OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATIO N The objects of the Association shall be: i. To foster the care, preservation, and proper use of archives and records, both public and private, and their effective administration. ii. To arouse public awareness of the importance of records and archives and in all matters affecting their preservation and use, and to co-operate or affiliate with any other bodies in New Zealand or elsewhere with like objects. iii . To promote the training of archivists, records keepers, curators, librarians and others by the dissemination of specialised knowledge and by encouraging the provision of adequate training in the administration and conservation of archives and records. iv. To encourage research into problems connected with the use, administration and conservation of archives and records to promote the publication of the results of this research. v. To promote the standing of archives institutions. vi. To advise and support the establishment of archives services throughout New Zealand. vii. To publish a journal at least once a year and other publications in furtherance of these objects. ARCHIFACT S Published by the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand October ARCHIFACT S Editorial Committee David Green Michael Hoare Gavin McLean Brad Patterson Adrienne Simpson Reviews Editor David Green Archifacts is published twice yearly, in April and October Articles and correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at PO Box 11553 Wellington Intending contributors should obtain a style sheet from the Editor Printed by G Ñ Print Ltd, Wellington Copyright ARANZ 1995 ISSN 0303 7940 Contents Guest Editoria l í Vincent Orange Who's Who7 A Biographer's Problems 1 Michael O'Meeghan Catholic Archives in New Zealand 11 Philip Jane Archives at the University of Canterbury 25 G W Rice Urban History and the Millenium - Chnstchurch 2000 Project 29 Playing for Keeps Electronic Records Tena Incognita in the Modem Office7 35 Letter to the Editor Judith Devahant 39 Book Reviews Judith Ellis Keeping Are/uves (Rachel Lilburn) 42 Frank Rogers Archives in New Zeafond 4, Te Hikoi and Chris Szekely Maroma A Directory of Maori Information Resources (David Green) 45 Derek Dow Annotated Bibliography for the History of Medicine & Health in New Zealand (Patricia A Sargison) 47 Megan Hutching and Orai History in New Zealand a Bngid Pyke Directory of Collections 1992 (Theresa Graham) 51 Hylton Tuckett GRINZ Yearbook i994 (Bruce Ralston) 52 Reg Birchfield and Ian F Grant Out of the Woods the Restructuring and sale of New Zeafond's State Forests (Alan Henderson) 53 Malcolm Templeton Ties of Blood and Empire (James Eayrs) 56 m Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Inc POBox 11 553 Manners Street Wellington, New Zealand Patron Her Excellency Dame Catherine Tizard GCMG DBE Governor General of New Zealand Council President Sheryl Morgan c/ Waikato Polytechnic Library Private Bag 3036 Hamilton Vice Presidents Jan Gow Ñ O Box 25 025 Auckland 5 Jim Traue 16B Hadfield Terrace, Wellington Secretary and Membership Secretary Therese Angelo c/ Royal NZ Airforce Museum RNZAF Base Wigram Private Bag, Chnstchurch Treasurer Michael Hoare Police Centennial Museum, Royal NZ Police College Private Bag Ponrua Council Anna Blackman c/ Dunedin City Council Archives Ñ O Box 5045, Dunedin Alison Fraser Ñ O Box 2907 Wellington Barry Jordan c/ National Archives Ñ O Box 91 220, Auckland Tiena Jordan Whakatane District Museum Ñ O Box 203, Whakatane Rachel Lilburn c/ Dept of Library & Information Studies Victoria University PO Box 600, Wellington Brad Patterson 20 Khyber Road Seatoun Wellington 3 Margaret Tomsett 191AWai itiRoad Timaru 8601 w Guest Editoria l As this editorial is being written the upswell of public anger at the government's ill conceived plan to 'reform' National Archives continues to grow There is no evident public support for the proposals floated by the Secretary for Internal Affairs (Dr Roger Blakeley) and by his Minister (Hon Warren Cooper) to restructure the institution into mini business units, to transfer real power to the hands of the Secretary himself, and by passing the Chief Archivist, to place the effective custody of the nation's archival treasures in the hands of the Secretary's nominee, a commercial general manager In examining the supposed logic of the scheme, an editorialist in the Centre for Business History's Newsletter has aptly summed up the reaction of most 'Pull the other one1' Since late August National Archives has had unprecedented publicity Public meetings have been reported in the press and on radio Leader writers and columnists have expressed misgiving There have been letters to newspapers Electors have made approaches to politicians There have been tense discussions between