their profession, essential though that is, but equally the ability to use the other skills needed for success in the wider administrative setting.

A t the seminar, Peter Mille r made on behalf of the ARANZ what was probably the most difficul t request of the day: as not everything can be done at once, could we prioritise our recommendations for further action? When I looked at the summary of recommendations,2 2 my reaction remained, 'all of the above', but Peter had a point. Joint first are the diploma-level archives course and' the certificate-level records management course. If I had to choose between them, records management would come first because of the urgency of the technological challenge. Behind both comes the certificate-level archives course (which is not, of course, on Ham's list). Further down come the 'archival field service' and 'a clearing-house for archival information'. Both would use the resources of National Archives; the latter is the more urgent, because it is more critical to the success of the formal courses proposed, and would be easier and quicker to implement on an at least adequate scale. In a different category are ' t ra in ing and assistance for sole-charge archivists and small repositories', 'continuing and advanced education', and 'education as an individual responsibility', because these should either be happening anyway, or can only come after the structure of diploma and certificates is in existence. The same is true of 'The role of ARANZ in promoting education and professional development'. A 'standing committee' would be a useful starting point for everything else, and should therefore be an urgent priority. Stimulating job creation and providing employment assistance can be approached more gradually, to produce results when students complete the courses that are the first priority.

2 2 Ibid. , pp.33-5.

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The Ham Report: Miniskir t or Maxi?

Rachel Lilbur a

Victoria University of Wellington

By the time you read this article you wil l probably already have read a great deal of comment on the Ham Report, as it has become known. The April 1994 issue of Archifacts was devoted to the papers of the seminar held in March of this year, and a series of reviews by Australian archivists and educators has appeared in the June 1994 issue of the New Zealand Archivist. The ARANZ Implementation Team wil l have sent its draft curricula for archives and records management to universities and polytechnics respectively for comment. What is there left for me to do? Firstly, I thank Dr Ham for a readable report, which includes very useful appendices and contains few surprises. In general, I agree with the tenor of the recommendations. That was the easy part! Secondly, and this comprises the body of the following paper, I want to touch on several of the less developed areas of the report. Here I may reiterate views of other commentators, but I hope that I bring another perspective as a person presently involved in archives and records management education and training.

I'l l begin with a small quibble. Someone had to say it, so here goes. The memorable miniskirt analogy for archives and records management offerings to date—they 'reveal a lot without covering very much'1 — surprised some who did not share his sense of humour. But I suppose, anything goes these days, including miniskirts. Does anyone remember the maxi? This skirt, fashionable for a while in the 1970s, covered a good deal. I propose to explore important areas that the Ham Report seems to cover, but not reveal as much about as it might have! These ate: the hidden text in his report which underlies his recommendations; the relationship between archives and records management; the relationship between education and training; and the role of the New

F. Gerald Ham, Towards Career Professionaiisation: An Education Programme for New Zealand Archivists and Records Managers, Well ington, 1994, p.7.

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Zealand Qualifications Authority and its relationship with polytechnics and universities. There is much more that one could say about the report and the issues it raises or does not cover—for example, how to incorporate a bicultural perspective into archives education and training—but constraints of time and length prevent me going into these.

Dr Ham's hidden or unwritten text is uncovered by reading between the lines. This reveals two suggestions: do not expect the task ahead of us to be easy, and do not reinvent the wheel. It is inevitable that Dr Ham came with some 'cultural baggage'. In fact he refers to 'debilitating mistake[s]'z made in North America in reaching the major educational and training goals he proposes for us, a sign that the road to achieving those goals wil l be hard. The goals are the establishment of two indigenous qualifications: a postgraduate diploma/ masters for archivists equivalent to what librarians have and ideally provided by a university; and a Certificate in Records Management provided at a polytechnic level for records managers.

Similar goals have been enunciated for some time, of course. In the last two decades archivists have spoken at length at ARAN Z conferences about the desirability of a postgraduate archives course based in New Zealand. And there is the aborted initiative of ARANZ in 1987 to reflect upon. In 1978 and 1987 Dr Smith3 and Dr Saunders4

respectively wrote about archives and records management education. Each recognised certain constraints in our environment: Dr Smith, for archives education, the probable small number of enrolments due to limited employment opportunities and career incentives;5 Dr Saunders, the lack of resources at the Department of Library and Information Studies.6

What has changed since the late 1970s? Dr Ham certainly thinks that there is a growing demand for archivists and records managers,7

and hence sufficient employment opportuni t ies to sustain a postgraduate and a certificate course. He mentions the numbers taking the archives courses already available, and is buoyed by the fact that a majority of the respondents to the surveys were interested in taking a course of study. This report has given people considerable

2 Ibid. , p. l . 3 Wilfre d 1. Smith, Arc/lives in New Zealand: A Report, Wellington, 1978. 4 Wilfre d L . Saunders, An Evaluation of Education for Librarianship in New Zealand: A Report to the

joint Committee on Librarianship, Wellington, 1987. 5 Smith, p.30. 6 Saunders, p.55a. 7 Ham, p.8.

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The Ham Report: Miniskirt or Maxi?

cause for hope that something wil l happen. However it would have been helpful to temper some of this enthusiasm with a realistic prediction of the length of time that the development of a new course takes, especially within universities, as Dr Ham would know from his teaching career at the University of Wisconsin. On the other hand, we did need a bit of cheerleading from Dr Ham.

Some suggest that the employment market remains too small. No one can have expected Dr Ham to solve this problem in four weeks, but he could have done a better job of changing the minds of those people who say that we would be better served in the short term by continuing to cross the Tasman and pay the Australians large sums of money.8 Were you convinced by his arguments? Every person counts, given the size of the market for an archives qualification. Having said that, it is good that the problems are not glossed over. Dr Ham points out that overseas training is, because of its cost, a privilege rather than a choice, and that continued dependence on it wil l undermine the development of an indigenous course.9 He also reminds us that such courses lack indigenous content, in particular New Zealand administrative history and law, and Maori language.1 0

But as an American, he could not be expected to understand the 'cultural cringe' phenomenon in this country. In my opinion, the report should have made a stronger statement on this issue. It may serve one of Dr Ham's purposes: to educate employers about the 'tools and knowledge archivists and records managers need in this new information age'.1 1 But it is less effective as a tool for convincing employers and those nervous about relinquishing ties with our Australian cousins than it might have been.

What else does Dr Ham imply by the comment in his introduction that we should not make the same mistakes as the Americans and the Canadians, for example, and settle for less than first-rate archives and records training?12 That in our largely virgin state we have a rare opportunity to 'get it right'? Does he mean, 'suffer the consequences i f you don't follow my recommendations'? I think he is referring more to us 'not reinventing the wheel'. Ham believes that we can learn from their situations and debates. This is partly why his report contains few surprises for me.

8 ibid.; p-18. 9 Ibid . 1 0 Ib id. ,p. l2 .

" Ibid. , p.2. 1 2 Ibid. , p. 1.

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What are some of these lessons? Firstly, the North American literature on the training and education of archivists says that short courses, seminars and workshops, while useful, are nowhere near what is required for a profession. The workshop mentality leads to the archivist being trained to do rather than educated to know.13 We would have no argument with this either, while recognising, as they do, that there is still a place for such training, often offered by voluntary associations.14

Secondly, the aim in both Canada and the United States has been to realise the vision of university programmes of professional education. Here the two countries differ. The Americans are acutely aware that they compare poorly with the Canadians because they have never been able to mount an archival programme at masters level autonomous of another qualification, for example in library science or history.

The Canadians, on the other hand, have two stand-alone Master of Archival Studies programmes, one at the University of British Columbia (UBC) which began in 1981, and the other at the University of Manitoba which began in 1991. Canadian archivists are proud of this.1 5 In a recent article Luciana Duranti, Associate Professor in the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at U B C, was scathing in her assessment of the American archives profession's attitudes towards education. She accuses Americans of demanding too littl e from their archival education, and says that they do not appear to believe in the existence of an archival discipline. 'American archivists approach their education as if they had to learn a craft, not a profession.'16

American archivists are admonished for not taking the initiative to approach one or more universities with a proposal. In contrast, the Canadian archivists have made the right decisions with respect to archival education, and provide an example that the Americans could follow. They first created guidelines for the body of knowledge which should be part of a postgraduate programme, and made their first goal the creation of pre-appointment, graduate-level autonomous archival

" James O'Toole, 'Curriculu m Development in Archiva l Education: A Proposal', American

Archivist , LII I (Summer 1 9 9 0 ), pp.462-3. 1 4 See Susan Davis, 'Archiva l Education: Th e Next Step', The Midwestern Archivist , XIV , 1 ( 1 9 8 9 ),

pp.13-21. 1 5 See Terr y Eastwood, 'Nurturin g Archiva l Education in the University' , American Archivist, L I

(Summer 1 9 8 8 ), pp.228-51. 1 6 Luciana Dutanti , 'Th e Archiva l Body of Knowledge: Archiva l Theory, Method, and Pract ice,

and Gtaduate and Continuin g Education'Joumai of Education for Library and Information Science, XXXIV , 1 (Winte r 1 9 9 3 ), pp.8-24.

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programmes.17 Terry Eastwood's earlier article on the origins of the programme at U BC corroborates Duranti's opinions. He states that Canadian archivists sent the universities a clear signal through the Association of Canadian Archivists as to what the profession wanted, and contrasts this with equivocal signals from the American profession.18

The commissioners of the Ham Report, ARANZ, would appear to be following a similar path to the Canadian archivists by sending providers unequivocal signals. Dr Ham's recommendations seem to be very much along the lines of the Canadian approach. His North American background is also possibly why he felt confident in discounting the expressed preference of 66 per cent of sole-charge archivists and 31 per cent of those in larger institutions for polytechnic-level training rather than a postgraduate qualification.19 Such people would be, in his opinion, underselling themselves. It also perhaps sheds light on why Ham is so firm about not foundering on the issue of Certificate vs. Diploma,20 while being definite about the need to discourage the premature development of polytechnic-based education. The New Zealand archival profession must give the universities here a similarly clear signal as to what they want. Two issues highlighted here need further exploration: the relationship between archives and records management, and the difference between education and training.

Let's deal first with the relationship between archives and records management. We must ask whether Dr Ham may be underselling records management as a profession in this country. He is prepared to accept the records management community's view that a certificate-level course offered by a polytechnic or similar provider is necessary in the short term, because this reflects the 'current nature and content of their work, their role in the administrative process, and their needs and resources for training.'21

Records management as a formal occupation is, Ham concludes, an even younger profession than archives.22 Here I recall the Acton Report of 1986 (which Ham does not mention).2 3 This report was important

1 7 Ibid. , p.22. 1 6 Terr y Eastwood, 'Th e Origin s and Aim s of the Master of Archiva l Studies Programme at the

Universit y of Britis h Columbia' , Archivaría, XV I (Summer 1 9 8 3 ), p.37. 1 9 Ham, p. 18. 2 0 Ibid. , p-24-2 1 Ibid. , p. 19. Of the records managers responding to the survey, 104 were in favour of a polytechnic-

level coutse, whil e 38 opted for a university provider . 2 2 Ibid . 2 3 State Services Commission in co-operat ion wit h National Archives, Information Can Be

Managed: A Records Management Review, Wellington, 1986.

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for two reasons. Firstly, it raised the profile and expectations of the records management profession in this country. Secondly, the report, essentially on how to provide an efficient and effective records management programme for the New Zealand Public Service, contained four specific recommendations on the training of records managers. Acton (another overseas expert) recommended the 'introduction of career training based on overseas standards which results in certification or diploma [to allow records managers to] take their place in information management alongside archivists and librarians.'2 4 This statement implies that records management as a profession requires a qualification of equal status to those of librarians and archivists (although Acton does not explicitly refer to provision at a postgraduate level). Acton also recommended that training be provided at different levels. Such career training has not eventuated,25 although one indirect result was the provision of short courses through the Records Management Branch of National Archives.

Eight years later, Dr Ham has come up with a recommendation which appears to be appropriate for now, yet may not allow records managers to stand alongside archivists and librarians in the long term. To be fair, he does suggest that educational requirements wil l change in the future. In the short term there is littl e demand for a postgraduate qualification, and the few senior records officers who expressed a need for diploma-level study could go to either Monash or the University of Melbourne.2 6

Dr Ham also favours the development of short advanced courses within New Zealand.

The report lacks detail as to what the next goals for records management education should be, how we might approach the creation of further levels, and when we should be aiming to fulfi l them. A t the moment only 27 per cent of records managers have a university degree, but wil l this continue to be the case? Many records managers in North America have degrees, and it is my opinion that these wil l become essential for those who wish to take up more senior positions and be considered professionals. Graduate-level education in archives (as in librarianship) is assumed to be necessary because of the need to develop programmes and manage resources and people. Is this not what records managers in positions of seniority have to do too?

2 4 Ib id. ,p. l9 . 2 5 For an explanation of the failur e of the Ac ton Report, see the articl e by Alan Smith, 'Th e

Ac ton Report—Right Message, Wron g Timing?' , Archifacts (October 1991 ), pp.31-7. 2 6 H a m , p , 2 3.

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What about the relationship between records management and information management? Littl e is said in Ham's report about this relationship, or even the increased importance, for example, of education in information technology for the records management profession. Whi l e I agree that a certificate-level qualification could do much to improve the status of records managers in New Zealand (and standards of records keeping), to develop records management as a profession in New Zealand a university programme is required. Records management needs its theoreticians just as much as archives does. Ham himself says that training at a polytechnic level 'falls far short of the professional education needed for archivists to operate effectively in the new information age.'2 7

Records management courses are being taught overseas at graduate level, for example at the University of Texas, Austin (UTA) . The teacher of this course makes it quite clear in a recent article that it is a misconcept ion that records management has no theoret ical or conceptual constructs. A s in other information professions, records management includes practical techniques and theoretical or abstract knowledge, and if anything, it suffers from multiple theory disorder.'28

What about the option of teaching archives and records management in an integrated postgraduate programme? UTA considers itself at the forefront of the education of the new records management professional in attempting to dispose of the 'anachronistic tension between records management and a rch ives '2 9 by making the two programmes complementary. Ham is not keen on this for New Zealand. He says that the life-cycle paradigm may suggest such a combination, but there are differences in the intellectual requirements of archives and records management which do not support a union of their education and training; 'these differences are in no way a measure of importance or merit.'3 0 Yet there is debate over the life-cycle paradigm which has potentially great significance for the future of archivists' and records managers' training and education.

