Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga has chosen software from Swedish company Axiell, to supply archive management software, replacing its current collection management and search platform, Archway.
Archives New Zealand is responsible for more than 7 million official records dating from the 19th century. It says Axiell Collections will enable staff to work more efficiently and give New Zealanders better access to the nation’s taonga and public archives.
Archives NZ says a new portal based on Axiell Arena — Axiell’s catalogue search and borrowing system — will make discoverability and access to the archival collections easier for customers including writers, academics, legal researchers, professional historians, journalists, genealogists, and film and documentary makers. In addition they will establish a hosting centre in the region.
Archives NZ is moving to a new building through the government programme Preserving the Nation’s Memory, a move it says will improve the protection of and access to some of New Zealand’s most significant and valuable documents.
Chief archivist Richard Foy said Archives NZ wanted to give people better access to the nation's history and enable staff to easily relocate records between physical locations in real time making the transition between the old and new buildings far more efficient.
Transition to the new Axiell platform started this week and is expected to take just over 18 months.
Axiell software is also used by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa