Merger of New Zealand National Archives and National Library and New Digital Archive
The New Zealand Government has announced the merger of Archives New Zealand, the National Library and the Department of Internal Affairs and new funding of £5.9 million pounds (NZ$12.6 million) to create a digital archive for New Zealand.
Announcing the new funding and the merger, the Minister responsible for all three agencies, Guy Hands believes they share natural synergies, a common focus on using digital technology, and making public information widely accessible to citizens through the internet. This move will allow expertise and resources to be pooled, while at the same time sharing back office costs. All savings generated by this project will be redirected into better frontline services for the public.
The New Zealand Government is also allocating £5.9 million pounds (NZ$12.6 million) of new money to Archives New Zealand and the National Library over the next four years to develop and implement a full-scale industrial-strength digital archive. The new archive will utilise Archive’s New Zealand’s existing infrastructure and build on functions developed for the National Library’s National Digital Heritage Archive.
A public announcement about the Government Digital Archive and was made at the Government Recordkeeping Forum held in Wellington on Tuesday 1 June.
1 comment neil | Digital Preservation, Libraries and Archives
[…] Merger of KB (Dutch National Library) and the Dutch National Archives I heard recently from a colleague that the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences has announced that the Dutch National Archives are to merge with the Dutch National Library (KB). Both institutions have been major players in digital preservation and in development of appropriate systems and practices for preserving digital records and publications. The Dutch National Archives has implemented Tessella’s Safety Deposit Box whereas the KB has been working with IBM’s DIAS system since 2003 and is now developing a new architecture to replace it. The merger follows on from a series of mergers of national libraries and archives including Canada and more recently New Zealand. […]