Terry Eastwood, the head of the U BC programme, said in a recent article that the 'study of records management is not a flirtation with a sister discipline's putatively inferior technique, rather an exploration

2 7 Ib id. ,p. l8 . 2 8 See the articl e by Eugenia K . Brumm , 'Graduat e Education in Records Management: T h e

Universit y of Texas Model' , Journal of Education for Library and information Science, XXX I I I

(Fall 1992 ), p.335. 2 9 Ibid . 3 0 Ham,p .20.

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of the archivist's interest in Morris Rádoff's "one world of records" or Jay Atherton's "records continuum'".31 As long ago as 1983 he could see the need to expand the specialised records management course, because 'increasingly archivists are realizing the lif e cycle concept by actually working in a truly integrated records management/archives environment, particularly in smaller organisations.'32 Indications from the New Zealand survey of records managers are that many have archival responsibilities. Do we continue to teach them archives for records managers in the way that many archivists have been taught records management for archivists? Is this a satisfactory solution in the long term?

The life-cycle paradigm which has tended to define where records managers' responsibilities end and archivists' begin for the last 50 years is being challenged not only by Atherton3 3 but also by our close neighbours, the Australians, several of whom are responsible for the Monash Diploma in Archives and Records Management, which Dr Ham visited. They are considerably influenced by David Bearman, who suggests that the metaphorical notion that, records have a lif e cycle is increasingly irrelevant and should be superseded by the concept that the information systems in which records are created have a cycle. Both archivists and records managers are being increasingly distanced from electronic record-keeping—while there are more records, they have a decreased physicality. Now is the time, says Bearman, for a simple goal to be shared by archivists and records managers: that of ensuring organisational accountability through records based on the retention of context and transactionality.3 4 Archivists and records managers are both attempting to find an identity amongst other information management professionals, and perhaps an alliance between them would no longer be as unholy as it once seemed. Therefore, I conclude that in this area Dr Ham's report does not entirely fulfi l one of its aims: to be a 'blueprint upon which the profession can build an integrated, multi-layered, indigenous education programme'.35 The implications of this must undoubtedly be resolved

3 1 Eastwood, 'Nurturin g Archiva l Education', p .243. 3 2 Eastwood, 'Origins' , p.42. 3 3 Jay Ather ton , 'Fro m Lif e Cycle to Continuum: Some Thoughts on the Records Management—

Archive s Relationship', Archivaría, X X I (Winte r 1 9 8 5 - 8 6 ), pp.43-51. 3 < Frank Upward, 'Th e Significance of Bearman's "Simpl e Shared Goal" fot Australia n Records

Managers', in Sue McKemmish and Frank Upward , eds, Archival Documents: Providing

Accounuibility through Recordkeeping, Melbourne, 1993, pp.231, 236. 3 5 Ham,p .2.

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by the members of ARANZ charged with implementing the report's recommendations.36

Another area of concern is that the report did not make a clearer statement on the differences between education and training! Why should it have done so? I believe such clarification could have improved understanding of Dr Ham's view that archives professionals are best taught at a postgraduate level and preferably in a university.37 This has much to do with the interconnection between theory and practice. Luciana Duranti says that an education in archives 'has the function of forming the professional mind-set and of "drawing out the student's intellect" ... [whereas] training is skill building, acquisition of practical knowledge, and development of specialisation in a determined area.'3 8

But she also acknowledges that professional—including archival—'-education involves training, because the study of archives is both a pure and an applied science.

Different educational levels and hence combinations of practice and theory are necessary depending on the role one intends to fulfi l in the profession, one's intellectual investment, and so on. The relationship between practice and theory is explored in a recent report on the library diploma distance programme, Library and Information Studies Education for the People of New Zealand: Baskets, Bridges, Gardens, by Dr Dan Barron of the University of South Carolina.39

Dr Barron uses a model borrowed from Dr Martha Hale, Dean of the School of Library and Information Management, Emporia University, to illustrate the role of the professional school, the Department of Library and Information Studies, in helping a profession to grow as well as to clarify the relationship between the Department's diploma and the Certificate in Library Studies offered by the Wellington College of Education. This is germane to the future of education and training for archivists and records managers for two reasons.

Firstly, the model potentially provides a conceptual basis for understanding the need to provide different levels of programmes for the archival and records management professions, for example, a certificate at a polytechnic level and a diploma/masters at a university. Using a Practice to Theory Model, Dr Barron describes a continuum

3 6 Ibid. , p.33. 3 7 Ibid. , p-13. 3 8 Duranti , p. 19. 3 9 Daniel Barron , Librar y and Information Studies Education for the People of blew Zecdand: Boskets,

Bridges, Gardens: A Report to the Department of Library una Information Studies, Victori a University

of Wellington, Well ington, 1994.

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on which Ñ stands for Practice, PT for the combination Practice/Theory, TP for the combination Theory/Practice, and Ô for Theory. The Practice level requires mainly on-the-job training and a secondary education. The Practice/Theory combination requires, he says, education at some tertiary level, because the professional tasks require a higher degree of decision-making and demonstrations of specialised education. This has been the primary focus of the Certificate in Library Studies programme, and for the paraprofessional.40 For tasks which require 'a considerable degree of decision-making based on a fundamental understanding of the theoretical foundations of the profession',41 the Theory/Practice combination is recommended. Barron says that 'this is the level at which a person requires the knowledge and skills from a diploma or masters degree programme' in order to be a professional practitioner.42 Finally, the Theory level is usually associated with knowledge creation and dissemination, and is the domain of the doctoral degree holder and/or doctoral candidate.

Dr Barron uses this model to suggest to the library profession that its two existing programmes are at separate points on the continuum, and that the content ion by some cert i f icate holders that their qualification is as 'good' as the diploma needs to be seen in light of this distinction. Dr Barron perceived the 'frustration and resentment among long-time certificate holders who are in positions of professional responsibility and believe they should be considered at the same level as newly created diploma or degree holders [but] not every certificate holder deserves to be recognised at the same level as a diploma or degree holder regardless of years of experience.'4 3

I point this out because of an implied analogy in the report between potential archives qualifications and present library qualifications in New Zealand. There is the suggestion that archivists should not settle for a 'lower-quality programme' at polytechnic level, and need to go for a postgraduate diploma because otherwise they wil l end up like the 'librarians who have struggled with two qualification levels.'4 4

There is no denying that the relationship has been troubled. But there is a great deal of history behind this troubled relationship which need neither repeat itself nor be used to forecast a similar

4 0 Ibid. , p.5-6. 4 1 Ibid. , p.6.

« Ibid . 4 3 Ibid. , p.7. 4 4 H a m . p . 1 8.

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future for the archival profession if it develops coexisting polytechnic-and university-based qualifications.

What is important is that the right combination of theory and practice is struck by educators. The proposed Certificate in Archives could become very different, if further thought is given to which group in the profession it wil l be providing education and training for. There is a great deal that a nurse can do and that a doctor does not need to do.4 5 The future provision of archives education and training at a certif icate level may not undermine the potential market for a postgraduate diploma. The survey of archivists in small institutions certainly indicates that their training needs differ from those in large institutions. Dr Ham says that meeting their immediate needs without foundering 'on the issue of polytechnic versus university postgraduate training, is one of the most difficul t challenges facing the New Zealand archival profession'.46

This brings me to the final area of the Ham Report that I would lik e to examine. The relationship between different qualifications for different levels in New Zealand also has as its backdrop the work of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). But the Authority's appearances in the report are surprisingly brief. This is despite the fact that its efforts could be of considerable benefit, for example, to those in the small institution category. Dr Ham mentions the 'mysteries of the qualifications process', and elsewhere in the report makes a somewhat negative comment. He says that 'with arch ives and records management t ra in ing standards being established by the ... Authority, one can expect several new entrants as educational providers. Potential ly this may lead to a further fragmentation of limited resources. Concern about the impact ... on archives and records education has intensified'.47 Frankly, I believe that given the size of the market, in archives at least the potential avarice of providers is more imaginary than real. The methodology underlying the proposed National Qualifications Framework should be of more concern to those interested in the education and training of archivists and records managers.

4 5 Wi t h apologies to Stuart Strachan, 'Perspectives on the Ham Report: A New Zealand Overview',

Archifact s (Apri l 1 9 9 4 ), ñ·8. Stuart suggests we need professionally educated archivists at

postgraduate level, or 'ther e shall be raised a generation of sophisticated bone-setters and horse

doctors, of those who practice medicine without a knowledge of physiology or anatomy.' 4 6 H a m , p . 2 4. 4 7 Ibid. , p.7.

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A key principle of the National Qualifications Framework, which encompasses all learning from senior secondary school level up to postgraduate degree level, is that learning is an incremental process, with qualifications building on each other and some recognition of prior learning. Qualifications such as a National Certificate or a National Diploma are built from units of learning, modules of study within a subject that are defined in terms of content and learning outcomes measured according to performance criteria. One would think that this was in line with Dr Ham's remark that the country needed an 'integrated, multi-layered, indigenous education programme'.48

There is a healthy level of skepticism about the process of devising and registering unit standards. One cannot take Dr Ham too much to task for not coming to grips with this, or with some of the wider debate about the Authority's methodology and position in relation to universities. Since his visit a major report has been released by the New Zealand Vice Chancel lors' Committee ( N Z V C C ). The National Qualifications Framework and the Universities clarifies the reasons behind their reluctance to integrate university qualifications into the Framework.49 The relationship between polytechnics, universities and the Authority is an important one. Understanding some of the problems in this relationship might cause supporters of the view expressed in the Ham Report that ' in the current c l ima te, polytechnic-level training is the best the profession can afford', to think again.5 0

Polytechnics have become entitled to offer degrees, thanks to the Education Amendment Act 1990, and thus it is conceivable for a degree course in archives to be mounted at a polytechnic. In the three years since the passing of the act, 'more than 40 polytechnic degrees have been approved'.51 Whether polytechnics are able to call themselves universities is another matter. The Education Act 1989 defines a universi ty as, amongst other things, an inst i tut ion primari ly concerned with advanced learning. The titl e can only be awarded to state institutions by the Minister of Education.52 There is more than just nomenclature at stake here, since new degree programmes in

4 8 Ibid. , p.2. 4 9 New Zealand Vice Chancellors' Commit tee, The National Qualifications Framework and the

Universities, Wellington, 1994. 5 0 Ham, p. 18. 5 1 J im Doyle, 'Polytechnics prospering in brave new world' , Campus Review;, IV , 12, 31 Mar- 6

Ap r 1994, p.14. 5 2 According to the articl e by Janet Rivers, 'Aucklan d I T pressing for uni status', ibid., p. 14.

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polytechnics are approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and not the NZVCC, the body charged with responsibility for this process for universities. Secondly, although the unit standards in archives are being written to levels which encompass both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, New Zealand universities have maintained for some time that the NZQA should have no jurisdiction over university-provided qualifications.

One of the main reasons why the NZVCC believes that universities should oppose the Framework encompassing tertiary degrees is that 'being based on notions of competency, the unit-standard methodology makes insufficient allowance for the progressive development of conceptual skills that is characteristic of university education'.5 3

Their research indicates that the system is inappropriate for most general educational contexts and many professional contexts.5 4 Other difficulties include assigning academic units to a level in the Framework on an equivalent basis to vocational subjects, and the problem of integrating postgraduate university programmes into the Framework. The report by the NZVCC suggests that degree programmes approved in the polytechnic sector would benefit from a university-style system rather than the NZQA approach! They recommend that the NZVCC and the NZQA not merge their separate systems into a single framework, but that formal recognition be given to a dual structure and that procedures be put in place for dealing with movement between the two.55

I t certainly would have been unrealistic to expect Dr Ham's report to solve what remains a major stumbling block for the NZQA. Unfortunately, however unsatisfactory the process is from a pedagogical perspective (and the NZVCC report casts much doubt for this reader on its sui tabi l i ty for archives educat ion), the work of the Implementation Team in drawing up a curriculum for a postgraduate archives qualification and a polytechnic-level records management certificate must attempt to complement the NZQA's work in the drawing up of unit standards and core competencies for archivists, librarians and records managers. This may be less vital in the case of the archives curriculum, given the present university policy with regard to the NZQA. But for the records management curriculum there wil l need to be close congruence between specifications and unit standards, as no potential polytechnic provider would establish

5 3 N Z V C C , p.2. 5 4 Ibid. , p.6. 5 5 Ibid. , p.23.

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a qualification which was not capable of being nationally recognised by theNZQA.

But what is there to stop a polytechnic also offering a national certificate, diploma or degree in archives based on the unit standards approved by the NZQA? One final disquieting comment on the NZQA system is necessary. Our industry's unit standards are being drawn up by an Information Management Advisory Group. One of more than 160 advisory groups, it is destined to become a National Standards Body which wil l theoretically determine which unit standards make up qualifications for a profession such as records management or archives. The universities consider these to be particularly contentious. In its Annual Report for 1993, the NZVCC maintains that 'the Authority has no legislative authority to set up groups with power to set standards, since the Authority itself does not have that power'.56

To conclude, I am reminded of a remark made by a participant at the March seminar that she 'had expected something more lengthy than 35 pages'.57 Perhaps I did too. To use the skirt analogy again, the report was no 'maxi'! That could be one of its virtues. I was not disappointed by the report and its recommendations. Nor should my comments be interpreted as a belief that the report was unsatisfactory or had major weaknesses, except on the particular issue of the relationship between, archives and records management, a view which I am not alone in expressing. On the matter of the NZQA, universities and polytechnics, some of the material post-dates Dr Ham's visit. I hope that I have made clear the challenges posed to the provision of archives and records management education and training by the present educational environment. The biggest impact of the report is its potential use as a vehicle for educating the professions' allies, to whom he attributes a minor role. I have found it to be so already with the university administration with which I am discussing the potential provision of archives education. Here its virtue of brevity definitely stands i t in good stead!

