Answers to your questions about our Te Maeatanga Digitisation programme closure
On this page you'll find answers to some of the questions you may have about the closure of our Te Maeatanga Digitisation programme and options you have.
24 May 2024
Closure of Te Maeatanga Digitisation Programme and on demand service
Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Archives New Zealand’s Te Maeatanga Digitisation programme will close on 30 June 2024.
The programme had time-limited funding through to this date and we have been unable to secure ongoing funding.
This means Te whakamatihiko ā-tono Digitisation on demand will also close. Orders for this service closed on 24 May to allow time to fulfil orders before the closure of the programme.
Why the programme is closing and why we were unable to source more funding
This funding was time limited through to 30 June 2024. The process of digitising records includes the creation of a digital intangible asset. Following government accounting rules, the creation of these assets must be funded by capital investment. We investigated potential funding options both internally and externally, and there were none currently available.
Answers to your questions
Here you'll find answers to some of the questions you may have about the closure, as well as information about the options available to you.
Digitisation
If I need a digital copy of a record, how do I get that now?
You can still access existing digitised content online. We've digitised almost 2 million images of significance to Aotearoa New Zealand. You can access these via Collections search.
You can access open access records that have not already been digitised in the reading room of the office where the record is located. Our holdings remain accessible to you in our reading rooms located in Tāmaki Auckland, Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Ōtautahi Christchurch and Ōtepoti Dunedin. Visitors to reading rooms may take their own photographs of open access records for their own use, subject to permission being given by our staff.
Find out more about visiting our reading rooms
I rely on digitisation to conduct my research or do my work. When will the programme restart?
We will continue to look for other avenues of funding to bring digitisation back online in the future. We do not have a confirmed timeframe to restart the programme at this stage.
Digitisation on demand was a user pays service, so why do you need internal funding? Can you increase fees to cover costs?
The fees charged for our digitisation on demand service did not fully cover the actual costs of digitising items. To resource digitisation — including the digitisation on demand service — we need sustainable, assured funding. This would not be provided by a fully user pays model. The actual cost of digitisation is not reasonable to pass on to the user.
Will you be outsourcing digitisation? If I’m prepared to pay for the digitisation, will Archives arrange for that to happen through a third party?
No. There will be no alternate service for Te whakamatihiko ā-tono Digitisation on demand at this time.
We'll continue to look for other avenues of funding to bring digitisation back in the future.
Utaina
What will happen to audiovisual digitisation and the Utaina project?
Utaina is a partnership project between Te Rua Mahara, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. The Utaina project received funding in Budget 20 and is not affected by the closure of Te Maeatanga. Utaina is due to complete in June 2025.
Reading rooms
What if I don’t live near a reading room?
We acknowledge that the closure of our digitisation on demand service will mean some users will have to travel in order to access our reading rooms. You can still access existing digitised content online. Open access records that have not already been digitised can be accessed in the reading room of the office where the record is located. Visitors to reading rooms may take their own photographs of open access records for their own use, subject to permission being given by Te Rua Mahara staff. You can use our Collections search to access existing digitised content and find the location of physical records.
Will reading room hours be extended? Will reading room hours change if there is more demand?
We do not currently have any plans to extend our reading room hours, nor sufficient staffing to make this possible. Increased reading room hours would mean a reduction in other important work, including listing, indexing and description which helps users find what they are looking for.
Why are you closing digitisation when that was the justification for reducing reading room hours?
In 2019, we ran a pilot of reduced reading room hours and subsequently rolled out changes across the motu (country). Reducing reading room hours enabled us to redirect some resources to support digitisation, but that was not the only reason we reduced our reading room hours. Over the past several years we have seen a steady decrease in the number of people who visit our reading rooms. Our current reading room hours provide a balance between public access to reading rooms and allowing kaimahi to undertake other important work, including listing, indexing and descriptive work to make our holdings more accessible to all.
Other services
What about other paid services such as remote reference support? Are they affected by this closure?
Other paid services we provide, including remote reference searches, are funded separately and not affected by this closure.
Learn more about other services we offer
Public Records Act 2005
How are you meeting your requirements under the Public Records Act 2005 to make archives accessible?
We continue to facilitate access to archives as required under the Public Records Act 2005. Our holdings remain accessible to members of the public in our reading rooms located in Tāmaki Auckland, Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Ōtautahi Christchurch and Ōtepoti Dunedin. Almost 2 million images of significance to Aotearoa New Zealand have been digitised. You can use Collections Search to find existing digitised content in the Government Digital Archive.
Open access records that have not already been digitised can be accessed in the reading room of the office where the record is located.
Archives 2057 Strategy
You’ve previously said that digitisation is a key way you make records accessible to the public and it is a large part of your 2057 strategy, why are you no longer doing this?
Digitisation has been a core part of our programme of work in recent years and we acknowledge the importance of digitisation.
Funding for digitisation was time limited through to 30 June 2024. We investigated potential funding options both internally and externally, and there were none currently available. We will continue to look for other avenues of funding to bring digitisation back online in the future.