20 November 2019
Archives NZ partners with Axiell to improve access to New Zealand’s archives heritage
Today Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga welcomed a new partnership with Axiell, a supplier of software
to the cultural sector, to manage their unique archives. Archives New Zealand will replace their collection management
and search, Archway, with Axiell Collections so that Archives staff can work more efficiently, and New Zealanders can
have better access to the nation’s taonga and public archives.
Archives New Zealand preserves and protects more than seven million official records, from 19th century treaties to 21st
century documents and data. Their goal is for all New Zealanders to easily access and use this taonga while connecting
to their history, stories, rights and entitlements – now and for the future.
Richard Foy, Chief Archivist for Archives New Zealand welcomes the new partnership with Axiell. “Plans for a new
Archives building to improve the protection of and access to some of New Zealand’s most significant and valuable
documents is underway through the government programme Preserving the Nation’s Memory.
“We want to give people better access to our nation's history while also enabling staff to easily relocate records
between physical locations in real time making the transition between the old and new buildings far more efficient.
The new portal based on Axiell Arena will make discoverability and access to the archival collections easier for
customers which include; writers, academics, legal researchers, professional historians, journalists, genealogists, and
film and documentary makers. In addition they will establish a hosting centre in the region.
Being in partnership with Axiell will provide Archives New Zealand with the flexibility to upgrade and improve their
systems, and to create a good user experience.
Joel Sommerfeldt, President & CEO of Axiell Group, says: “We’re extremely proud to be selected as a partner to Archives New Zealand. Our mission is
to make a sustainable difference by helping to create communities that are conscious, informed and culturally rich. Our
customers provide services that shape democracy, culture, literacy and education and we have made it our business to
lead the digitization of these services, making them more accessible and attractive to their consumers.”
Work will commence on the new platform this week. The work is estimated to take just over 18 months, launching in the
first half of 2021.
Archives NZ and Preserving the Nation’s Memory
Archives NZ is one of Aotearoa’s documentary heritage organisations. Ensuring New Zealand’s record of government is
collected, preserved and made accessible is part of Archives NZ 2057 Strategy and Preserving the Nation’s Memory programme is a vehicle for achieving this.
Archives NZ and the National Library hold statutory responsibility to collect, preserve, protect and make accessible
this documentary heritage. They are the stewards of our nation’s irreplaceable taonga, valued at $1.7 billion and
growing.
The programme Preserving the Nation’s Memory was established to seek a solution for the appropriate care and management of New Zealand’s taonga and documentary
heritage material which include; government records, publications, books, manuscripts, artwork, scientific data, images,
films, recordings and more.
Preserving the Nation’s Memory is a multi-year programme working towards the upgrade and expansion of the physical infrastructure, storage capacity
and system support for digital memory of Archives NZ and the National Library of New Zealand with the possible inclusion
of Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision.
About Axiell
Axiell serves libraries, schools, archives, museums and authorities with technically advanced and innovative solutions
developed in close cooperation with its customers in 55 countries. More than 3000 library organisations with thousands
of branches use an Axiell library management system and Axiell Arena, a tool for the virtual library. The systems for
archives, libraries and museums are used by over 3400 cultural institutions over the world. In addition, more than 3000
schools use an Axiell system. The Axiell Group, headquartered in Lund, has more than 310 employees based out of 26
offices in Sweden, Australia, Abu Dhabi, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK
and the USA. Together, we form one of the world’s largest companies in these sectors.
ends
ends