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N Z V C C , Annual Report ¡ 9 9 3, Well ington, 1994, p.41.

Rosemary Collier , 'Th e Professional Associations', Archifacts (Apri l 1 9 9 4 ), p.27.

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BUSINESS AND ARCHIVE S Doubtful Guests: Business Archives in Research Libraries-Th e Alexander Turnbul l Librar y

David Retter

Alexander Turnbull Library

When Brad Patterson told me that I was to be teamed up with Peter Mille r in this session, I recalled that we had spoken together on the same topic at the 1985 ARANZ Conference in Auckland. Much of what 1 said in 1985 is still relevant, and I want to quickly go over some of the points raised then. The paper I gave to that conference was published in Archifacts 1986/3.

I would like to examine the Alexander Turnbull Library's selection and acquisition policy as it relates to business archives; to briefly outline the Library's past performance in this area, particularly in the last decade; and to give some indication of the research use that has been made of the extensive business archives in the Manuscripts and Archives Collection.

Since the late 1960s, the Library has been active in negotiating fot and acquiring business records, an area which has always been part of our selection policy, aimed at building a research collection of national and international standing.

Concern at the destruction of business records during the 1960s and 1970s arises when one surveys our acquisition files. Sometimes we learned of losses too late; sometimes we were in time, and collections were saved. A quotation from a 1970 letter written by Graham Bagnall, then the Chief Librarian, to a colliery manager, is worth repeating:

To understand properly the functions and processes of business in this country it is necessary to study the evolution of local industries and firms and to analyse the changes that have taken place. Furthermore, commerce in New Zealand has been significantly linked

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with social and political changes and the extent to which this relationship may be demonstrated wil l be reflected in the actual records saved during the historical process. Unfortunately, at the present rate of destruction of industrial records any future economist's or historian's task in this field could become impossible.'1

Between 1973 and the early 1980s, some of our smaller groups of archives were acquired through direct notification of companies going into receivership from the Wellington District Registrar of Companies, but the majority of our more substantial acquisitions were the result of direct solicitation or thanks to publicity concerning company closures in the news media. In 1976 alone, seven major groups of business archives were added to a growing collection, and there were strong indications that business archives would become one of the fastest growing areas of acquisitions.

There was also some concern however, expressed in the Library's 1973/74 annual report, that the level of acquisition and the size of most business archive collections was placing considerable pressure on manuscripts staff to process them to an adequate level. This concern remains today, with respect to not only business archives but other areas of acquisition as well.

In my 1985 address, I mentioned the 1974 report prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research enti t led Business Archives in New Zealand, and its strong advocacy of the establishment of a Business Archives Council in New Zealand as a catalyst for growth in the study of business history. I also mentioned that there was a proposal for the establishment of a business archives processing centre at the Alexander Turnbull Library which would take in, process and then relocate records in appropriate inst i tut ions. Although this was never set up, the concept reflected the feeling of the time that some direction was needed. It certainly both reflected and contributed to the rapid growth in the acquisition of business archives which peaked in the late 1970s.

However, the predicted boom in business studies for which this level of acquisition was taking place did not occur. A t the same time, strict government control of staffing levels meant that the increased numbers required to process these and other types of collections could not be achieved. Since the late 1970s we have been, to some extent, paying the price of this growth in acquisitions, with some

A . G. Bagnall to S. R. Eyeington, Huntly , 12 May 1970, on Alexander Turnbul l Librar y fil e

T L 2/9/7, Business records.

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very large collections remaining in an unprocessed or semi-processed state.

Consequently, our rate of acquisition of new collections of business records has decreased in the last decade, compared with more popular areas of research such as women's archives, war archives, trade union archives and church archives. But although the Library has adopted a more passive role in this area, we have been willin g to accept records offered to us, particularly as a result of the rebuilding of central Wellington, with firms seeking to divest themselves of their records before moving to new and usually smaller premises.

In the 1990s, the Library holds a large number of very rich collections which form a solid core of business archives to feed current and future research. Our current selection and acquisitions policy document includes business archives, with emphasis on representat ive Well ington law firms, as one of a dozen or more collecting areas. In addition, business records are also represented in other collecting areas such as artists' papers (architecture, galleries and advertising) and literary papers (publishers).

The sheer size of some of the collections means that their description remains very basic. In recent years, the ongoing processing of business collections has tended to have a lower priority than literary and artists' papers, both much in demand and requiring a high level of control, together with women's collections, Pacific and Maori collections.

A number of recent examples exemplify the research use to which our business archives are being put.

A Stout Centre researcher studying the Wellington provincial political economy, 1840-1876, has made extensive use of all Wellington business archives containing material from this period. Some collections like those of Bethune and Hunter contain an almost complete record of their activities during this period.

The recently published history of the Wellington law firm Bell Gully Buddie Weir made use of their archives. Although one would expect extensive use of the collection to be made for such a project, the sheer quantity of letterbooks (over 1000 volumes) made sampling the only option.

The valuation and sale contract records of J. H. Bethune and Company have been used extensively as part of a long-term research project examining the development and social history of a Wellington suburb. They have also been consulted by researchers investigating the history of individual properties.

The records of Gear Meat Company have generated considerable research interest from family and local historians, since their

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A large number of queries referred by Hütt Valley libraries have been answered.

The largest acquisition in recent years has been the records of New Zealand News Ltd for the period 1881-1980s. These comprise nearly 30 linear metres, and contain not only the records of the main company but also early records of the Oamaru Mail, the Auckland Star and the Lyttelton Times, together with records of Brett Printing and Publishing. A n inventory provides access to the collection. Some oral history tapes have been deposited with the Library's Oral History Collection. The Lytteitori Times material, dating from the 1860s through to the demise of the newspaper in 1929, provides a good record of its operations, including circulation figures, which are currently being assessed by a researcher for a publication.

Business records are not only of use to economic historians; other researchers also benefit from their acquisition. In 1990, the passenger lists of the New Zealand Shipping Company collection were arranged and described in detail, providing far greater access'for researchers to the records of thousands of immigrants who arrived between 1875 and 1950. The financial records of the company have also proved useful to thesis students.

Select list of business records in the Alexander Turnbull Library at 31 ]uly 1994

A.H. ¿k A.W. Reed Ltd. Records, ca. 1949-1978. ?m. 76-014, 76-153, 81-178 & 89-110. Publishing house. Restricted.

A.S. Paterson and Company (later to become part of the Goodman Group) . Records, 1902-1953.10m. MSX 6k MSY sequences. General merchants.

Akiti o Sawmilling Company. Letter book, 1909-1911. lv . qMS-0029. Alfre d Fell and Company. Account book, 1842-1845. 1 reel. Micro-

MS-0702. Nelson firm! Batleys Ltd . Records, 1936-1989. 10cm. 91-336. Pastoral company. Bell Gull y and Company (now part ofBell Gull y Buddie Weir) . 33.6m.

qMS sequence, 73-165 & 86-081; Wellington law firm. Restricted. Bethune and Hunter Ltd . Records, 1840-1962. 25m. 81-034, Wellington

merchants. Blackwood and Janet Paul Ltd . Papers re Paul's Book Arcade, 1965-

1968. 10cm. 77-042. Publishing company; see also Paul's Book Arcade.

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Blue Spur and Gabriels Gully Consolidated Gold Company Ltd . Papers, 1889-1891. 5 items. MS-Papers-1275.

Brandon Brookfield . Legal records, ca. 1840s-1983. 8 foli o boxes. f-89-301. Wellington law firm.

Brandon, Ward , Macandrew and Company (nowBrandons). Records, 1844-1972. 27m. MS-Papers-1237, 80-053 & 83-075. Wellington law firm. Restricted.

Bridget William s Books. Papers relating to The Book of New Zealand Women/Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa, ca. 1986-1990.4m. MS-Group-140. Restricted.

Buddle Findlay. Papers relating to Springbok Tour protests, 1981. 3m. 88-172. Wellington law firm.

C. B. McDougall, Chemist Ltd . Prescription books, 1897-1929. 16v. MSY-1367-1382. Newtown, Wellington pharmacy.

Cable Price Downer. Records, ca. 1907-1989. 37.3m. 91-214 & 91-299. Restricted.

Campbell Island Company. Records, 1903-1904, 1916-1917. 5 items. MS-Papers-1654- Material relating to Shetland Islanders on Campbell Island.

Charles Begg and Company Ltd . Records, 1878-1977.16cm. MS-Group-15 L Dunedin music publishers and retail firm.

Charles Hil l and Sons Ltd . Records, 1894-1917. 30cm. MS-Papers-3921. Wellington cap and hat manufacturers.

Clark , Menzies and Company. Deeds, partnership agreements etc., 1922-1946. 1 folder. 76-245.

Consolidated Goldmining Company Ltd . Records, 1896-1957. 10m.

76-083. Cory-Wrigh t & Salmon Ltd . Records, 1914-1979. 7m. 77-048 &

92-208. Engineering firm. Dalgety New Zealand Ltd . Records, ca. 1860-1950. 90m. 76-291,

77-136 & 84 -121. Includes Head Office, Dunedin, Gore and Christchurch offices; also some New Zealand Loan and Mercantil e Agency Company (q.v.) records. Restricted.

Dalgety, Rattra y and Company Ltd . Papers, 1862-1871. 1cm. MS-Papers-0311. Dunedin company.

Daniell, F. C. Papers, 1893-1953. 9.5m. MS-Papers-3763. Bulk of the papers concern the business dealings of this prominent Wairarapa architect.

Dun Mountai n Copper Minin g Company. Records, 1857-1872. 1 reel. Micro-MS-0701. Nelson mining company.

Dunedin Water Work s Company. Preliminary prospectus, 1863. 2

items. MS-Papers-2163.

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E.W. Mill s and Company Ltd. Minute books, 1883-1965. 4v. qMS-1367-1370. Wellington hardware and engineering firm.

Electronite Syndicate Ltd. Papers, 1911. 3 items. MS-Papers-1867. Mining company.

Elli s and Burnand Ltd. Records, 1903-1965. 1.5m. qMS sequence, 83-266 & MS-Copy-Micro-566. Waikato timber company. Restricted.

Equitable Building and Investment Society of Wellington Ltd. Records, 1874-1977. 30v. 83-065. Also contains some, records of subsidiary companies, R. W. Short and Company Ltd, Equitable Construction Ltd, Equitable Agencies Ltd and Equitable Properties Ltd.

Findlay, Hoggard, Richmond and Company (now part of Buddie Findlay, q.v.). Deeds and legal files, ca.1933-1970. 57m. 76-188. Wellington law firm. Restricted.

Firth, C. Papers, 1928-1990. 2m. MS-Group-315. Wellington architect. Gear Meat Company Ltd. Records, 1882-1981. 15m. 78-047, 81-295,

87-080 & 91-256. Petone meat processing and export company, now closed.

Goodman Fielder. Records, 1902-1976. 12m. 81-149 & 88-015. See also A . S. Paterson and Company.

Harcourt and Company. Private valuations, City of Wellington register, 1889. lv. fMS-082. Real estate company.

Harry H. Tombs Ltd. Records, 1910-1964. 1.5m. MS-Group-022. Printing company.

Henry Hughes Ltd. Records, 1874-1979. 3m. 88-185: Wellington trademark and patent attorneys.

Hervey, Smith and Company. Account books, 1856-1861, 1866-1867 and 1896-1897. 2v. fMS-086-087. Wellington general merchants, auctioneers and shipping agents.

Hickson, Willia m and Company. Journal and account book, 1855-1859. 2 reels. Micro-MS-0750. Wellington general merchants.

Hoby, A . Records of dental practice, ca. 1887-1934. 1.6m. 87-206. Hokit ik a Gas Company Ltd. Records, 1873-1947. 14v. fMS-099-112. Ilot t Advertising Ltd. Records, 1892-1984". 78cm. MS-Papers-3913. J . B. Keith and Company. Records, 1894-1934. 7v. fMS-118-124.

Masterton real estate firm. J. B lock Ltd. Records, ca. 1941-1981. 30cm. 86-067. Well ington

manufacturing jeweller. J. C. Williamson. Records, 1922-1956. lm. 79-039. Theatrical company. J. Fanning and Company. Records, 1900-1953. l l v . MS-Group-308.

Wellington real estate firm.

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Doubtful Guests

J . H . Bethune and Company Ltd . Records, 18774975. 17m. 8 4 4 1 3. Wellington real estate firm and auctioneers, now part of the First National Group.

Jacobs, Florentine and Partners. Records, 18784960. 22.6m 76-034, 88-061, 91-084 & 92-067. Palmerston North law firm. Restricted.

James Smith Ltd . Records, 1 8 6 7 4 9 8 5. 7.5m. 93-215. Wellington department store, now defunct.

John Brogden & Sons. Record of repayments of labourers' promissory notes, 1872 -1878. 7 leaves. MSI-Papers-1481. Public works contractors.

John Newton and Company. Papers, 1857-1965. 15cm. MS-Papers-1434- Soap and soda manufacturers, Kaiwharawhara, Wellington/

John Symons and Company. Letter book, 1862.1 reel. Micro-MS-0785. Nelson merchants.

Johnston and Company Ltd . Records, 1 8 6 8 4 9 7 2. 1.3m. 84-014. Wellington shipping, insurance and commission agents; records from Dominion Breweries.

Johnston Brothers. Records, 1 8 5 4 4 8 7 5. 12cm. MS-Papers-2176. Wellington wholesalers and stock and station agents.

Kaur i Timber Company Ltd . Records, 1888-1955. 10m and 5 reels. MS-Papers-0862, MS-Papers-1289 & Micro-MS-0556. Records of New Zealand operation of Melbourne-based company; records from Fletcher Holdings.

Kinsey and Company. Instructions and procedures for New Zealand

charter parties, 1889? lv . fMS-126. L . M . Rankin Company. Invoice books, 1935-1956. 4v. MSY-3690-

3693. Wellington importers and general merchants. Levin and Company Ltd . Records, 1 8 3 9 4 9 6 1. 20m. MS-Papers-1347.

General merchants, stock and land agents, importers, taken over in 1961 by National Mortgage and Agency Company. Restricted.

