Looking Out and Keeping The Gate Open: Wairarapa Archive, New Zealand's Greatest Little Archive

Looking Out and Keeping The Gate Open: Wairarapa Archive, New Zealand's Greatest Little Archive

Collective memory

Authors Sandy Green and Gareth Winter narrate the history of the Wairarapa Archive located in southeast New Zealand. They attribute the popularity and growth of this archive to its successful partnerships and community outreach program, as well as its adherence to archival standards. Green and Winter’s historical account traces the archive’s beginning as a print and photo-based collection housed in the basement of the local library, to a dynamic archive comprised of several collections, many of which are digitized. Wairarapa archive’s popularity is largely to due to what author/archivist Gareth Winter, describes “keeping the gate open.” The “open gate” refers to the accessibility of the archive and the staff’s willingness to provide several services and cooperative programs with the community. Services and collaborations include sponsoring oral history projects, supporting both technically and physically, the local genealogical society, digitizing photographs, records, and newspapers for other institutions as well as its own collections and providing both published works and school field trips to provide continuing education to its public.

The archive thus evolved from primarily functioning as a holding repository for local historical and governmental records, to providing educational and historian services. The variety and extent of the collaboration between the Wairarapa archive and several local and national organizations is fundamental to the archive’s ongoing success and funding.

Green, Sandy A.

Winter, Gareth

Auslib Press

2011

Polk, Victoria

© 2015

Journal Article

https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-284753463/looking-out-and-keeping-the-gate-open-wairarapa-archive

Green, Sandy A., and Gareth Winter. “Looking Out and Keeping the Gate Open: Wairarapa Archive, New Zealand’s Greatest Little Archive.” APLIS 25 (2012): 23-31