Annual Report from the Chief Librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library July 2000-June 2001

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 34, 1 January 2001, Page 111

Annual Report from the Chief Librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library July 2000-June 2001

Margaret Calder

The Library’s collections The Turnbull has relied on the generosity of donors since its foundation, and it is gratifying to report that there are still individuals and families who, recognising that their letters, diaries and records have a value and significance beyond the personal, make them available through the Library to all New Zealanders. We are all in their debt. A list of this year’s donors is printed on pp. 127-130. This year the Library received an increase in government funds for purchases for the collections. In previous years the allocation of $500,000 allowed the collections to be maintained; in 2000/2001 the allocation was $1.5 million, and from the financial year 2001/ 2002 this amount will be funded as a multi-year appropriation. These decisions will allow for a better-planned acquisitions programme. The number of purchases in 2000/2001 increased; all located publications by New Zealanders or about New Zealand, wherever published, were acquired, and the Library continued to benefit from the Legal Deposit provisions of the National Library Act, which require up to three copies of all New Zealand-produced publications to be deposited.

The most noticeable benefits to the collections were in the quantity and quality of maps, manuscripts, paintings and photographs acquired. These unique items are becoming ever more costly as they become ever more scarce. The list of selected acquisitions published on p. 116-126 gives an indication of the range of interests covered, and may also provide some idea of differences in quality compared with previous years.

Use of the Library The number of enquirers using the collections includes those enquiring through mail, email, telephone and fax, as well as those able to personally visit. The total this year was 30,042, compared with 30,638 in 1999/2000. Groups of undergraduate students from universities and other tertiary institutions were also welcomed; these groups have interests as diverse as book design and Maori Studies, as well as the traditional disciplines of history, literature, and librarianship.

Staff and students in educational institutions who are not able to visit Wellington make increasing use of the online databases available through the National Library’s website <http://www.natlib.govt.nz>; the most popular of these is Timeframes <http:// timeframes 1 .natlib.govt.nz>, which provides searchable images from the collections together with a descriptive record. This year the Papers Past database <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz> made available online a selection of digital images of 19th century newspapers, searchable and browsable by date. The Library’s catalogue of unpublished materials, TAPUHI <http://tapuhi.natlib.govt.nz>, has now been available for some years, and makes preliminary research into those collections possible for researchers not in Wellington. The published collections, i.e. books, magazines, newspapers, are recorded in the National Library’s online catalogue.

Research notes on pp. 114-116 give some idea of the diversity of topics supported by the collections and by the expertise of the staff, and the many groups that benefit from the Library’s services. The list of exhibitions and displays on pp.l 15-116 is another indication of the work undertaken by the Library to make the collections available to all N ew Zealanders.

The Library’s staff A revised structure for the Turnbull Library within the National Library was agreed following the internal review of the 1999 proposal. The Chief Librarian, and the Manager, Research Centre, were reconfirmed in their positions as were 37 other staff at various levels. The management team for Turnbull was increased by the addition of a new position: Coordinator, Unpublished Collections. A total of 25 appointments were made, including for the existing positions which required readvertising. The new structure brought into Turnbull’s responsibilities the National Preservation Office, Conservation and Copying Services, and Exhibitions. Within the Turnbull Library itself, eight new positions were established as a result of additional funding being made available for the processing of the increased acquisitions, and to assist in making and/or converting access records into electronic form.

Two of these new positions are especially important: the Field Librarian, responsible for planning and implementing acquisition programmes; and the Maori Oral Historian, responsible for promoting and training within Maori communities, and for research services to Maori from the oral history collections.

The Library’s accommodation As I reported last year, work on the Wanganui building, Wairere House, was completed. This year we were able to move runs of 60 newspaper titles (250 linear metres) to Wairere House, where optimum environmental and security conditions will ensure preservation of these fragile items. All titles have been microfilmed and are available in Wellington and, through interlibrary loan, at other New Zealand libraries. We have also been able to store at Wairere House the large collection of negatives and photographs donated by the executors of Crown Studios, Wellington.

I hope that work will be possible in financial year 2001/2002 to extend storage capacity for the Photographic Archive collections, which grow at rates similar to those of the Manuscripts and Archives Section. I am also hoping that work can be done to provide purpose-built accommodation and furniture for Image Services staff who, since the inception of Timeframes in 1997, have worked in less than ideal conditions. Accommodation for the increased number of staff was possible within existing work areas, but some rearrangement could improve conditions, and some planning will need to be undertaken in the next months.

Preservation of collections The optimum conditions available within both the Wellington and Wanganui buildings are continually monitored by the Manager, Property and Services, the Manager, Preservation, and their staff. Any apparent losses are usually the result of misshelving, and I can report that there have been no malfunctions in drainage, air conditioning, or damage to the fabric of the building that have impacted on the collections. The work of Property and Services staff is

critical to the safety of the collections, and I would like to acknowledge their exemplary work. Kate Roberts, Manager, Preservation, resigned during the year and has been replaced by Pamela Najar-Simpson, who was previously on the Library’s staff before spending some years in Australia. Much of the work of the restorers is concerned with photographing, preparing and monitoring works for exhibition, both in the National Library’s Gallery and for loan to sister institutions, here and overseas. A total of 18 items were lent, the majority being from the Drawings and Prints collection.

The National Preservation Office also lost a staff member: Vicki-Anne Heikell, Preservation Officer, Maori, resigned, and so far we have not been able to find a replacement for her. The work of the two officers is the Library’s major contribution to the preservation of documentary heritage held in non-government archives, libraries, museums, historical societies, marae, and within communities, and this interruption to a very productive programme is very regrettable. I am investigating ways that might allow for interested and experienced Maori to complete the conservation qualification at the University of Canberra, which is the nearest institution offering this training.

Projects in the Library Two maj or projects occupied significant numbers of staff throughout the year: the first related to an investigation for an automated system to replace TAPUHI, and the second was planning for a future ‘digital library’. Both projects were led by experienced consultants, under the supervision of staff from the Electronic Services division of the National Library. The TAPUHI replacement project was extremely thorough in examining the existing system’s functionality, and in searching for a replacement system that would deliver equal or better functionality. No solution was found, and the decision was taken to continue with TAPUHI and search again in two to three years’ time.

Planning for the ‘digital library’ is continuing; the basic concept is to provide an infrastructure that will support digitised objects that are the result of format conversion of collections and items from the Turnbull Library (thereby making them accessible to remote users), and the collection and preservation of digitally published New Zealand and Pacific information. The creation of the ‘digital library’ will be time consuming and costly at a time when the increase in the number of paper-based publications is already stretching the Library’s resources. However, the creation of the ‘digital library’ is an essential activity if the Library is to fulfil its statutory obligation to collect and preserve the documentary record of New Zealand.

Thanks I would like to record my thanks to all the members of Friends of the Turnbull Library, and to the members of the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust Board for their support of the Library, and to me personally, during the last few rather difficult years. The support of all the Library’s friends ensures the future of the Library, which is maintained by government, but which is also dependent on the continuing generosity of benefactors.