Linto n Coal Company. Papers, 1944-1949. 4 items. MS-Papers-1363.

Lowes and Iorn s Ltd . Minute book, 19014907. 1v. qMS-1163. Masterton real estate company.

Lychgate Funeral Service. Records of E. Morri s Junior Lt d and J . E . Taylor and Sons, 1897-1989. 8.3m. MS-Group-307. Wellington funeral directors.

Mauricevill e Co-operative Dair y Company. Minute book, 1900-1906.

lv . MS-1625. Metter s (NZ ) Ltd . Records, 1925 -1974. 1.5m. 79 -138. Petone

manufacturers; business removed to Australia; records from Brierle y Investments.

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Archifacts

Midland Hotel. Records, 1924-1951. 19v. 81-286. Central Wellington hotel, now demolished.

Nairn and Sons Ltd. Ledger, 1898-1899. lv. qMS-1406. Christchurch seed merchants.

Nancarrow arid Company. Legal records, 1871-1897. 3 folders. MS-Papers-1691. Greymouth auctioneers, shipping and commission agents, established as Nancarrow Henderson in 1867.

New Zealand and Austral ian Land Company Ltd. Records of Hakataramea Station, 1868-1951. 33cm. 81-338.

New Zealand Express Company Ltd. Records, ca.1893-1968. 12.2m. 76-023, 76-042 & 80-183. Includes Dunedin office; records from Allie d Freightways Ltd.

New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Ltd. Records, 1866-1958. 41 v. MSX & MSY sequences. See also Dalgety New Zealand Ltd.

New Zealand News Ltd. Records, 1881-ca. 1980s. 28m. 89-072. Includes records ofOamaru Mail, Auckland Star, Lyttelton Times and Brett Printing and Publishing. Restricted.

New Zealand Press Association. Records, 1880-1960. 40m. 75-213. Restricted.

New Zealand Refrigerating Company. Records, 1881-1886. lv.; 1 reel. 73-074-

New Zealand Shipping Company Ltd. Records, 1873-1950. 5m. MS-Group-076 & MS-Papers-1148. Includes extensive collection of passenger lists. Also Auckland Branch. Letter books, 1887-1925. 3v. MSX-3302-3304, and Napier Branch. Inward letters, 1885-1892. 1 folder. MS-Papers-4156.

New Zealand Sounds Hydro-Electric Company. Records, 1926-1955. 50cm. MS-Group-157. Private company formed to exploit Fiordland's hydro-electric power potential.

New Zealand Times Newspaper Company Ltd. Transfer journal and other papers, 1874-1879. lv.; 1 folder. qMS-1575 & MS-Papers-0325.

New Zealand Truth. Financial Editor's files, 1922-1973. 4.2m. MS-Papers-1188.

Norsewood Co-operative Dairy Company. Minute book, 1896-1900. lv. ; 1 reel. qMS-1597 & Micro-MS-0193.

Pacific Graphics Ltd. Records relating to Art in New Zeahnd, ca. 1970s. 30cm. 78-163.

Paul 's Book Arcade. Papers, 1946-1971. 60cm. MS-Papers-1502. Hamilton booksellers. See also Blackwood and Janet Paul Ltd.

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Doubtful Guests

Hamilton booksellers. See also Blackwood and Janet Paul Ltd. Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Company. Moturoa Oilfields Ltd.

Minutes, 1930-1952, and Brunner Collieries Ltd. Minutes, 1936-1944. 3v. 85-093.

Penguin Books. Records ofWhitcoulls Publishing, ca.1905-1986. 7m. 91-254.

Price Milburn and Company. Records, 1967-1978. 66cm. 82-045. Publishing company. Restricted.

Price Milburn Music Ltd. Records, 1969-1992. 4m. MS-Group-136. Music publishers. Restricted.

Reefton Electrical Transmission of Power and Lighting Company. Records, 1888-1895. 1 folder. 75-185.

Ridgway, Hickson and Company. Papers, 1843-1849. 1 folder. MS-Papers-1994. Wellington merchants and shipowners.

Robertson and Rushton. Account books, 1922-1928. 2v. qMS-1705-1706. Oamaru seed merchants.

Southern Music Publishing Company Ltd. Papers, 1960-1968, 1973 and 1975. 2 folders. 86-008.

Swan family. Records of Swan, Lawrence & Swan and personal papers of Swan family, 1881-1945. 3.5m. MS-Group-005. Prominent Wellington firm of architects; the work of F. de J. Clere, a partner, is well represented.

3ZM Radio Service. Records, 1924-1937. 7cm. MS-Papers-1645. Christchurch private broadcasting station.

Timaru Medical Dispensary. Letter and account book, 1880-1893. lv . MS-2150.

Tokomaru Flaxmill Company Ltd. Records, 1904-1960. 2 items. MS-Papers-1650.

Tolley and Sons Ltd. Financial records, 1915-1946. 30cm. MS-Group-160.

Tripe, Mathews and Feist. Legal documents, 1870-1945. 30cm. 88-099. Wellington law firm.

Tui Brewery Ltd. Records, 1923-1966. 60cm. 78-156. Received from D B Central Brewery Ltd, Pahiatua.

Vacuum Oil Company Ltd. Rough notes on gas-making and works,

1919-1923. lv . MS-2195. W . and G. Turnbull and Company. Accounts and other papers, 1857-

1889, 1900-1906. 27 folders. MS-Papers-0100 & MS-Papers-

0268. W . R. Bock and Son Ltd. Records, ca.l930-1970s. lm. 87-182. Wellington

engraving and badge-making firm; began in 1930 as Bock and

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Archifacts

Waih i Goldmining Company Ltd . Miscellaneous papers, 1895-1906. 1 folder. MS-Papers-0632.

Wainui-o-mata Development Ltd . Records, 1927-1975. 4.2m. 79-130 6k Micro -MS-0791. Records received from Brierley Investments.

Wallace Pharmacy Ltd . Records, 1925-1978. 64v. 82-091. Formerly the Grand Pharmacy, Wellington; ceased tradin g 1982.

Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company Ltd . Papers, 1881-1909.1

folder. MS-Papers-0968. Wellington Co-operative Book Society Ltd . Records, 1938-1970.50cm.

MS-Papers-1122. Restricted. Wellington Gas Company. Daily carbonising books, 1968-1971. 3v.

qMS-2137-2139. Wellington Publishing Company Ltd . Records, 1874-ca. l980. 44v. 90-

108. Now part of Independent Newspapers Ltd . Wellington Settlement Tradin g Company Ltd . Records, 1971-1982. 2m.

85-001. Gallery and restaurant. Wellington Stock Exchange. Letter books, 1896-1908. 2v. qMS-2168-

2169. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd . Printin g record book, 1941-1956. 1 folder.

MS-Papers-2093. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd . Compositors' Chapel. Records, 1917-1968.

7cm. MS-Papers-1677. Woods and Lennox. Account and wage book, 1874-1882. l.v. MS-2523.

Wellington shipwrights. Young, Bennett, Edgley and Company. Records, ca.1874-1935. 50cm.

MS-Papers-0498 6k 73-122. Wellington law firm .

Other associated collections

Brewers' and Win e and Spiri t Merchants' Association of New Zealand. Records, 1890-1920, 1945. 34cm. Includes records of predecessor body, New Zealand Licensed Victuallers' Association; from New Zealand Breweries Ltd , Wellington.

Book Publishers' Association of New Zealand. Records, 1962-1991.

9.5m. 82-324, 88-132 & 92-104. Restricted. Booksellers' Association of New Zealand. Records, 1920-1963. 1.8m.

MS-Papers-1682. Dalgety and Company Ltd . History of Dalgety and Company, 1850-

1945, 1 reel. Micro -MS-0749. Harbour s Association of New Zealand. Records, 1928-1989. 52m. MS-

Group-104.

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Doubtful Guests

Group-104-Insurance Council of New Zealand. Records, 1855-1988. 41m. MS-

Group-258. McDonald, K . C. History of Waitak i Farmers Freezing Company, 1861-

1973. 1 folder. MS-Papers-3720. Nestor, M . J . S. The Gear Meat Company: Its origin and growth, 1857-

1979. 1 folder. MS-Papers-4719. New Zealand Association of Waterfron t Employers. Records, ca.1952-

1970.91m. 89-395 & 90-220. IncludesNew Zealand Port Employers' Association.

New Zealand Catchment Authoritie s Association. Records, 1951 -1990. 20m. 90-030 & 90-203. Restricted.

New Zealand Dairy Factory Managers' Association. Minute books, 1908-

1939. 2v. MSX-2297-2298. New Zealand Federated Newspaper Proprietors' Industria l Association

of Employers. Records, 1916-1970. 1 folder. 89-133. New Zealand Institut e of Management. Records, 1944-1963. 50cm.

MS-Papers-1576. New Zealand Institut e of Public Administration . Records, 1934-1973.

4.6m. MS-Papers-1336 6k 86-120. Restricted. New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation. Records, 1891-1989. 13m.

92-105. Restricted. New Zealand Newspaper Publishers' Association. Minute book, 1898-

1907. lv . 89-111. Newspaper Proprietors' Association of New Zealand. Records, 1921-

1923. 1 folder. MS-Papers-1837. Rooper, J . The history of the Commonwealth and Dominion Lin e Ltd ,

1850-1936. 1 folder. MS-Papers-0509. Sutton, R. G. A history of Magnus Motors, 1907-1968. 4 reels. Micro-

MS-0838. Wellington Chamber of Commerce. Records, 1852-1961.48v.; 3 folders.

MS-Group-018. Restricted. Wellington Junior Chamber of Commerce. Records, 1938-1972. 9m.

MS-Papers-1173. Restricted. Wellington Timber Merchants' Association. Papers, 1926-1982.30cm.

91-337.

The Library also holds on microfilm the records of a number of United Kingdom companies with New Zealand connections.

The Library's Oral History Collection contains several hundred tapes

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Archifacts

Whil e every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the collection details, changes in dates and locations are inevitable with further processing of collections. TAPUHI, the Library's computerised database, ensures however that these collections can be easily located. Staff should be approached concerning restrictions, and access to some larger, semi-processed collections may be subject to processing requirements.

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World s in Collision

or, Archives Conjoin with 'Generally Accepted Accounting Practice'1

S. R. Strachan

Hocken Library

This short, deliberately suppositional, piece is tentatively titled after Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision,2 though it may also owe something to H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds,3 because that is how it has sometimes seemed to me as the worlds of the archivist and of the financial manager have intersected on the issue of the financial valuation of archives—an event, to archivists at least, of almost cosmic proportions, with both parties representing quite different sets of values and speaking mutually unintelligible languages. It would not be profitable to speculate as to which represents the higher form of life.

The image of colliding alien cultures, however, is suggestive rather than fully predictive, because the result of that collision has: not been the destruction of one or both parties. It is more as if â jam roll of infinite mass had collided at slow speed with a rather smaller chocolate cake, resulting in a weird and wonderful mix, but one perhaps not without good eating opportunities for archivists. For auditors, I fancy, a more accurate metaphor might well be a journey into Stephen Spielberg's Jurassic Park—a bit of a nightmare.

I 1 T h e Public Finance A ct 1989 requires all government departments and Crown entities to

prepare theit financial statements in accordance wit h 'generally accepted accounting prac-

tice' , which effectively is set down in the standatds issued by the New Zealand Society of

Accountants. These requir e that all assets be valued so that the net wort h of an organisation

can be established. 1 Published in 1950, Velikovsky's book advanced the radical notion that in 'historica l times an

electromagnetic detangement of the solat system caused Venus and Mar s to approach the Eari h

closely, disturbin g its rotation , axis inclination , and magnetic field.' Encyclopaedia Britannica ,

15th ed., 1993 ,pp .297 -8. 3 Thi s scientific romance, first published in 1898, is about the invasion of Eart h by unfeeling,

tentacled Martia n monstets in fightin g machines wit h deadly héat-rays.

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Archifacts •

Enough of the wild imagery, however. What is certain and true is that for most archivists the recent requirement by Treasury to place a firm financial value on their collections seems peculiarly pointless. They are irreplaceable. And who else would want them, could afford to keep them? They are priceless in the sense that they have not been bought or sold, indeed cannot be bought or sold. In any case, for all practical purposes they are largely outside the range of price or financial value, as for most archives there is simply no normal market.

This is not to say that archivists of my generation, 1970-90, were unaware of cases of archives and manuscripts having been bought or sold. Al l of us, for instance, knew that there was, and had been for some considerable time, a market in estate and literary papers in Europe and North America. We were also aware that American Presidents and other prominent United States citizens routinely benefited from the tax breaks available in that country through the gift of papers to public repositories—a process requiring valuation. Even within New Zealand there had developed within the last 20 years a small market for literary manuscripts and nineteenth-century diaries and letters. In particular, it was generally known that the Turnbull Library had occasionally paid good money for Katherine Mansfield manuscripts.

Large archives, however, have never been sold in New Zealand and very rarely overseas. A particular instance of an almost-sale that I remember well, because it seemed so extraordinary and shocking at the time, arose in 1972, when it was rumoured very firmly that a Japanese cultural institute had made a financial offer for the archives of John Brown Shipbuilders, of Glasgow, then in liquidation. Fortunately the. liquidator, who was a prominent member of the Scottish Business Archives Council, knew where his duty lay and the archives were deposited locally. Scotland's heritage was not for sale.

For most of us archives belonged primarily in the world of intangibles—Popper's third world with a strong dash of the first4—along with such other unvalued, but priceless, attributes as knowledge, learning, scholarship, research, universities even, as part of the general fabric of ideas and culture, a world away from the market-place. How could anyone put a price on this? Nobody wanted to, nobody did, and in any case it was not possible. Who conceivably would want to buy the archives of the Matakanui sub-branch of the Plunket Society, Dr Honeypot's notes on native bee pollination, John Banks' personal correspondence, or the

A correlation suggested by Bria n Easton.

