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The Hector Library, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Nicola Woodhouse
Nicola Woodhouse*
Affiliation:
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington 6002, New Zealand
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The Hector Library started life in 1867 as a science library with a strong geological bent. The establishment of Te Papa, New Zealand’s new national museum, in 1992 led to a merger with the erstwhile National Art Gallery Research Library, renowned for its resources on contemporary art. The enlarged Hector, with dual specialities in art and natural history, is part of the re-designed information package servicing Te Papa visitors (both in person and distant) at the Museum’s new waterfront site which opened to the public in February 1998. This paper outlines the package, focusing on the Hector’s collections and services, and also posits the relevance of its resources in the context of global art documentation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , 1999 , pp. 31 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1999

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References

1. Te Papa is the brand name for the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Te Papa or the Museum will be used throughout this paper to minimise confusion relating to previous names (see note 2, below).Google Scholar
2. Te Papa’s history includes several name changes as well as different sites and administrative and legal entities. The main name changes are: Colonial Museum (1865-1907); Dominion Museum (1907-1973); National Museum (1973-1992) and National Art Gallery (1936-1992); Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (1992-).Google Scholar
3. Hector obtained a degree in medicine in 1856, having taken, concurrently, additional courses in botany, zoology & geology. He also took art classes prior to matriculating as a medical student.Google Scholar
4. In addition Kicking Horse Pass, at the Alberta-British Columbia border in the Canadian Rockies, commemorates an incident in 1858 in which Hector nearly lost his life. For an account of his part in the Palliser Expedition (1857-1860) see Haig, Bruce. James Hector: explorer. Calgary, Alberta: Detselig Enterprises, 1983.Google Scholar
5. Hector’s dolphin (Cephhalorynchus Hectori) and Hector’s Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon Hectori).Google Scholar
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8. Hector, James. Third annual report of the Colonial Museum and laboratory. Wellington, NZ: Government Printer, 1868, p.3.Google Scholar
9. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act 1992. Wellington, NZ: NZ Government, 1992. This Act repealed the National Art Gallery, Museum and War Memorial Act, 1972.Google Scholar
10. see note 2, above.Google Scholar
11. The National Art Gallery Research Library has its own history of name and location changes. Its collections were established soon after the founding of the National Art Gallery in 1936. However it was not until 1987 that the Library was professionally staffed and officially opened, along with the Gallery’s archives, as a research facility.Google Scholar
12. The following articles may help to clarify the nature of this vision: (1) Tramposch, W. ‘Te Papa: an invitation for redefinition’ in Museum International vol. 50 no. 3 1998, p.28–32; (2) Tramposch, William J. ‘Exact imaginings: the museum as a journey’ in Museum News vol. 77 no. 2 1998, p.44–53.Google Scholar
13. Much of the information and many of the images contributing to Te Papa Onscreen are drawn from Te Kahui, Te Papa’s Collections database, which includes Te Papa Archives holdings as well as all the Departmental Collections (Art, History, Maori, etc.). Te Kahui is not a public access database, but is loaded onto all library PCs for staff access, including access on behalf of enquirers.Google Scholar
14. Three of the Discovery Centres were completely new. Naturespace was piloted, with great success, in the previous Museum building.Google Scholar
15. Aotearoa = Land of the long white cloud (Maori name for New Zealand).Google Scholar
16. An accredited user is a museology or final year or postgraduate student, or anyone who is no longer part of the formal education system and whose research requires recourse to material held by the Hector Library which is not readily available in other local libraries.Google Scholar
17. Images is located within the Hector Library space. It includes file prints of Te Papa art collections, as well as large collections of historical documentary photographs.Google Scholar
18. Te Papa Tongarewa = (literally) the repository for ‘things precious’. The Maori words are resonant in meaning. A fuller interpretation of the name would be ‘Our well-loved repository and showcase of treasured things and people that spring from Mother Earth here in New Zealand’.Google Scholar
19. To put this figure in context, Wellington city has a population of c. 170,000; the Greater Wellington Region c.385,000; and the total population of New Zealand is just over 3.8 million.Google Scholar
20. Te Papa’s corporate colours are blue (of the Prussian verging on teal variety) and orange (of the tomato variety).Google Scholar
21. These figures are averages of monthly visitor statistics for the period 1st Sep. 1998–31st Aug. 1999. The general Te Papa figures are exclusive of staff. Aotearoa Room and Hector Library figures include staff using these facilities (about 65% of visitors to the Hector Library, but only a small proportion of visitors to the Aotearoa Room). All figures are for respective public hours of opening.Google Scholar
22. This was the situation until the Library moved to new premises and was then officially opened and named as the Hector Library in March 1991.Google Scholar
23. ‘The Corporate Principals that underpin the Museum’s operation and outputs are: Te Papa is … (1) bicultural; (2) customer focused; (3) speaks with the authority that arises from scholarship and matau-ranga Maori; (4) commercially positive; (5) a Waharoa (gateway) … both an entryway to New Zealand and a catalyst for New Zealanders to explore and reflect on their cultural heritage . …’ (Statement of intent financial years 1999/2000; 2000/01; 2001/02).Google Scholar
24. In this context biculturalism may be understood as equal respect for the culture of the Tangata Whenua (People of the land, i.e. Maori) and the Tangata Tiriti (people in New Zealand by right of the Treaty of Waitangi, 1840). Thus, biculturalism encompasses the many cultures of New Zealand’s immigrant population.Google Scholar
25. The current Chief Executive Officer of Te Papa is Dame Cheryll Sotheran.Google Scholar
26. See New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts and Caltex Oil NZ Ltd. The Academy’s bequest to the nation. Wellington, NZ: The Academy, 1990, which provides an overview of the development of the national art collections up until the foundation of the National Art Gallery in 1936.Google Scholar
27. For a detailed account of the Hector Library’s Art Files and related database see Woodhouse, Nicola. ‘An ephemeral future’ in ARLIS/ANZ News no. 45 1997, p. 38–45.Google Scholar
28. There are further available fields not shown with this entry e.g. Agent/Dealer (public field) plus concealed ‘housekeeping’ fields e.g. Date record created/amended.Google Scholar
29. The Hector Library, along with a number of other Australasian art libraries, uses Inmagic software.Google Scholar
30. From The deepening stream by Holcroft, Monty (1940), as cited in New Zealand wit & wisdom: quotations with attitude, compiled by Weir, Jim. Auckland: Tandem, 1998, p. 128.Google Scholar
31. I have specified ‘painters’ here to distinguish ‘European’ artists from the many New Zealand-born Maori artists, working during this same era – largely in traditional media of which paint was a minor component. However Maori artists were quick to experiment with the new media, ideas and techniques introduced by the newcomers to their country. See Neich, Roger. Painted histories: early figurative Maori painting. Auckland, NZ: Auckland University Press, 1994.Google Scholar
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33. For information on how to subscribe to the ARLIS/ANZ (Arts Libraries Society Australia and New Zealand) discussion list, see any recent issue of the ARLIS/ANZ Journal (previously ARLIS/ANZ News) or the ARLIS/ANZ website: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/others/arlis_anz/ Google Scholar
34. New Zealand is 12 hours ahead of the UK and up to 22 hours ahead of parts of the USA and Europe.Google Scholar