Another successful forum in Wellington
New courses available
Appraisal news
Audit programme update
Government recordkeeping survey
Annual report on recordkeeping
Wellington transfer programme changes focus
New Continuum publications
Trusted computing and digital rights management
Changes to www.archives.govt.nz
New faces and roles at Archives New Zealand
Some 150 records and information professionals attended the June Government Recordkeeping Forum in Wellington. The topic was: Technology: its influence on the public sector information landscape.
The forum considered different perspectives on the impact technology has had, and will continue to have, on the public sector information landscape. The outgoing Archives New Zealand Chief Executive and Chief Archivist, Dianne Macaskill, delivered a farewell address where she spoke about the developments she has seen in the relationship between Archives New Zealand and the public sector during her tenure.The new venue – the James Cook Hotel – was a great success.
The PowerPoint slides from the forum are now available.
We recently launched two new training courses to support digital recordkeeping:
We regularly run courses in Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland and will be offering courses in Rotorua, Dunedin and Hamilton over the next few months. For more information on our training courses, and a directory of recordkeeping training opportunities, check out our training web page.
Things are very busy in the appraisal area. The legacy programme which was launched in September last year is moving forward; so far more than 80 public offices have been contacted. Many agencies are undertaking work on their legacy records and are at all stages on the legacy road map. This includes preliminary research and records surveys, appraisal drafting, schedule implementation and sentencing, listing and disposal.
A large number of appraisal reports have been submitted over past few months – 23 are currently under consideration. One issue arising with some appraisals is a lack of consultation by agencies with their external stakeholders. The Archives New Zealand Appraisal Policy identifies responsiveness to stakeholders as a key principle. It is therefore important to for you to identify and consider stakeholder interest in disposal decisions, and articulate this process and its results in reports submitted to the Chief Archivist.
If you have any questions about the legacy programme or the appraisal process, please email rkadvice@archives.govt.nz
Consultation on the draft Public Records Act 2005 audit tool has now closed. We received 49 submissions, and overall the feedback was positive. However, there will be some changes made to the tool to reflect comments. A summary of comments and changes will also be published, and sent to every organisation that provided comment. The final tool will be published on the Archives New Zealand website.
We are currently recruiting an audit programme manager, who will then recruit an audit team. The focus for 2009/10 will be on developing and refining the audit process through engagement in pilot audits, and setting the schedule for audits.
The 2009 government recordkeeping survey has now closed. Thank you to everyone who responded. You will receive a report which you can use to benchmark your results against other public sector organisations. The summary report on the survey and individual result cards will be available by the end of September. In the meantime, you can access previous survey reports here.
The annual report on the state of government recordkeeping has now been tabled in Parliament. The report highlights current issues in government recordkeeping, and makes clear recommendations for action by public offices. The three major recommendations are:
The report is available on the parliamentary website. Printed copies are also available from Archives New Zealand – contact rkadvice@archives.govt.nz
With the success of the legacy programme, we are making some changes to our priorities for transfer. We are now focussing on the transfer of high risk, high value records, especially those over 25 years old. This means we will be taking more transfers of high value legacy records (such as the Land Information New Zealand core paper records), but fewer routine transfers of records created after 1984.
We are here to help, no matter what age your records might be. If you have any questions about transfer, please contact us at rkadvice@archives.govt.nz.
The new Guide to Managing Records During Administrative Change is now available on the Continuum website. This will be useful for records and information managers handling changes to the machinery of government, such as the proposed Auckland local authority changes.
A number of other new Continuum publications will also become available over the next few months. Keep an eye out on the ‘what’s new’ page of the Continuum website for the following:
In March 2009 Archives New Zealand conducted research on the uptake of Trusted Computing (TC) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) in the public sector. Survey findings included:
For more information about Trusted Computing and Digital Rights Management and how technology can effect how information is stored, transmitted and protected, visit our website.
The Archives New Zealand website will soon have a new look. New features include: a ‘do it online’ section; home pages for particular groups (including records managers and genealogists), and a new exhibitions format.
The structure has been tested with more than 250 external users. We expect users will find it much easier to find the information they need. The new web portal should go live in August, but improvements will continue over the next year, including better interfaces, searching targeted to particular user groups and more online services.
Anna Gulbransen, Anna Henry, Hywel Gwynn Williams, and Jeff Carr all work as archivists in the Arrangement and Description team.
Lisa Austin has been appointed to the position of Advisor, Appraisal. She was previously an Archivist in Access Services.
Dianne Macaskill completed her eight year term as Chief Executive and Chief Archivist on 10 June. Greg Goulding is now Acting Chief Executive and Chief Archivist until a permanent appointment is made. John Roberts is acting Group Manager, Government Recordkeeping; Terehia Biddle is acting Group Manager, Archives Management; and Julie Black is acting Group Manager Community Archives and Responsiveness to Maori Programme.