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Worlds in Collision

archives of the Electricians Registration Board? And without buyers there could be no prices, and without prices meaningful valuations were not possible. Indeed, 99 per cent of the archives and manuscripts in public repositories in this country had been placed there by deposit or donation, because it was in the public interest that they should be there. In short, and risking irreverence, they were a public good like God. One does not spend money or put a financial value on God—at least not in the public sector.

Unti l the late 1980s this was an accepted and workable state of affairs. Right ly or wrongly, our society was quite happy and comfortable with what could not be financially valued in any precise way, such as the contribution of volunteer organisations, charitable works, the unpaid labours of women in the home and the community,5

co-operative effort, and even religion. With the deliberate shift to the primacy of market forces init iated by the last Labour, and confirmed by the present National, government, however, what cannot be priced and paid for has been marginalised and now risks complete irrelevancy, for no better reason than that there is no way of ascertaining that it has a value—financial or otherwise. One is reminded of the episode in Dickens' Great Expectations where Jaggers attempts fruitlessly to extract from Jo, the blacksmith, the price of releasing Pip from his indenture. But for Jo there was no possible price, and out of love for Pip he was happy, to Jaggers' great bewilderment, to release him without recompense. On this occasion the market did not triumph.

The world before us now, however, is a more completely relativist (also post-modernist and intellectually deconstructed) universe than ever before. There are now very few generally accepted absolute values. Ironically, of those that remain, the truth of financial value is the most widely received. It has survived and flourished because it is now the only real means of establishing the relative worth of commodities and services, as must happen if there is to be exchange and capitalist societies are to function. This is effectively done by finding their price in the market-place, or somehow calculating what that price would be if they were ever put up for sale. Without a market value commodities and services cannot meaningfully exist, nor society function, in a world so dominated. Putting a financial

Marily n Warin g has explored thi s whole notion in het Counting for Nothing: What Men Value

and What Women are Worth, Well ington, 1988.

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Archifacts

value on archives puts. them in this world, and enables their significance to be estimated relative to other commodities.

Archives could, perhaps, connect quite happily to this world without a financial value attached to them, if, like the air we breath outside, they came at no cost and did not require money to be spent on them—for accommodation, staffing, maintenance, etc.—in cunent jargon, inputs. Because archives (though transformed from their original function as current records) are expensive to create and are never sold or otherwise disposed of, they thus act as a store of wealth never finally released and forever absorbing expenditure. In short, they become perpetual assets. As a consequence, and in accordance with 'generally accepted accounting practice', the grip of market-place values begins to assert itself, and the question of measurable benefits (in financial terms of course) naturally arises—in current jargon, outputs.6 This puts the archivist, and indeed the financial manager, in an exceedingly difficul t position. To establish all the financial benefits that might flow from a well-selected and ordered archive in their many intangible forms, not just now but indefinitely into the future, would be an extraordinarily difficul t and, one knows, ultimately impossible task, if only because archives by definition are preserved permanently, so that ultimately there never can be a full realisation of their financial value.

The only conceivable alternative to this impossibility is for archivists to attempt somehow, according to an accepted but necessarily arbitrary methodology, to place some kind of estimate of market value on their archives (after all, archives must be worth something to somebody. If not, why are they being kept at all?); or to let someone else calculate what is too hard for archivists to work out for themselves. Because there is no market for most archives, this means establishing a notional market value for them through all sorts of arcane devices. These inevitably carry the grave risk of an Alic e in Wonderland result, as the values established cannot and never wil l be tested. Does this matter? Probably not. As long as there is a convention of acceptance of a flexible valuation methodology, no matter how arbitrary, the

6 . Viewed in thi s way accountancy can be seen as a kin d of social physics, whose task is to chart

th e flow of societal energies as recorded in money transactions. Th e possible analogies are

surprisingl y numerous—an asset can be regarded as a form of potential energy, the double-

entr y principl e can be seen as having a parallel in Newtonian physics where for every act ion

there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton's thir d law of mot ion), and, more fancifully , a

balance sheet can be thought of as a cloud chamber where distribution s are recorded.

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Worlds in Collision

financial managers wil l be kept amused finding outputs to match inputs, so lending the Crown accounts a useful helping hand, increasing our national net worth, and contributing mightily to the country's recovery. A n archives-prosperous nation is just what Moody's, and Standard and Poor, are looking for.

Archivists should be happy too, for at last they wil l have come in out of the cold and entered the real world, where they wil l be truly valued by those whose business it is to value, financially of course. Acculturation wil l be complete.

God, you had better watch out.

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L E T T E R T O T H E EDITO R

Burn? Bury? or Donate?

Dear Editor,

Considerable concern was expressed in the Archifacts of April 19911

over literary papers emanating from New Zealand writers being snapped up by university libraries in the United States. The concern was that this material should be lost to New Zealand. One wondered what was being done to secure such literary archives for New Zealand, so it was pleasing to observe the note in ARAN Z Newsletter No. 14z on Victoria University's endeavours in this area.

The concern, internationally, over authors' literary archives was also instanced by newspaper reports of the 25 December 1993 fire at the home of Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison. It was at first thought her manuscripts had been lost in the flames but, fortunately, most had been preserved in a basement secure room.3

Despite this concern, it does seem to me that in New Zealand likely depositories for literary, local history, or private archives are rather inactive. Does any institution monitor fiction or non-fiction authors, poets, and the like? Do they encourage the préservation and depositing of private papers? Is this followed up?

My particular concern is the fate of draft manuscripts and supporting papers collected for the compilation of a local history. Whether by a single author or a committee, a wealth of information wil l have been brought together. National Archives wil l have been checked, newspapers scanned, private correspondence unearthed, unique private or family photographs collected. For the majority of local histories there wil l have been a huge pile of papers. What happens to them afterwards?

Though a local history, a subject history, or even a district history may be but a minor element in New Zealand's overall history, it does

' James McNeish, 'Paper Exodus Sends Our Literar y Heritage Abroad' , and responses to thi s

article , pp.77-91. 1 ' $30 ,000 Literar y Archiv e Project' , p.3. 3 'Fir e destroys manuscripts', A R A N Z Newsletter No. 15, p.2.

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Bum? Bury? or Donate?

form a crit ical component of that national history. And just as knowledge of New Zealand's national history ought to inform the local history, so can aspects of a local history inf luence the understanding of national events.

Rarely, it seems, is thé background documentation to published histories preserved. I must confess that I too have discarded much of the work brought together for the 60 or so publications I've been responsible for. My interest is in the local or postal histories of communities on a national basis. That is, I am interested in the history of each of the individual 5,000 or so post offices that have been open in New Zealand, and their services. For this some seven or so metres of 'archival' material has been assembled; much of it now probably difficul t to repeat or replace.

The whole question of the future of private archives is very much left to the individual. So, what do we do? Put the papers through an incinerator, send them to a dump, or donate them to an archive?

What do Archifacts readers think?

Yours sincerely

Robin M. Startup Masterton

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Book Reviews

Beverley Randell. A. Crowded Thorndon Cottage. Wellington: Gondwanaland Press, 1992. 100pp. $40. ISBN 0-959.7766-1-3.

Willia m and Sarah Randell arrived in Wellington three weeks after the 1855 earthquake. They lived for three years on the Té Aro flat, but it was with Thorndon that the family had a 50-year connection from 1858. The parents and two small children moved first into a cottage on a site adjoining the present Education and Environment Centre in the Botanical Gardens. In the mid-1860s they constructed a cottage in St Mary Street, where ten children were raised and in which Sarah lived for over 40 years. Beverley Randell's book about her great-grandparents and their children is 'an account of the experiences of a pioneer couple and forty descendants whose lives were, in so many ways, typical of the first two generations of the Wellington-born'. Whil e not a history of Thorndon, the family's lif e parallels events in the community, some of which have been woven into the story, giving a perspective not often found in family histories.

Family histories have become a large component of New Zealand book publishing in the last decade. About 200 of varying style and competency appear each year. A Crowded Thorndon Cottage has to be one of the signpost publications of its type. Professionally produced with attractive type and decoration, illustrated by photographs and facsimiles on almost every opening, this one is very appealing.

Its readable style reflects the author's enthusiasm for drawing together family details from a wide range of sources, which are outl ined in a three-page section entit led 'Books and Archives Consulted'. For the less experienced writer, this history shows how wide research and analysis of many sources can not only record the obvious facts about a family, but also put it in the context of its community and society. Written sources back up or clarify family memory.

Oral sources feature strongly in this family. How fortunate that one generation spoke to the next, and someone recorded what was

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said. A large range of family photographs has been used with useful captions to good effect. The photograph on page 18 seems to be incorrectly identified, being attributed to a period 50 years earlier than the dress style suggests.

Reviewing this book for an archives journal requires one further comment, about the use of archival sources. Like so many families, this one has a variety of records spread amongst its members. We are dependent on their ongoing concern for the protection of these items, whose number increases with each generation. One of the major issues facing the family history and archives world in the future wil l be how to preserve this huge resource. Space in archives is both limited and costly.

Bruce Ralston Wellington

W. J.Gardner. A Pastoral Kingdom Divided: Cheviot, 18894894. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 1992.248pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-90891-234-X.

Some historians peak early and spend the rest of their career in a long genteel decline. Others are like a good Bordeaux and just keep getting better. Jim Gardner is in the latter category, although he would probably prefer to be compared with a slow bowler who improved with age and experience. More than 25 years of inquiry and consideration have led him to produce a truly excellent book on a topic he began investigating in the early 1960s. r

The book is so satisfying because Jim Gardner is as good a detective as Jim Taggart. Every conceivable kind of legal, banking and official record has been investigated to unravel a mystery with more twists and turns than one finds in a best-selling thriller. As a younger historian Jim used to worry about his style, but his anxiety is quite unfounded. This story has been enlivened with a gentle wit and is extremely well told; A Pastoral Kingdom Divided is a great read.

Mr Local History (or is it regional history?), as he is affectionately known in the profession, has always been renowned for his impeccable scholarship, but this time he has even eclipsed the high standards of earlier books like The Amuri. By worrying at the problem of what really happened over the purchase of the 84,000-acre Cheviot estate

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(taken under the 1891 Land and Income Assessment Act rather than the 1892 Land Act or Land for Settlements Act, as many people still seem to imagine), he has been able to demonstrate beyond any semblance of reasonable doubt that Cheviot was unlocked from the inside rather than by government initiative. Indeed the trustees and one F.H.D. (Harry) Bell fared much better in the monetary sense than the government, which paid an inflated price for this 'pastoral kingdom'. Yet whereas the younger Gardner tended to stress that the purchase was a 'bad deal', the more mature historian concedes that the Liberal government made the most of the political opportunity presented by Cheviot. The possibility of such a purchase at such a time (late 1892/ early 1893) was rather like one of those extraordinary moments in a test match when a freak delivery or an impossible catch turns the result. It could not have come at a more opportune political time, even if the government was in no real position to afford such an extravagant purchase. Once committed to the purchase the die was cast, and the Liberals were forced back to borrowing and pulled towards the rural right of their support base. Delivery on this one radical promise meant that the heady left-leaning experiments of the urban radicals could be basically curtailed, and the Liberals became the champions of small rural property owners and would-be property owners. This argument is convincing, and so too is the suggestion that the role of the state was changed irrevocably after Cheviot, and that the power of Cabinet was increased substantially. I also find littl e to dispute over Gardner's portrayal of John McKenzie as a sensible and astute politician who saw a chance and took it, even if he tended to follow rather than lead the master bureaucrat J .W.A. Marchant, Land Commissioner for Canterbury. Gardner.must also be applauded for paying more attention than most New Zealand historians to the influential role played by ideas (particularly those of J .S. Mill ) and idealisms in creating a climate favourable to such governmental action.

Even- though some thesis work at Otago is suggesting that several great estates other than Cheviot were also unlocked from the inside, I do think that he overdoes Cheviot a little. Many other factors which are covered in my forthcoming book on McKenzie were also involved in explaining the progress of the Liberal government's land reform programme, and its swing to the right. These include the role of North Island freehold MPs within the Liberal Party, the purchase of Maori land to. supplement the opening up of other Cheviots, the introduction of compulsory repurchase in 1894, the economic upturn from 1896, and the hopes and expectations of British migrants. This

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is not to say that Cheviot was not very important, but rather that it was only part of the story of the evolution and implementation of the Liberal land reform programme. I am also not convinced that the subsequent development of the settlement provides any kind of a corrective to Fairburn's 'atomisation' theory, because it came too late in the day to have much bearing on Miles' arguments. Furthermore, it could be argued that the government undertook such an expensive purchase precisely because it wanted to head off the threat of'frontier chaos' and revitalise a natural abundance that had been stifled by monopolistic ownership of New Zealand's most precious resource. On the other hand, I can only agree that Miles has too readily dismissed McKenzie's views as a 'blend of Utopianism and Arcadianism'. I must also express surprise that Jim seems somewhat bemused that the Liberals came to favour men with modest capital resources, that is 'half-crown capitalists', rather than the penniless and penny capitalists.

These opinions are, however, only matters of subject ive interpretation, and in no way detract from the excellence of this highly focused study. Congratulations must also go to Bridget Williams for the attractive production, which used photographs, cartoons and maps in a most effective manner. She has provided the base from which this master historian has been able to tell his intriguing tale and correct a whole series of misconceptions which have held sway in New Zealand historiography for too long.

Perhaps the most important thing about this book, however, as Brad Patterson and other reviewers have remarked, is that it is a timely reminder of the dangers of substituting speculation for solid research in the primary sources. It is so easy to take things for granted and to accept the established historiographical view. Yet so often when one goes and looks more closely it is very obvious that received wisdom is misleading or downright wrong. Gardner's masterful book provides an example that deserves to be followed by all historical practitioners, whether holders of academic posts, contract historians, students or so-called amateurs. We must not stop questioning just because something has been published on a particular subject, and we must always be prepared to revisit even apparently well-worked areas of our history. If we do this with the care and skill of Jim Gardner, our rural history in particular wil l be considerably enriched, and so too wil l our general history. Our pioneer local historian has produced his equivalent of the perfect ball with this excellent book.

