Not everything at Massey University Archives is paper, film or negative. Photo / Judith Lacy
Not everything at Massey University Archives is paper, film or negative. Photo / Judith Lacy
The sheep horns shield catches the eye, a nod to Massey University's agricultural strength.
So does the horse racing game complete with roulette wheel that once belonged to the Russell family, the original owners of Wharerata.
The Massey University Archives ran tours last week, part of Local History Week.
Assistantarchivist Michael Biggs starts the tour in the reading room, where staff, students and members of the public are welcome to view the displays and requested archives.
The current displays are aerial and oblique photographs of the Manawatū campus, old milk powder tins, and artifacts that belonged to the Russell family including toy soldiers, and a key-wound musical box.
Biggs has been in archives all his career starting at Wellington City Council, then moving to Archives Central in Feilding. He's been at Massey for four years.
Massey University assistant archivist Michael Biggs holds a beer bottle produced to celebrate the Massey University Alpine Club's 80th anniversary. Photo / Judith Lacy
The archives have two collections - the Massey University collection and the New Zealand Institutions Collection. The latter is subjects, businesses and organisations related to what Massey teaches and includes extensive dairy company records.
Biggs is currently working on the records of the Veterinary Services Council, formed in 1947. Before Massey started offering veterinary science in 1964, the council helped fund students to study in Australia and set up vet clubs to make rural practice attractive.
The archives have two processing rooms for digitalising items, which are available on tamiro.massey.ac.nz. The website has more than 6000 publications, including university calendars, Chaff student magazine, and Masskerade capping magazines. There are more than 4400 images including the Bill Toomath Model Car Design Collection.
The archives have two full-time staff - Biggs and archivist Louis Changuion, and one part-timer.
There are shelves and shelves of accessions yet to be processed - vet instruments, trophies, cups, plans of the campus and campus buildings, student enrolment forms (restricted access), booklets of university statistics used for reporting purposes - enrolments, transfers, gender, full or part-time.
Items are inventoried, ordered, and described. Staff consider how the records were created and used, and how they relate to other records.
Biggs says it is satisfying to finish the process with everything accessible and understandable. The stuff that is the most fun never had any order or logic but the staff do the best they can.
These minute books are almost works of art. Photo / Judith Lacy
The university section includes vice-chancellor files and university council minutes, staff ledger cards with basic employment details, graduation programmes, Massey News and records of student organisations.
In the 16-degree cold storage room there are films, oral history tapes, negatives, prints, and glass slides used by Dr Dry. The Drysdale sheep breed was named to recognise him.
If all the shelving was put end-on-end it would be 3km long.
This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air