the Sectetary for Internal Affairs and opponents of the scheme And the previously inconceivable has become reality Pickets at the National Archives head office have been mounted by deeply concerned supporters Visiting National Archives to spread his message, Dr Blakeley has been compelled to slip m by the back door A littl e less radically the evening of 26 September witnessed the rejection in the House of Representatives of the Estimates Report of the Internal Affairs Select Committee, the opposition parties combining to defeat the government Opposition members continue to table questions So far, with the exception of a trickle of personal responses from Dr Blakeley to published criticisms, none explicit about how his efficiencies will be achieved, the debate has been curiously onesided Apart from a rambling radio contribution from a former Cabinet Minister, no support fot the proposals has been expressed After a near month's silence, Cooper's sole recent statement has been a regrettable personal attack on senior officers of ARANZ Clearly, for the newly elected Mayor of Queenstown, the old principle of damn the message, kill the messengers, remains an article of faith The restructuting exercise appears to have been clumsily handled from the outset In announcing Dr Blakeley's appointment as Secretary í m April, State Services Commissioner D Ê Hunn lauded his outstanding administrative abilities But for Dr Blakeley the transition from the relative comfort of heading a small policy ministry to directing a diverse operational department has been less than smooth It is uncertain just who, or which agencies, had input into the Blakeley proposals What is certain is that the proposals were formulated within weeks of Dr Blakeley's taking office While it has been retrospectively asserted that the 1994 McDermott Miller review constituted a consultation phase, this is unsustainable Moreover, it was suggested on 8 August, by Deputy Secretary Joel George, that the resulting seriously flawed document had been shelved because of incomplete costings and inadequate analysis It is strange then, given the expressed concern about efficiencies, that the restructuring scheme should have been placed before Cabinet without a cost benefit analysis or even indicative costings Why it was approved by Cabinet without such basic data remains a mystery The whole affair raises serious questions when it is realised that the present proposals, though purporting to be based on the McDermott Miller review, bear littl e relation to the reviewers' recommendations Despite a plethora of 'justifications', Dr Blakeley has been unable to convince critics his plans possess either merit or logic Significantly, at a meeting with stakeholder representatives held on 26 September, the Secretary could provide no hard evidence that his plans either should or could, work Instead, those assembled were enjoined to have faith New Zealand led the world in public sector reform and where New Zealand led others would ultimately follow The situation has been further confused by contradictory statements, by Dr Blakeley himself, and by Dr Blakeley and his Minister Even the status of the proposals has been in doubt On Checkpoint, on 23 August, Hon Warren Cooper stated "this is a possible change at Cabinet we decided to have a look at the thing They (Internal Affairs) are going to report back' Dr Blakeley, however, has consistently maintained that the restructuring is carrying out government policy, which he may not change In terms of how the new structure would operate, Dr Blakeley, however, has consistently maintained that the restructuring is carrying out government policy, which he may not change In terms of how the new structure would operate, Dr Blakeley is, at best, hazy For instance, while he early argued that appraisal decisions, the determining of which archives should be kept and which not, would devolve to his policy unit, he assured stakeholders on 26 September that this function would remain (as the present law requires) with the Chief Archivist Yet here are indications that he is already having third thoughts Even the vexed question of vi whether a user pays regime will be instituted remains up in the air While Dr Blakeley gave stakeholders an absolute assurance this would not be so on 26 September, on the following day, on Radio Pacific, the Minister stated that he would not 'skirt round' the fact that user charges might be considered The performance of Minister and Secretary has not been one to engender public confidence It is arguable that in criticism to date too much emphasis has been placed on possible outcomes of the projected restructuring, on the privatisation of archives services and the introduction of user charges for access, rather than on root constitutional infringements