Tom Brooking University of Otago

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Oral History In New Zealand. Volume Five. Wellington: National Oral History Association of New Zealand, 1993; 36pp. $15 from the Secretary, NOHANZ, Box 3819, Wellington:

The 1993 Oral History in New Zealand looks quite different from the four earlier issues. Instead of the eye-catchingly glaring, shiny yellow of previous covers, the designers have opted for an elegant matt black and off-white, featuring a stunning 1926 photo of Anna Pavlova with a flock of New Zealand sheep. Inside too, the layout has become more sophisticated, with a three-column format and considerable care given to headings. The impression is svelte, spare.

Editorial policy is also minimalist. Gone are the customary lists of NOHANZ officers, and even the editor's identity is left a mystery. (Pavlova's would have been too, except for a loose errata sheet identifying the photo and acknowledging the Alexander Turnbull Library for permitting its reproduction.) I should have liked more information about some of the writers and, especially, the dates ,of what were presumably oral presentations. For example, in. her article on the Hobson Wharf Maritime Museum, Gillian Chaplin notes (p.9) that in two weeks the Museum would announce the building of a scow: two weeks from when? Jan Bolwell (p. 17) dates the death of one of her interviewees as1 'about three weeks ago'—same question. If the volume is to become a resource in the long term, as it deserves to, more precision is required. Where footnotes are used (pp.6 and 34), these are not separated clearly enough from the text.

The content of this volume generally follows the tried and true formula of previous years, a varied mix which has proved of interest to the growing body of people engaged in oral history of one kind or another. It includes fairly brief articles about particular aspects or uses of oral history, a longer description of a specific project, and some interviews, or in this case, a panel discussion from the 1992 NOHANZ conference. Among this year's six articles—the volume is rather slimmer than in the past—there is also a more academic piece on the problems of feminist oral history methodology. As usual, there is a Maori oral history component, one on the reliability or otherwise of recorded memory, and one on recording women's lives. This comment is not intended äs criticism, nor should it suggest any Jack of imagination on the part of contributors. As the annual productions build up, it wil l be increasingly valuable to be able to follow through developing views on such pivotal themes.

This issue begins with a timely piece by Charles Royal, a researcher in Maori tribal history and traditions, elaborating the point that

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hapu are fast regaining their past prominence as the 'building blocks' of iwi , and outlining the needs for future hapu development. Royal argues convincingly that the diminishing number of kaum�tu � knowledgeable in hapu oral tradition makes it urgent to access, their knowledge through interview, to gain an Overall assessment of the state of the hapu intellectual estate' as a base for future planning.

There are examples of oral history in an institutional framework. Gillian Chaplin, Manager of Public Programmes at the Hobson Wharf Maritime Museum in Auckland, describes how an oral component can enhance the public's experience of an innovative specialised museum. In a welcome example of cróss-Tasman co-operation, Ronda Jamieson, Co-ordinator of the Battye Library Oral History Unit in Western Australia and Chair of the Australian Oral History Association, outlines the collection policy of the Library, some of the work of the Oral History Unit, and its rationale for transcribing interviews.

I was fascinated by Jan Bolwell's account of her oral history project on New Zealand dance partly because, like the writer, I come from Dunedin and know, or know of, most of the people she mentions,.but also because it is such a good example of insider interviewing. Jan Bolwell is an expert practitioner and teacher of dance—she is Senior Tutor in Dance at the Wellington College of Education—and brings-her own special knowledge and understanding to interviews with other experts. The cover photo, which relates to this article, makes me regret that there is not more illustrative material in the volume.

The 1992 NOHANZ conference panel discussion on 'locating memory' is reproduced here. In a well co-ordinated presentation panellists considered psychological aspects of memory (John McDowell, Lecturer in Psychology at Victoria University), means of stimulating interviewees' memories (Alwyn Owen, broadcaster), gender and memory (Caroline Daley of the History Department at Victoria University), and Maori language and oral history (Piripi Walker, teacher and broadcaster).

The final article in the collection, on the dilemmas of feminist oral history, is a useful counterpoint to the panel discussion, treating in more academic format some of the same issues. Since Kay Edwards emphasises that the position of a researcher, which cannot be objective, should be acknowledged, it is ironic that we are not told where she herself comes from. As a feminist historian, and supervisor of several university theses for which oral evidence was crucial, I found her work especially interesting. She explores two of the principal problems in developing a feminist oral history methodology: the general mastery of words and meaning, and the more specific issues of power inherent

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in the questions. As she puts it, 'Who is to be the "master"—and of whose words?' She thus picks up on a theme, the dilemmas inherent in feminist academics' use ;of oral history, broached in 1988 by Margaret Avery of the History Department at Waikato University in the first volume of Oral History in New Zealand. -More broadly, she also offers a warning to all interviewers, that 'power and mastery lie in the questions', that we must be honest in acknowledging our own role in the interaction of interview if we are to empower the researched to tell their story.

Dorothy Page History Department University of Otago

Tony Nightingale. White Collars and Gumboots: A History of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1892-¡992. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press/MAF/Historical Branch, 1992. 277pp. $39.95

ISBN 086469-168-8:

DavidMcGill . The Guardians at the Gate: The History of the New Zealand Customs Department. Wellington: Silver Owl Press/Customs, 1991. 207pp. $49.95 and $39.95. ISBN 0-9597979-0-4. Few countries'; in the .world have had their modern history recorded in as much detail and with such assiduity as New Zealand has. Our national lif e has'been thoroughly catalogued by a number of academic histor ians, and most of our c i t ies, regions, and government departments, and many private corporations; have contrived to have their past researched and then writ ten in narrat ive form for publication.

And it has been just as'well, because in the last ten years, dramatic changes to the political and economic structure of our society have led to a great deal of discontinuity. Old companies have been absorbed by new conglomerates and their familiar names extinguished. Some government departments have been disassembled and the components used to construct new administrative edifices.

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One of these departments, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, for more than a century had a role crit ical to our polit ical and economic life. Its advisory and regulatory arms nurtured and protected industries crucial to our national well-being.

A t one time, because of the power and economic influence of the farming industry, the post of Minister of Agriculture was seen as a powerful but dangerous role in government. A famous cartoon by the late Gordon Minhinnick showed politicians sliding down under the caucus table as a Prime Minister, announcing his Cabinet, was about to name the Minister of Agriculture. A journalist once said to me that we should have seen the leadership ability and political acumen of Keith Holyoake earlier than we did because he had been so successful in this role. With the departments vastly changed, White Collars and Gumboots: A History of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1892º992, by Tony Nightingale (Dunmore Press), was a welcome and timely book when it was published in MAF's centenary year.

About the same time, David McGill ' s The Guardians at the Gate: The History of the New Zealand Customs Department appeared. Customs has not suffered quite the same administrative torture as agriculture, but it has had to keep at the front of change because of the cosmic difference in the styles and frequency of international travel and communications over the past 20 years.

I have a problem with both titles. They have an old-fashioned tone to them, redolent of some regional histories of years ago when more or less meaningless noises were made at the top to introduce you to the subtitles, which revealed what the books were really about.

Some of us used to make jokes about what we would call a History of New Zealand, which is what Keith Sinclair and others sensibly titled their books. 'They Waded Ashore at Kororareka', 'Land for Beads and Blankets' and 'The Natives Fought Back' were among the possibilities. 'The Guardians at the Gate' isn't too bad, but 'White Collars and Gumboots' is very definitely in the meaningless noise category.

But having got past the collars and boots, and ignoring an equally old-fashioned design and printing job. I must say I enjoyed the story immensely. The text successfully.marries the department to farming, and seems to me to have a great respect for facts and for highlighting the people whose personalities dominated the organisation at various times throughout its history.

I knew many of the men in the post-war period and as I read, I contrasted their deep-dyed knowledge of their business, their rough humour, their common sense and their warm humanity with the

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sleek, often aloof, status-conscious, highly paid administrators and officials of today's corporations and SOEs. The achievements of Bruce Levy, the Cockaynes, Thomas Kirk , John Filmer, Percy McMeekan and others were good enough to give them international respect among the scientific community.

Nightingale tells the story the way it happened—how the ministers and their officials responded with energy and imagination to the needs of the .industry in a very practical and sensible way; and how, when confronted by apparently insoluble problems, they handed these over to specialist teams which they gave the authority and as many resources as possible to find a way out.

McGil l is a pro and it shows in his book, which is full of good stories he wraps around the information. The design and printing of this book is superior, although the pictures could have been much better presented, and it's a cracking good read. I guess the detective thriller possibilities of some areas of Customs work make it easier to dramatise the narrative, but McGil l does this better than most anyway.

I'm not putting down Nightingale's book when I say that the difference between the two is that White Collars ana Gumboots is a book of interest to all farmers, whereas almost anyone would enjoy reading The Guardians at the Gate. The difference is not just the professional ability of McGil l to tell a good yarn, but also the nature of the subject matter. One is about agricultural advice and regulation, and the other about sleuthing and crime.

Both of them wil l remain on my reference shelves as guidance now that I'm starting work on a couple of historical books myself.

Gordon McLauchlan Auckland.

IanMcGibbon. New; Zealand and the Korean War, Volume 1, Politics and Diplomacy. Auckland: Oxford University Press, in association with the Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1992. xiv, 468pp. $69.95. ISBN 0-19-558253-5.

A t no stage of the Korean War, whether during its origins, onset, conduct or aftermath, did New Zealand attempt to replicate the role of a 'small power rampant'—the expressive phrase by which the late F.L.W. Wood described the bravura performance of its delegation at

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San Francisco in 1945 (and which is just as appositely applied to New Zealand's pre-war policy on appeasement and its recent policy on nuclear weapons). Its government preferred it to be a small power reticent, a small power reactive. None of the climacterics of the conflict—the North Korean attack, its repulsion followed by pursuit, China's intervention, the branding of aggression, the armistice—spurred Wellington to formulate, much less to advocate, distinctive proposals. That the Americans, being '"in the thick of it" and ... "really conducting the war ... should know best'", was the attitude of Prime Minister Sidney Holland; as for the British, they 'had "been in the diplomacy business for a long time'" (p.260); a small power diffident.

New Zealand's diffidence was not really commensurate with its war effort. True, its artillery regiment and transport company ('Kayforce'), along with the ship's company for two frigates, amounted to no more than around 1400 men; and of the some 4000 New Zealanders who served, only two were taken prisoner and 33 killed ('much lower than the road toll in New Zealand' [p.301]). Yet its commitment withstands comparison. 'In contrast to nearly forty other countries ... New Zealand had backed its support for United Nations intervention ... with immediate practical steps, and had complied with every request made of it. Although numerically small, its Korean effort represented ... a per capita contribution second only to that of the United States itself. Moreover, ... New Zealand had even gone further than the United States in introducing compulsory military training' (p.222). The reasons for its diffidence lie elsewhere—partly in a deficiency of information ('New Zealand lacked the wide range of sources needed for independent judgment in diplomatic matters' [p.245]), mostly in its readiness to assent to any means or outcome acceptable to both the United Kingdom and the United States. ('As ever, agreement between these two powers was the overriding priority', [p.260])

Al l the same, so low a profile leaves littl e upon which an historian of New Zealand's 'politics and diplomacy' throughout the Korean War can focus. (The military role wil l be examined, presumably in minute detail, in a separate volume.) Ian McGibbon solves this problem by devoting much of his narrative to the grand strategy of the major protagonists on both sides. Thus, one chapter reviews the still debated issue of who started the wat; another speculates on the reasons for China's intervention; still another explores the UN Command's decision to recross the 38th parallel and the ensuing dismissal of its commander.

These exercises are far from rote or otiose ones. The story of the Korean War continues to unfold, as new evidence from participants and archives becomes available and fresh interpretations (notably by

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the American scholar Bruce Cumings) appear; McGibbon provides a valuable synthesis of both these and more familiar sources. Moreover, the Korean crisis itself is unresolved. 'Korea in 1950 was one of the world's most intractable problems, a situation so volatile that it threatened to erupt into open conflict at any moment' (p. 14); nearly half a century later, Korea remains one of the world's most intractable problems; and if prolonged armistice has rendered it less volatile, the prospect of future combatants having nuclear arms makes that still divided country more dangerous than ever to international peace and security. For this reason, careful attention to this exemplary study wil l repay policy-makers in Washington, Tokyo, Beijing and (i f Russia retains'any capacity to act beyond its former borders) Moscow, as well as those mainly interested in New Zealand's foreign policy.

The outbreak of hostilities came as an. unwelcome surprise, an irritating, distraction from the Al l Blacks test match in which the nation was—typically—engrossed. (McGibbon's chapter on 'The Home Front'—the New Zealand people at 'police action', so to speak—is one of his best.) But involvement in the war was for the great majority of New Zealanders a source of satisfaction—and not only for what it did for the price of their wool ('"the first munition of war'", in Holland's ingenious phrase, "'because before any soldier can put a finger to a trigger he must first get into uniform'" [p.132]) and, hence, for their prosperity. Participation in the Korean War admirably met New Zealand's desiderata in world affairs: 'its traditional belief in collective security, its endorsement of the ideal represented by the United Nations, its almost reflex support for Britain, and its long-standing aspiration for a closer defence relationship with the United States' (p .85). But the wartime experience soon drifted out of consciousness. I f Holland's characterisation—'"costly, futile and pointless'"—was ill-considered, his self-styled '"slip"' (p.337) nonetheless foretold its relegation to a 'forgotten war, sandwiched between the all-encompassing Second World War and the much more divisive Vietnam War' (p .367).

T he Korean War, for all its lack of 'any grip on the public imagination' (p .366), is in retrospect a turning point, a definer of the nation's destiny. Before Korea, New Zealand's was not yet 'a. destiny apart'. Its tradit ional defender, seemingly forgiven for defaulting in 1942, continued to be drawn upon for help of every kind. (New Zealand's Chief of Naval Staff at the outbreak of the war was an RN commodore; and when Kayforce dropped below strength, the shortfall was eliminated by an infusion of British officers and other ranks.) New Zealanders still thought of their nation, their Prime Minister could proudly explain at a Commonwealth conference

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in 1949, as '"an extension of the homeland'" (p. 15). Al l else then fell into place: '"We wil l help our Mother-country to the limi t of our capacity in every way'" (p.28).

