2002 ASX Announcements

Archives New Zealand goes live with Objective Success for Objective's first New Zealand customer

As part of an overall strategy to improve information capabilities, systems and processes, Archives New Zealand has implemented a new information management solution throughout each of its four offices.

Archives New Zealand is the custodian of the records of government, including the original Treaty of Waitangi and other nation-shaping documents, genealogical resources, maps, films, and photographs. Archives New Zealand provides archiving services to the entire New Zealand government and also grants professional researchers and members of the general public access to archived information, with some material being restricted.

Archives New Zealand embarked on this project to ensure its internal records and knowledge management systems met national and international recordkeeping standards and to provide a platform for improved accountability of processes and knowledge management.

"We receive nearly 20,000 requests for access to archives each year, so fast and efficient access to information about those requests is critical to our client responsiveness," said Dianne Macaskill, Archives New Zealand's chief executive and chief archivist.

"The information management solution is enabling us to meet these requests in an efficient and timely manner.

"The solution is providing staff with enhanced tracking capabilities and knowledge sharing capabilities, enabling easy access to existing research. This is resulting in improved productivity, eliminates duplicated efforts, provides a faster turn-around time for requests and improves service to clients."

The solution:

	Facilitates common filing conventions across Archives' offices;
	Integrates the management of paper and electronic records;
	Provides comprehensive version control features,
	Captures emails; and
	Facilitates the customisation of metadata on any kind of record - including photos, audio and visual tapes.

"The ability for the chosen solution to manage both our internal paper and internal electronic records was imperative," Dianne Macaskill said.

She said as electronic transactions become increasingly commonplace throughout the New Zealand Government, statutory compliance requirements are applied to those as well as paper records.

"Managing files which have both electronic and paper components is a problem for many organisations. This solution seamlessly manages both, and integrates with our existing systems such as the e-mail software we use."

The solution was provided by Objective Corporation through its partner Unisys New Zealand, following an extensive international search and tender process. It is the first implementation of an Objective solution in New Zealand.

According to Objective Corporation's CEO Asia Pacific, Tony Walls, "Archives New Zealand needed a world-class product. The breadth of Objective's product suite was one of the key deciding factors."

Archives New Zealand's future plans include tracking and automating business processes using Objective's workflow capability which will track which staff member is dealing with a particular request and enable enquiries to be forwarded directly to them. It will also mean that staff will be able to trace the progress of a file request quickly and easily and it will bring additional structure and control to many of Archives' day-to-day tasks.