Curd's book will provide a tool to inform the public on what archivists do, what archives are, the importance of archives to society, and the cultural value of archives in New Zealanders lives.
During his time as District Archivist at Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki in Patea, Curd said he has met many people who were still not sure what archives actually were and what the role of the archivist was.
"I want to show how archives are used in everyone's daily lives how important they can be," he said.
His book will mean that archivists will be able to explain their profession in a simple and interesting way, Curd said.
Part of the book will create a specialist educational book to interest children who are, as the next generation, protectors of our archives, he said.
His research will include collections across New Zealand highlighting archival holdings like Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, Archives NZ, and professional associations including the Association of Archives and Records New Zealand (ARANZ).
Curd hopes his book will be of huge benefit the archival profession as well as the wider community.
The annual scholarship was established in 2013 by the Ian McLean Wards Memorial Trust to assist researchers and practitioners in the librarianship, archives and records management fields to undertake research for a specific project, and to advance knowledge or improve practice relating to the recording, care, or conservation, of historical research materials.
It also honours the outstanding cultural contributions of the late Ian McLean Wards (1920-2003), Chief Government Historian between 1968 and 1983.
A life member of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand and the Friends of the Turnbull Library, McLean Wards was also a stalwart of many other cultural and artistic organisations. He was widely remembered for his untiring campaigns to safeguard the nation's historical records and the integrity of the institutions holding them, Curd said.
Six years ago Cameron Curd won one of 11 places from 4500 applicants worldwide to attend the Selznick School of Film Preservation at George Eastman House in Rochester, New York State. He was the first from New Zealand to study at the school, he said.
But it came with a huge price tag and he had to pull out all the stops to ensure he got there.
"It was an amazing opportunity, not only for me but for New Zealand film history."
In his role at Aotea Utanganui, he curated 10 years ago New Zealand's largest photographic preservation project, the Swainson-Woods collection, featuring 250,000 negatives that spanned 80 years of Taranaki social-pictorial history.
"I am dedicated to preserving New Zealand's regional and national cultural heritage, and being selected to study at the very best learning institution in the world to teach film preservation is the ultimate opportunity to hone my skills technically, academically and practically. I was so fortunate to be selected.''
Curd said George Eastman House was the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and contains the oldest photograph and motion picture archives. Home to Kodak, the museum leads the world in film preservation and photographic conservation, training only 11 national and international archivists and conservators annually at the Selznick School.
Some of his lecturers had included film industry leaders such as directors Peter Bogdanovich, Werner Hertzog and Peter Greenaway, and Academy Award-winning actors Richard Gere and Meryl Streep. "It was an incredible time for me.''
Currently at the museum in Patea is a collection of photographs from a bygone era.
The exhibition, called The Flashbacks: 80s and 90s Fashion Photography has been very popular, he said.
"People have loved it and I loved curating it. It's a really good snapshot of a place and time especially in Hawera.''
In September Curd will start his research travels and continue wth his studies towards an MBA (Master of Business Administration) from Massey university. He admits his busy schedule will mean getting up at 5am some mornings.
"It's all worth it. There's nothing better than a great challenge.''