After Korea, New Zealand was allied with the United States. What had steeled its government to incur the displeasure of Prime Minister Churchill himself for breaching unity by forming ANZUS without Britain? Not a convenient command structure in Korea: New Zealand was content within the First (Commonwealth) Division, United Nations— even if Holland would have preferred an 'Empire Division'. Not the Soviet threat, imperilling as that appeared. It was fear of the old enemy, which the United States now wanted to befriend—and rearm. '"We need the pact'", a Labour MP asserted in 1953, '"in case Japan becomes strong'" (p.289).

Around this leitmotiv—'The Changing of the Guardians'—intriguing sub-themes resonate. A Canadian ear catches at once that of New Zealand's 'fear of domination by Australia' (p.32). Alister Mcintosh, long-term Secretary of External Affairs, disinclined '"to work in double harness with the Australians'", commended behaving towards them '"as the Canadians did to the United States'" (p.33)-—presumably during one of their own small-power rampages, such as he had witnessed while attending the University of Michigan in 1932-33. Deferring to the senior partners was an easy way for New Zealand to avoid being mistaken for the pushy junior partner. So, when General MacArthur advanced to the Yalu, 'New Zealand's [muted] action ... contrasted sharply with that of its more assertive neighbour' (p. 183); when 'the Americans ... failed to consult their coalition partners ... New Zealand did not evince any concern. ... This contrasted with the reaction across the Tasman' (p.248); and when 'Australia ... advanced suggestions for breaking the deadlock [at the armistice talks], New Zealand made no effort' (p.272).

There was fear, and loathing, too: members of the small and tightly-knit policy community, like the crew of a midget submarine too long on station, seethed with personal resentments. "'[D]islik e of Australians ..: pervaded Wellington'" (p.32). Mcintosh, described as 'normally undemonstrative' (p.349), seems particularly down on the chers collègues, whether of other countries or his own: he finds the Australian foreign minister '"an absolute littl e tick'" and an "'exhibitionist'" (p.421, note 44); members of the US delegation at Geneva are variously '"not bright" ', ' " fanat ic"' and '"stupid"' ( p . 3 4 9 ). Leslie Munro, the newspaperman who in 1952 succeeded the tedoubtable Carl Berendsen as ambassador at Washington and permanent delegate at the UN, is a

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'"pain in the neck and a dangerous risk ... interested only in ... his own glorification"' (p .274); while '"that ass'" Holland is criticised for '"disheartening shilly shallying'" (p.95), '"exultation with his own importance"', and making '"damn-fool statements'" (p.330). Even Berendsen, who usually ran on all of his twelve cylinders while most New Zealanders made do with four, is faulted—justly—for his '"exalted crusading spirit'" and for having '"everything cut and dried'" (p.48). Berendsen's own dicta make Mcintosh's seem almost emollient: Krishna Menon is "'satanic'" (p.-106), Clement Attlee, '"rabbitty"' in appearance arid '"stupid in the extreme'" in his behaviour towards the Americans (p. 183), MacArthur, '"the Worshipful Grand Master of the Order of Selfj-Admiration'" (p.234)—no unfair depiction of Berendsen himself, 'that great cold warrior' (p.366). who to his lasting credit denounced the Soviet leaders as '"international thugs and gangsters'" (p.27). .,..Obviously uninhibited, this official history is the best of its genre— handsomely produced and replete with maps, photographs, and political cartoons showing the style if not always the bite of the New Zealand-born David Low. The text, worthy of the author of Biue-u>ater Rationale, is (perspicuously composed, painstakingly researched in a full range of,..published and primary materials, and meticulously documented— although there is a mystifying footnote (p.402, note 15) referring to , the, 'destruction, in 1967, of the Army Headquarters' classified files relating to the Korean War': were these, like the files on New Zealand troops in the Boer War, destroyed by fire or, more sinisterly, deep-sixed,in the Wanganui?

f r

James Eayrs Toronto

Ö ß J ' .' '

hiv.

Iän'McGibbo n (editor). Undiplomatic Dialogue: Letters between Carl Berendsen and Allster Mcintosh 1943-52. Auckland: Auckland University Press in association with the Ministry óf'Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1993. 305pp. $29.95. ISBN 1-86940-095-X.

This is an important as well as a delightful book. It puts a human face on diplomacy, discussion of which is often confined to official despatches,

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bland political statements and drafts of agreements. Berendsen and Mcintosh were the founding fathers of New Zealand diplomacy in the world beyond the British Empire. Between them they spanned 40 years— Berendsen as Imperial Affairs Officer 1926-35, Head of the Prime Minister's Department 1935-43, High Commissioner in Canberra 1943-44, and Minister, later Ambassador, in Washington 1944-52; Mcintosh as Deputy-Secretary of the War Cabinet 1943-45, and first Permanent Head of the Department of External Affairs 1943-66, where he also doubled as Permanent Head of the Prime Minister's Department from 1945. These personal letters are a small selection from the Mcintosh archive in MoFAT and they are, in the worlds of Frank Corner's forward, 'breathtakingly candid'. As well as providing essential material for the study of history, Corner suggests they could 'catch the imagination of a novelist, playwright, even a poet'. Sixteen years separated the two correspondents in age. In 1943 Berendsen was 52 and Mcintosh 36. Mcintosh did not address Berendsen as Carl until 1950. The letters must have provided a kind of release from the frustrations of being policy advisers, and there was an assumption that they would be destroyed. In 1950 Berendsen wrote, 'it is a pity your letters could not have been kept, lik e State documents, to be published say in half a century for the edification of those ... who may then be inhabiting the globe'. Fortunately, Mcintosh kept carbon copies of his corpus of indiscretions, and now the Ministry has supported their publication as part of its jubilee celebrations.

The book is divided into six chronological chapters, each with a dominant theme: 1943-44, trans-Tasman relations; 1944-45, planning for the UN; 1945-47, adjusting.to peace; 1947-49, the Cold War; 1949-50, the Communist challenge in Asia; 1951-52, the Japanese peace settlement and ANZUS. As well as these themes, many others recur throughout the book. Four may be selected for comment.

Firstly, there is uninhibited material on personalities. The contrast between the two writers themselves comes out vividly . Berendsen, the moralist, sees issues in black and white, becomes increasingly dogmatic and out of tune with Wellington on the Cold War, more and more crotchety about his personal grievances. Mcintosh, the pragmatist, is calmer, more serene, less in the public eye, and above all, cynical. Two examples may be cited. In September 1947 he writes: 'Quite frankly I don't think the peace of the present world is worth preserving, but, at the same time, I realize that a state of war is worse and that does not take one very far.' And in 1949, when the Department had indulged in some tokenism to get a Maori and a woman on to the UN delegation, he said the ideal would be to find 'a Catholic Maori woman

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Archifacts

member of the Labour Party, fairly high in rank, prominent in Repertory work and having some bias on the Jewish question'. Contrasts are also drawn between Prime Ministers. Peter Fraser's conscientious attention to diplomatic cables and his search for a moral stance on issues excited admiration. Sid Holland so disappointed Mcintosh' that he could not commit himselftö paper, though he judged the snap élection campaign of 1951 as 'a l i t t l e cheap and undignified'. There are highly complimentary remarks from both about Frank Corner, the first young official to specialise in external affairs, and ominous suspicions, even dislike, of Dr Bil l Sutch, who headed the New York office in the late 1940s. ' The second major area of interest concerns New Zealand's relations

with its major all ies. Most space is devoted to Australia, about which Mcintosh maintains an exasperated detachment—� view which Berendsen eventually adopts. From the Canberra Pact of 1944 (which the official secretary at the. British High Commission'in Wellington dubbed the 'Anzaxis'), Dr Evatt attempted ¢ major role for Australia in UN and Pacific affairs and even suggested joint Anzac endeavours. Mcintosh and Berendsen became increasingly irritated by these moves. By .1950 Berendsen had decided Australians 'are by nature or upbringing, or possibly both, impossible people'. But there were also strictures on the British for their recognition of 'Red China' and their attitudes to the Korean War and to Anzus. On the United States the two writers differed. Berendsen soon adopted the US position in the Cold War, while Mcintosh was more cautious about the Americans.

The third matter covered by the letters is the New Zealand stance on the great issues of the day—the postwar Pacific, the UN, and, especially, the Cold War. By the time of the Truman Doctrine in 1947 Berendsen could 'see no hope of avoiding ultimate subordination to the communist way of lif e or a conflict except the course the Americans are taking now'. He was shocked that Mcintosh remained more impartial, could still see something for the Russian viewpoint and hankered after a 'middle way'. To Berendsen the Cold War was a conflict between good and evil, freedom and totalitarianism. By 1948 and the Czech coup, Mcintosh could admit this was one up for Berendsen, but he was perplexed that Franco's Spain became eligible for Marshall Aid.

The fourth and most significant theme which comes through is their philosophy of New Zealand diplomacy. In his early days in Canberra in 1943 Berendsenwrote: 'we shall have to fight pretty hard to maintain a voice in the world .... We have got something of value to say and in my opinion it should be said, and .we should have an eye an ear and a voice

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Book Reviews

... wherever world events are being settled.' In 1950, Mcintosh characterized that voice as 'that of a modest and moderate collaboration, not necessarily taking any initiative, but throwing in our support in accordance with the limitations of our resources and trying always to come down on the side of common sense and reasonableness'.

These letters have been edited in exemplary fashion by Ian McGibbon, our foremost historian of defence and foreign affairs. His introduction outlines the formation of the Department and summarises the lives of Berendsen and Mcintosh. He provides 120 potted biographies of other personalities mentioned in the letters. His annotations at the end of each letter are unobtrusive and informative. My only complaint is that, although he gives fil e references in the Mcintosh Papers to several documents referred to in footnotes, he does not give these references for the letters themselves. In all, the book provides thoroughly rewarding reading and may be taken as an hors d'oeuvre for the rich feast laid out in the rest of the Mcintosh archives. May we hope for many further volumes to come.

W. David Mclntyre University of Canterbury

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Alexander Turnbul l Librar y Wellington

Accessions July-December J 9 93

T he following list is a selection only of the 188 accessions received in the second half of 1993. .

Accessions of further papers to existing col lect ions have not, generally, been l isted. Music manuscripts and archives accessions are published separately in Crescendo.

A N D E R S ON FAMILY . Diaries. 1878 -1879. 3 volumes. [Contain information on

Wellington political, social and domestic life]

ANDREW, T H O M A S. Letters from Andrew and from Will ia m Smyth to their families. 1863, 1908.; 1 folder. [Includes descriptions of travel to New Zealand, and the Otago goldfields]

A N D R E W S, E R N ST STANHOPE. Papers relating to his career in film-making and

teaching. 1942-1992. 30cm.

ATK INSON FAMILY . Papers. 1873-1979. 50cm.

B A S S E T T, M ICHAEL . Caucus and Cabinet notes. 1972-1990. 36 microfilm reels.

Restricted.

B A T I S T I C H , AMELIA . Letters from Richard Sharell. 1959-1985. 1 folder.

BEAUCHAMP, H A R O LD ( S I R ). Letter from Katherine Mansfield. 6 March 1916. 1

folder (2 leaves).

BLANKLEY , HENRY. Letters to his brother. 1854.1 folder (2 letters). [Includes mention

of his military activities in New Zealand]

B U R N E T T, C H A R L ES F. Diary kept while working as a Y M C A field secretary. 1941-

1942. 1 folder.

C A M P A I G N F OR B E T T ER G O V E R N M E NT T R U S T. Records. 1 9 9 3. 3 0 c m.

CAVE, RODERICK. Papers relating to The Private Press and to John Buckland Wright.

1970-1985. 1.4m.

C O L E N S O, WILL IAM . Correspondence with James Busby. 1839 .1 folder. [Contains a

letter from Busby and Colenso's draft reply]

C O M M U N I C A T I O N A N D E N E R GY W O R K E RS U N I O N. Records of the New Zealand Electrical, Electronics and Related Trades Industrial Union of Workers. 1943-1992. 4.7m.

C O N G R E V E, W I L L I A M A U G U S T US ( S I R ). Documents relating to Mary Ashton

Smith. 1852. 1 folder.

D A V I E S , S O N JA M A R G A R ET LOVEDAY . Papers. 1 9 6 2 - 1 9 9 3. 8m.

D E W E, C O L L E EN E L I Z A B E T H . Papers. 1 9 7 5 - 1 9 9 3. 20cm.

F R A S E R, KIN N EAR G E O R G E. Papers, ca. 1927-1986. 30cm.

HILL , WILL IA M H O W A R D. A retrospect, 77 years ago, of the meeting of King Te

Rata Koroki at Waihi-Taupo Moana. 1933. 1 folder.

H I S T O RY OF PAI -MARIRI - IS M A N D HAU-HAU- ISM . 1926. 1 folder. [Author unknown]

H O B S O N, ELIZA . Address received from citizens of Auckland on the occasion of her departure from New Zealand. 5 June 1843. 1 folder.

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Accessions

HOLM , ANNIE . Diary of events at St Mark's Church School. 1917-1952. 1 volume, 1 folder.

I N S U R A N CE C O U N C IL OF N EW ZEAL A N D. Further records. 1 8 5 5 - 1 9 8 0 . 4 1 m.

J A M ES S M I T H LTD . Records. 1 8 6 7 - 1 9 8 5. 3m.

K A P I T I P O E MS C O L L E C T I V E. Records. 1 9 8 3 - 1 9 9 2. 15cm.

L A R N A C H FAMILY . Papers. 1877-1898. 2 folders.

MAIR , GILBERT. Papers relating to the New Zealand Wars. 1863-1913. 1 folder.

M A O R I W O M E N 'S W E L F A RE L E A G U E. Further records. 1950-1993.10m. Restricted.

MCLEAN , JOHN C H A M B E R S. Ornithology papers. 1881-1916. 22cm.

