11 June 2008
MEDIA RELEASE
Te Papa’s Humanities And Art Collections Now Available Online
For the first time, the public will be able to access the full catalogue of the national art collection and Te Papa’s
history and Pacific cultures collections, together with many objects from the photography, taonga Mäori and natural
environment collections (http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/).
Over 25,000 high quality images are available, most of which can be zoomed into, allowing the online visitor to explore
the detail of an artwork or specimen.
As well as being able to search Te Papa’s catalogue, online visitors are able to browse the catalogue via links to other
similar objects – for example, objects of the same type, objects made by the same artist or objects that depict the same
place or person.
‘We are engaged in an ongoing programme of digitisation of the objects in the collections and upgrading the information
relating to these objects’, said Dr Seddon Bennington, Te Papa’s Chief Executive.
‘With a collection the size of Te Papa’s, this work will take some time to complete, so we have started with a
standards-based catalogue of objects in the collection together with digital images where available’, Dr Bennington
said.
The next step is to make available the full standards-based catalogue for Te Papa’s taonga Mäori collection and
eventually the vast photography and natural environment collections. More information and images will be added to
existing records on a monthly basis and new features will be added over the coming year.
In support of the New Zealand Digital Content Strategy, Te Papa is aiming to unlock the information about its
collections and make this significant heritage content easy to access and discover by New Zealanders at home and
overseas.
Te Papa is currently working on another exciting new initiative, a redevelopment of the NZMuseums website. Launching in
mid September this new interactive site will showcase the collections and activities of all New Zealand museums.
Images of Te Papa’s collection items will also be made available via Matapihi – a search website that allows users to
explore the online collections of a number of New Zealand cultural organisations including Te Ara, the Alexander
Turnbull Library, the New Zealand Film Archive, the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, the Auckland Art Gallery, the
Otago Museum, Christchurch City Libraries and others.
Visitors can access Te Papa’s Collections Online via the website, http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/.
ENDS