Archway-style Collections Search

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Raw data from Axiell backend

Array
(
    [entityType] => ITEM
    [entity] => Array
        (
            [contextId] => aims
            [description] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Mr Colin Wright was employed by NZ Railways as senior promotion officer, and retired in 1988.
                )

            [id] => PACC
            [idSort] => PACC
            [name] => Mr Colin Wright
            [custom] => Array
                (
                    [custom1] => No much information could be retrieved.
                )

            [identifier] => Array
                (
                    [priref] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => 6185
                        )

                )

            [agentType] => Agent
            [digitalRecordInArchive] => 
            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                (
                    [type] => YearStart
                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => unknown
                        )

                )

            [hasEndDate] => Array
                (
                    [type] => YearEnd
                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => unknown
                        )

                )

            [history] => Mr Colin Wright was employed by NZ Railways as Senior Promotion Officer, and retired in 1988.
He deposit some sound recordings to Archives in 1997, which were believed to be given to him when he left Railways.
            [isAssociatedWithPlace] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [location] => Wellington
                        )

                )

            [itemType] => Agency
            [rdfType] => agent
            [recordIsMissing] => 
            [setSpec] => agency
        )

)

Entity Type

Agency

Code

PACC

Agent Type

Agent

Summary

Mr Colin Wright was employed by NZ Railways as senior promotion officer, and retired in 1988.

Held At

Wellington

History

Mr Colin Wright was employed by NZ Railways as Senior Promotion Officer, and retired in 1988.

He deposit some sound recordings to Archives in 1997, which were believed to be given to him when he left Railways.

Author Note

No much information could be retrieved.

Source

🌀 Archives NZ / CC BY

Note: This Agency does not have any related Series, so we cannot search for related items

This Agency is responsible for:

ID	Name	Browse	Date	Held At
🌀 W4872	W4872 W4872 - Sound Recordings and Notes ⓘ Raw data from Axiell backend Array ( [uri] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/aims/entry/57af0309a83d7ea530be1e5f5cd76017 [resource] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/aims/resource/W4872 [context] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/aims [rdfType] => Array ( [0] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#RecordSet ) [created] => 2022-01-21T14:45:30.520+00:00 [modified] => 2025-04-08T00:21:03.845+00:00 [graphType] => None [entryType] => Link [resourceType] => InformationResource [creator] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/_principals/resource/_admin [contributors] => Array ( [0] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/_principals/resource/_admin ) [public] => [metadata.predicate.uri.c74e2b73] => Array ( [0] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#RecordSet [1] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#ManagementRelation [2] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#Date [3] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#Identifier [4] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#Place [5] => https://www.ica.org/standards/RiC/ontology#ContentType ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.b0411a89] => Array ( [0] => aims ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.26813aa4] => Array ( [0] => W4872 [1] => Mr Colin Wright [2] => 2667 [3] => Wellington repository [4] => Files ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.14ab51dd] => Array ( [0] => ITEM ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.0ab1078a] => Array ( [0] => W4872 ) [all] => Array ( [0] => W4872 [1] => W4872 [2] => Sound Recordings and Notes ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.3d16a239] => Array ( [0] => accession:2667 ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.47c35c78] => Array ( [0] => 1985-01-01T00:00:00.0Z ) [metadata.predicate.date.47c35c78] => 1985-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 [metadata.predicate.literal_s.8ad9da94] => Array ( [0] => approximate [1] => yearOnly ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.2dd71a9e] => Array ( [0] => 1987-01-01T00:00:00.0Z ) [metadata.predicate.date.2dd71a9e] => 1987-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 [metadata.predicate.literal_s.6d3924aa] => Array ( [0] => approximate [1] => yearOnly ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.28333a61] => Array ( [0] => W4872 ) [text_suggest] => Array ( [0] => W4872 [1] => Sound Recordings and Notes ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.4503f9a5] => Array ( [0] => accession ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.cfc04591] => Array ( [0] => Sound Recordings and Notes ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.9466223c] => Array ( [0] => W4872 ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.f2f21d0d] => Array ( [0] => May be restricted ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.1e640512] => Array ( [0] => Wellington repository ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.996e15a0] => Array ( [0] => Mr Colin Wright ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.d9a2a1bd] => Array ( [0] => As this accession contains some mixed media, specialist equipment is required to listen to it. Therefore an appointment needs to be made with Archives New Zealand Staff to arrange this. ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.d9b217c0] => Array ( [0] => May be restricted ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.f19549ef] => Array ( [0] => Preservation Services, Archives New Zealand, P O Box 12050 Wellington, Telephone 499 5595 ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.b601346e] => Array ( [0] => Accession [1] => Agency ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.759be269] => Array ( [0] => 1985 ) [metadata.predicate.integer.759be269] => 1985 [metadata.predicate.literal_s.6ad5e288] => Array ( [0] => 1987 ) [metadata.predicate.integer.6ad5e288] => 1987 [metadata.predicate.literal_s.4457f365] => Array ( [0] => Accession ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.e7d8a866] => Array ( [0] => controlled_by [1] => priref [2] => SeriesFormat ) [metadata.predicate.uri.fae65ac5] => Array ( [0] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/aims/resource/PACC ) [metadata.predicate.uri.e46cdf00] => Array ( [0] => https://common.aims.axiellhosting.com/api/etl-entrystore/latest/aims/resource/W4872 ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.78358662] => Array ( [0] => unknown [1] => approximate [2] => yearOnly ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.e2003646] => Array ( [0] => ISO8601 ) [metadata.predicate.literal_s.18e6404e] => Array ( [0] => 1985-01-01T00:00:00.0Z [1] => 1987-01-01T00:00:00.0Z ) [metadata.predicate.date.18e6404e] => 1987-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 [_version_] => 1828791689257418752 [indexedAt] => 2025-04-08T00:21:04.096+00:00 ) 🔍 Browse results from this Accession Entity Type Accession Code W4872 Years 1985 ‑ 1987 Agency Mr Colin Wright Held At Wellington repository Summary Sound Recordings and Notes Access May be restricted Source 🌀 Archives NZ / CC BY 2.0 Browse1985 ‑ 1987Wellington	Browse	1985 ‑ 1987	Wellington

