Announcements

This key resource for NZ’s social and economic history has been digitised and was launched with tremendous enthusiasm by the Minister of Statistics, Hon Maurice Williamson on Wednesday 21 March.  Described by the Minister as “a big leap into the digital age” this is a seminal project that NZMS have been proud to have had a hand in.

Statistics NZ took the bold step of converting the volumes to XML so that the rich statistical data, which dates back 1893, can now be freely copied and then reused, repurposed and manipulated.  The project which encompassed digitising 113,000 images from microfilm and original volumes, as well as double key transcription of 83,652,178 characters also drew on our skills in XML conversion, Project Management and quality assuring the format and spelling of historical texts.   The latter proved there is no substitute for the human brain with gems such as the  Consumers' Prick Index, For the Yeah ended and The Eating Powers of Local Authorities sliding past the spellcheck programme.

As Minister Williamson said: “The smart technology allows users to search on keywords and simply copy and paste tables of data into software like Excel where they can work with it. This is infinitely better than keying in data by hand, which is what researchers have had to do until now.”

Statistics New Zealand’s overarching goal is to ensure that New Zealand gets the information it needs.  The end result is a testament to what can be achieved with ambitious use of technology and a strong focus on providing New Zealanders with a great digital resource.  NZMS is would like to congratulate Statistics NZ on the success of this project. The digital NZ Official Yearbooks can be found at http://www.stats.govt.nz/yearbooks .

For more information on our involvement please contact Janine Delaney, our Imaging Solution Manager or phone 0800 NZMS 1990

Pauline La Rooy
Business Development Manager

More information:

Find the Minister of Statistics Press Release here.
Find the Statistics NZ web release here. 
Find Jock Phillips’ Blog post here.

We are delighted to announce that we will be establishing a Digitisation Centre in Christchurch from November 2011.

Our aim is to staff this facility with a Christchurch resident/s who will be trained to use our specialist heritage-focused equipment and most importantly in our handling practices.

Find out more here.

LIANZA has just announced NZMS sponsorship for LIANZA Conference 2011 and it is exciting, cutting edge technology! ShowGizmo, a new web and smartphone application for LIANZA Conference 2011: Te Ihi, Te Wehi, Te Wana – Passion, People and Power in Wellington in October/November this year.This is being sponsored by New Zealand Micrographics (NZMS).

NZMS is delighted to be sponsoring ShowGizmo as we believe this application will help delegates and exhibitors get the best from conference. As Andy says “NZMS is known for having ‘allsorts’ of fun with LIANZA conference delegates. ShowGizmo takes that up a notch with opportunities to network before, during and after LIANZA conference in a tailored online environment.”

ShowGizmo combines web and smartphone technology to create more productive, valuable and enjoyable events and active online communities. The applications enable conference delegates and exhibitors to access, manage and share information, connect, plan their time, receive news, alerts and Twitter feeds—and much more—before, during and after events.

Delegates will be able to use this smartphone application to make the most of their time at LIANZA Conference; view the programme, get notifications, alerts and Tweets, ‘favourite’ people, booths and information and ‘collect’ exhibitor collateral in the My Show folder for later review or to share with colleagues.

There will be opportunities to engage with ShowGizmo LIANZA 2011 via laptops and internet points as well as smart phones

It’s new, it’s fun, it’s green, it’s useful and it’s for you!  Passion, People and Power!

Pauline and Andy attended the Museums Aotearoa 11 conference in Nelson.  Thanks to everyone involved for an interesting, thought provoking and fun programme.  As always the awards dinner was one of the highlights.

NZMS would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists in the New Zealand Awards – what a wonderful showcase of NZ museums and galleries.

Andy congratulates Catherine Lomas from Auckland Art Gallery on winning the Project Achievement Award for technology and Innovation.

The ST ViewScan offers the very latest in microfilm reader/scanner technology and we’re delighted to be able to offer this to our NZ customers. Its fast and user-friendly, with great functionality, a sleek modern look and a price tag which is easy on the eye. We are seriously excited about this (that’s what 20 years in the microfilm industry does to you!). If you’re in the market for a microfilm reader/scanner or just want to drool over a hot new gadget read more....