Use of the New Zealand Web Archive
The Library has been archiving New Zealand websites since 1999. This research was undertaken to understand how well this collection was known and used.
March 2015
The Library has been archiving New Zealand websites since 1999, but for the first time the National Library and the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington have conducted research on the extent to which this collection is known and used.
This research gives us a greater understanding of the awareness and use our collection of archived websites by university academics, and will help us explore future archiving options.
As the Library developed New Zealand’s web archive, we often stated that the activity was not for current researchers, but for our future generations to use as a resource to understand the present. As such, we emphasised collecting and preserving over improving discovery, access and usability.
The results of this survey not only show that there’s a demand that is current, but more is wanted and expected from this unique resource in the very near future. When it comes to the history of the New Zealand web, the academic community are telling us that the future is now.
The research project provided a rich source of data. This report is the first output of the project and provides an overall summary of the results, with some analysis and recommendations for the Library. We intend to use the data to drive deeper analysis of certain areas of web archiving in New Zealand, and will publish further reports.
Download Awareness and use of the New Zealand Web Archive, 2015 (PDF, 724KB)
Harriet Riley
Summer Research Scholar
National Library of New Zealand
Mark Crookston
Digital Collection Strategy Leader
Alexander Turnbull Library
National Library of New Zealand