Name

Browse

Date

Held At

🌀 W4872

W4872

W4872 - Sound Recordings and Notes

ⓘ

Raw data from Axiell backend

🔍

Browse results from this Accession

Entity Type

Accession

Code

W4872

Years

1985 ‑ 1987

Agency

Mr Colin Wright

Held At

Wellington repository

Summary

Sound Recordings and Notes

Access

May be restricted

Source

🌀 Archives NZ / CC BY 2.0

Browse1985 ‑ 1987Wellington

Browse

1985 ‑ 1987

Wellington

🔍 What is this?

An alternative search system for Archives NZ, inspired by the beautiful simplicity of the beloved Archway system.

🔍 How does it work?

The search results displayed here are sourced directly from the backend of Archives NZ's publicly available Collections Search system, in almost exactly the same way that the official website works, but organised and displayed differently.

To start with, you can do a straight-forward search with a few keywords and an optional date range and whether to focus on digitised items. You then have the option to filter the results futher (such as by Series and Format - photos, documents, etc).

You can highlight search keywords in the results by clicking the orange text in 'X results matching {keywords}'

The Advanced Search allows you to search with criteria such as showing only Series or Agency results, records held in a specific location, plus sorting and grouping options.

You can also browse within a Series or Accession by clicking the Series name. Search for records within that Series by using the search box on that page.

Digitised records can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail or the 'Show Scan' links. This embeds a simple viewer directly in the page. You can switch to the official Archives NZ viewer by clicking the 🌀 Archives NZ Source link under the viewer.

🔍 Why is this necessary?

Since it launched in February 2022, Collections Search has been plagued with issues, crashes and downtime, and described by users as "awful", "markedly inferior", a "dog’s breakfast" and "dreadful".

Public complaints about Collections Search have been made by Crown Law, Te Arawhiti, the Archives & Records Association of NZ (ARANZ), the Professional Historians' Association of NZ (PHANZA) and the Treaty Research Officials' Committee (TROC).

Reporting by RNZ's Phil Pennington produced an internal Archives NZ report on Collections Search, describing: "Several significant issues ... slowness, a lack of booking functionality and an external user design that makes accessing archival records difficult. The level of user experience in place now is well below what was in place before the roll out". The report goes on to detail a number of privacy breaches, "continued delays by the vendor" on software improvements, and outages of 29 days in total, out of the ten months since launch.

This alternative search system aims to address some of the shortcomings of Collections Search, such as:

Only 12 search results are displayed at a time
Pages load very slowly
Full name of search result is cut off after a few words
No direct link to scanned documents
Type of record (military records, divorce files, land records, etc) and access status is not shown
No sorting records by date
Advanced Search has very limited functionality
It is almost impossible to browse records within a Series or Accession

🔍 Are my searches private?

Great question! In a nutshell, your searches are visible to me, but anonymous.

Your search queries on this system are recorded in logs for a period of time, without any user-identifiable information associated with them, for debugging purposes.

I have no way of identifying you as a person, or associating your search queries with you.

This website does not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any other analytics/tracking software.

🔍 Who made this?

I'm Luke Howison, a freelance web developer with an interest in genealogy. I have written a few homebrew tools to assist with this research, such as NZ Ancestor Search Helper.

🔍 Archway-style Collections Search

🏢 Mr Colin Wright

cURL request stats

Raw data from Axiell backend

Note: This Agency does not have any related Series, so we cannot search for related items

This Agency is responsible for:

Raw data from Axiell backend