Archway Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga) Online Finding Aid

History and Background

Archway was the primary online catalogue and finding aid system of Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga), New Zealand's national archive and government recordkeeping authority. Archives New Zealand was established under the Archives Act 1957, which created the National Archives as an institution within the Department of Internal Affairs. It was subsequently renamed Archives New Zealand in 2000 when separated from the Department of Internal Affairs, and in 2011 was merged back into that department alongside the National Library of New Zealand.

Archway was developed to provide public online access to descriptions of the more than seven million government records held by Archives New Zealand, spanning from approximately 1840 to the recent past. In 2019 Archives New Zealand migrated from the Archway system to a new collections management system provided by Axiell Collections, replacing Archway with a new online Collections search interface. While the archway.archives.govt.nz URL remains in limited use, the primary discovery tool is now the Collections search at collections.archives.govt.nz.

Collections and Holdings

Through Archway and its successor system, users could search descriptions of records across Archives New Zealand's four reading rooms in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin. The collections encompass official government records from all central government agencies since New Zealand's colonial period, including the Treaty of Waitangi, the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, historic electoral records, immigration records, and extensive military personnel files from both World Wars. Materials are held in physical form; digitised records can be viewed online while others must be ordered for in-person consultation.

Access and Usage

The Archway system provided search by record series, archive creator, and keyword. Researchers could order materials for consultation in reading rooms, and some digitised records could be viewed online. The current Collections search interface provides enhanced functionality. Access is governed by the Public Records Act 2005. Some records carry access restrictions, and requests for personal or restricted records follow a defined process. The archive charges fees for certain services such as document reproduction.