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Research guidance
Digitisation on demand
Find out how to order a digitised version of a record you need, what it costs and how long it takes.
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Digitisation is a key part of our mahi at Archives New Zealand – it protects our archives from wear and tear, and allows researchers all over the world to access them online.
Our digitisation team, Te Maeatanga, is working to make our holdings available online. If you want us to digitise an item we haven’t reached yet, you can pay to bump it to the top of our queue.
How to order digitised items
You can order digitised items:
online
in person in a reading room.
Online ordering
Find the item you want in Collections search.
Click on the Item inquiry button.
Fill in the form, making sure you tell us:
the item name
its code – you can find this on its Collections search page
if you have special requirements, like file types other than PDF or printing.
We'll be in touch to confirm your order and arrange payment.
Special requirements
You may need to pay extra if you have special requirements, like file types other than PDF or printing. We provide quotes for these services on a case-by-case basis.
Ask an archivist about digitisation costs
Reading room ordering
Ask at the staff desk for the Digitisation on demand form.
Cost
The cost of digitisation depends on:
the quality of image you need
how many pages make up your item
how complex your item is to digitise.
The table shows the costs of digitising standard and large-format items.
| Digitisation type | Basic cost | Cost for each extra page | Standard format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard items | $25.00 - up to 25 pages | $1 | |
| Large format items (up to A0) | $25 per item | $25 |
Non-standard items
Non-standard items include:
items over A0 in size
slides
photographic negatives
items in other non-standard formats.
The cost of digitising these items varies. If you want to get a non-standard item digitised, contact us to let us know:
the item title
the code
your requirements.
We'll price the item when you place your order, then email you the total cost and let you know how to pay.
Ask an archivist about digitising non-standard items
Order times
We usually get your items to you in 15 working days after we receive payment. Some archives are harder than others to digitise, like:
photographic negatives
items over A0 in size
items that need preservation work.
These items might take us longer than 15 working days to digitise. We'll contact you if this is the case.
How you'll receive your order
We'll send your items to you by email – you'll get a link to a site where you can download your item.
We'll also add the images to Collections search, so other researchers can use them.
Learn more about digitisation
Te Maeatanga have digitised hundreds of thousands of items – and our pace of work increases every month.
Watch our video to learn how we digitise archives of all shapes, sizes and formats