N A T I O N A L U N I O N OF RA ILWA Y W O R K E R S. Records. 1 8 9 0 - 1 9 8 6. 14m.

Restricted.

NEALE, HENRY ERNEST. Reminiscences and fishing stories/Red Governor. 1880-ca

1962. 5 folders.

N EW ZEALAN D FREE LANCE. Further papers. 1950-1960.35cm. [Mainly concerning

the women's section of the paper]

N EW Z E A L A N D P O ST O F F I CE E N G I N E E R S' A S S O C I A T I O N. Records. 1914-1985. 40cm.

N EW Z E A L A N D P O T T E RY A N D C E R A M I CS R E S E A R CH A S S O C I A T I O N.

Records. 1 9 4 5 - 1 9 8 3. 60cm.

N EW Z E A L A N D W A R A M P U T E ES A S S O C I A T I O N. Records. 1 9 3 9 - 1 9 9 2.

60cm.

P E A CE M O V E M E N T A Ó T E A R O A. Correspondence. 1 9 8 2 - 1 9 8 9. 20cm.

P E T E R 'S M T R U A P E HU PRIVATE H O T E L. Visitors' book. 1897 -1912. 1 volume.

P O L Y N E S I AN S O C I E T Y. Further records. 1 9 5 6 - 1 9 9 0. 3.3m. Restricted.

RANDALL , E.F Letters to his sister. 1859-1864. 2 folders. [Describe his experiences in

the militia, and in other.work around New Zealand]

SHELTON, N O R M A N LESLIE. Papers. 1937-1979. 35cm.

S M I T H , JOSEPH G E O R G E. Shipboard diary. 1890-1891. 1 volume.

S O R O P T I M I ST I N T E R N A T I O N A L OF W E L L I N G T O N . Records. 1 9 3 9 - 1 9 9 0.

70cm.

S T O K E S, B E R T R AM OLIVER. War diaries. 1917-1918. 6 folders.

TAYLOR , R I C H A R D. Report and copy book/with entries by Richard Taylor and

Octavius Hadfield. 1856-1871. 1 volume.

T E WATEN Å. Address to the Governor. 17 Apri l 1849. 1 folder (2 leaves).

WAITANG I FOUNDATION. Bringing the Records Home Fellowship papers / Waitangi

Foundation and British Counci l. 1893-1919, 1993. 2 folders.

WEEKS, E R N E ST R. Testimonials relating to his 'Uncle Ernest' radio show. 1926-

1928. 1 folder, 1 volume.

W E L L I N G T O N C H I N E SE C O M M U N I T Y E L E C T I ON S E M I N A R

O R G A N I S I NG C O M M I T T E E. Records. 1 9 9 3. 7 folders.

W E L L I N G T O N R O T A RY C L U B . Records. 1 9 2 0 - 1 9 9 0. 4m.

W E N T W O R T H - J O N ES D E ED F OR T H E P U R C H A SE OF T H E S O U TH

I S L A N D . 15 February 1840. 2 vellum sheets.

W I N T E R, D O N A L D J A C K. Papers relating to his war service. 1933-1956. 13cm.

Y E A T M A N , A N N A . Papers concerning the Women's Studies Department at the

University, of Watkato. 1987-1993. 20cm.

Y W C A . Furtherrecords. 1899-1991. 23m.

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National Archives, Wellington

Accessions December 1993-June 1994

A U S T I N , HON M A R G A R ET M R Political papers, 1984-92: 2.6m. Restricted.

B A N K S , HON JOHN MP. Political papers, 1987-93. 2m. Restricted.

B IRCH, HON BIL L MP. Political papers, 1993. 3.6m. Restricted.

C A R T E R, JOHN.MP. Political papers, 1990-92. 10m. Restricted.

C L A R K , RT HON HELEN MP. Political papers, 1970-90. 6.6m. Restricted.

C L A R K , RT HON HELEN MP. Political papers, 1983-90. 71.6m: Restricted.

C L A R K , RT HON HELEN MP. Political papers, 1987-91. 6.6m. Restricted.

C L A R K , RT HON HELEN MP. Political papers, 1989. 6.6m. Restricted.

C L A R K , RT HON HELEN MP. Political papers, 1990-92 ,1 .6m. Restricted.

C O L L I N G W O O D, GA IL . Letter from the Ministry of Womens' Affairs, 1985. 1 leaf.

C O M M E R CE C O M M I S S I O N. Multipl e number subject files, 1932-81. 20m. Restricted.

C O M M E R CE C O M M I S S I O N. Trade practice files, 1959-91. 0.3m. Restricted.

C O M M E R C E, M I N I S T RY OF. Motor Spirits Licensing Authority, 1924-88. 12m.

Restricted.

C O M M E R C E, M I N I S T RY OF. Water, power and electric line licences, 1886-1986.

0 .7m,

C O M M E R C E, M I N I S T RY OF. E N E R GY & R E S O U R C ES D IV IS ION . Electricity

Supply Authority files, n.d. 1.3m.

C O M M E R C E, M I N I S T RY OF. NZ. PATENT OFFICE. Patent specifications, 1891-1945. lm.

C O M M E R C E, M I N I S T RY OF. NZ PATENT OFFICE. Patent specifications, 1933-41, c.50m.

D A C C O M M U N I C A T E NZ. Negatives and transparencies, c. 1975-92. c . 30 ,000

negatives and transparencies. Restricted.

DEFENCE, M I N I S T RY OF. B A SE R E C O R D S. Microfiche of personal military files,

n.d. 0.2m. Restricted.

DEFENCE, M I N I S T RY OF. Registered files, 1914-19. aim.

DEFENCE, M I N I S T RY OF. Speeches—Minister of Defence, 1964-73. 0.1m.

DOSLI. H E AD OFFICE, Electoral maps, c .380 maps.

DUNNE, HON PETER MP. Political papers, 1990-93. 8.6m. Restricted.

DYER, M R R. Photographic negatives, Scott Base and Imperial Airways, c. 1 9 3 0 - 5 7 . 93

negatives.

FALLOON, HON JOHN MP. Political papers, 1982-93. 15.3m. Restricted.

GP PR INT LTD. Large mural (3 pieces).

HEALT H B O A R DS OF N EW ZEALAND . Multipl e number subject files, c .1983-90. - 45m. Restricted.

HEALTH , D E P A R T M E NT OF. H E AD OFFICE, R E G I O N AL A I R P O L L U T I ON

C O N T R OL B R A N C H E S. Multipl e number subject files, maps, plans, n.d.

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Accessions

H O U S I NG C O R P O R A T I O N, NAPIER. Valuation Field Sheets, n.d. 8.3m.

H O U S I NG C O R P O R A T I O N, N EW PLYMOUTH. Valuation Field Sheets, n.d. 7m.

H O U S I NG C O R P O R A T I O N, N EW PLYMOUTH. Multipl e number subject files,

1960-62. 4.6m.

I N L A N D R E V E N U E, D E P A R T M E NT OF. N A P I E R. Registers, 1867,-1992, 7m.

Restricted.

I N T E R N A L A F F A I R S, D E P A R T M E NT OF. D O C U M E N TS OF N A T I O N A L

IDENTITY . Register of Deaths of New Zealand Citizens in Australia, 1973-76.

0.6m.

I N T E R N A L A F F A I R S, D E P A R T M E NT OF. H I S T O R I C A L . B R A N C H. Various

records from the publication of Women Together, 1990-93. 5.7m.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, C H I EF E L E C T O R AL O F F I C E. Electoral Rol ls, 1993. 0.6m.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, C O R R E C T I O NS O P E R A T I O N S. Nap ier Pr ison

photographs, 1 8 6 2 - 1 9 8 7. 0 .6m. Restricted (copyr ight).

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, L A N D S & D E E D S. N EW P L Y M O U TH D I S T R I CT

O F F I C E. Company files, 1 9 7 7 - 9 3. 43 .6m.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, LA W L I B R A R Y . Papers of Commi t tee on Freedom of

• Information, 1 9 7 8 - 8 0. lm.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, LEVI N D I S T R I CT C O U R T. Sample case files, C iv i l ,

Cr iminal and miscel laneous appl icat ions, 1978. 0 .135m. Restricted.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, LEV I N D I S T R I CT C O U R T. Sample case files, C iv i l ,

Cr iminal and miscel laneous appl icat ions, 1979. 0 .135m. Restricted.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, L O W ER H Ü T T D I S T R I CT C O U R T. Cr iminal Record

Sheets, 1 9 8 0 - 8 6. 12.6m. Restricted.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, W E L L I N G T O N H I GH C O U R T. Law pract i t ioners'

files, Discharged Mortgages, Ac t i on files, 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 8 1. 30 .6m. Restricted.

J U S T I CE D E P A R T M E N T, W E L L I N G T O N H I G H C O U R T. P r o b a t e s,

Bankruptcies, Ac t ions and miscel laneous, 1 9 8 1 - 8 3. 44 .2m. Restricted.

L A B O U R , D E P A R T M E NT OF. H E AD OFFICE. Multipl e number subject files,' 1940-

91. 110m. Restricted.

LANDCORP, NAP IER D I S T R I CT OFFICE. Lease files, 1911-91, 36m. Restricted.

LANDCORP, NAPIER D I S T R I CT OFFICE. Lease files, 1890-1990. 57m: Restricted.

L A N G E , RT HON DAVI D MP. Political papers, 1981-93. 4 6 m. Restricted.

LEE, HON G R A E ME MP. Political papers, 1990-92. 1.3m. Restricted.'

MAF, H A S T I N G S. Drought files, 1989-90. 0.1m.

MAF , POLICY, Multipl e number subject files, 1950-92. 26.3m.

M A K A R A MODEL S C H O O L. Log books and minute books, 1874-1972. 0.6m.

M A R I T I M E S A F E TY A U T H O R I T Y OF N EW Z E A L A N D . Ear ly M a r i ne

Registers—Plan Registers, 1875 -1991. 2.2m.

M A R S H A L L , HON DENIS MP. Political papers, 1989-92. 5m. Restricted.

McLAY , HON R O G ER MP. Political papers, 1990-93. 6.3m. Restricted.

MFAT. DS IR maps/plans, 1931-88. 54 maps/plans,

MOIR , M A R G A R ET MP. Political papers, 1990-93. 0.3m. Restricted.

M O O R E, RT HON MIK E MP. Political papers, 1989-92. 3.6m. Restricted.

NEILSON, PETER MP. Political papers, n.d. 9m. Restricted.

N EW ZEALAN D DEFENCE F O R CE HQ. Army Book 16. Act ive Service Casualty

Form, 1914-19. 0.2m.

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Archifacts

N EW ZEALAN D DEFENCE F O R CE HQ. Files from Singapore units, 1974-89. 0.7m.

N EW ZEALAN D DEFENCE F O R CE HQ. Navy Ships' Logs, 1982-90. 4m.

N E W Z E A L A N D P O ST LTD , C O R P O R A TE H Q. Registered f i les—Circu lar

Memoranda, 1925-86. 2.3m.

N EW ZEALAN D P O ST LTD, C O R P O R A TE HQ. Multipl e number subject f i l e s-

Historical Post Offices, c .1894-1987. 0.1m.

N EW ZEALAN D RAIL , P A S S E N G ER B U S I N E SS GROUP. Multipl e number subject

files, 1960-91. 3.2m.

PETERS, IA N MP. Political papers, 1987-93. 1.6m. Restricted.

POLICE, GLENFIELD D I S T R I CT HQ. Ex Ministry of Transport film , c,1970s. lm.

POLICE, H A S T I N GS D I S T R I CT HQ. Incident and Offence files, photographic negatives, index, 1986-88. lm. Restricted.

POLICE, H Ü T T D I S T R I CT HQ. Administration files, 1953-92. 1.6m. Restricted.

POLICE, N A T I O N A L HQ. Personnel files, 1986. 7m. Restricted.

POLICE, N A T I O N A L HQ. Pol ice magazines, 0.1m. Restricted.

POLICE, N A T I O N A L HQ. Ten-One magazine, 1992-93. 0.1m.

POLICE, N A T I O N A L HQ. Ten-One magazine, 1993. 0.1m.

POLICE, NELSON D I S T R I CT HQ. Incident and offence files, 1982-88.0.6m. Restricted.

POLICE, T A R A N A K I D I S T R I CT HQ. Incident and offence files, 1931-88. 3.3m.

Restricted.

POLICE, T A R A N A K I D I S T R I CT HQ. Incident and offence files, 1983-88. 0.3m. Restricted.

P O ST O F F I CE (CH IEF ), W A N G A N U I . Multipl e number subject files, 1904-86. 20.1m.

PR IME M I N I S T ER A N D CA B INE T, D E P A R T M E NT OF. National Interim Provider

Board files, 1989-92. 5.3m. Restricted.

PR IVACY C O M M I S S I O N E R, W A N G A N U I C O M P U T ER C E N T R E. Unregistered

files, 1978-92. 3.6m. Restricted. .

S O C I AL W E L F A R E, D E P A R T M E NT OF. P A L M E R S T ON N O R TH D I S T R I CT

OFFICE. Family Benefit files, 1944-72. 0.6m. Restricted.

S O C I AL W E L F A R E, D E P A R T M E NT OF. R E C O R DS & A R C H I V E S,

W E L L I N G T O N . Benefit Registers (microfi lm), 1988-91. 0.3m. Restricted.

S T O R E Y, HON R OB MP. Polit ical papers, 1988-93. 11.3m. Restricted.

TAPSELL, HON PETER MP. Polit ical papers, 1980-91. 2.3m. Restricted.

T E L E C O M, W A N G A N U I D I S T R I CT OFFICE. Multipl e number subject files, 1924-62. 0.8m.

T R A N S P O R T, M I N I S T RY OF. L A N D T R A N S P O RT D IV IS ION . Multipl e number

subject files, c .1960-90. 174.6m. Restricted.

T R A N S P O W E R: 16mm film , c. 1967-85. 13 films.

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assessments, audits, 1986-88. 1.6m. Restricted.

W O R KS C O N S U L T A N CY S E R V I C E S. Multipl e number subject files, photographic material, card-index cabinets, 1900-88. 232.3m.

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