Moratorium call from full museum over new material

North Otago Museum director Rowan Carroll stands outside the packed facility. Photo by David Bruce.
North Otago Museum director Rowan Carroll stands outside the packed facility. Photo by David Bruce.
The North Otago Museum wants a moratorium on collecting any more material because it is critically short of space.

Museum director Rowan Carroll is suggesting a six-month ban on additional archive material and objects until development plans for the museum and North Otago Archives become more clear.

Her request will be considered by the Waitaki District Council's community services committee on Wednesday.

Ms Rowan said the archive was full and the safety of existing collections compromised because of a lack of space.

It could no longer even accept the council's own records, let alone community records.

The archives were established 20 years ago and since then have been cataloguing, housing and making accessible archives, including council records.

In 2007, the Government adopted a storage standard for the safe storage of and access to paper files, photographs, microfilm, maps and plans.

From this year, agencies will be monitored on those standards.

The council generated about 10 lineal metres of shelved archives a year.

Another 10 lineal metres a year came from the community.

"At this current rate ... over a period of 10 years we will require 200 linear metres of shelf space," she said.

This would need a space about the size of the council's present meeting chamber.

Ms Rowan said the museum-library redevelopment next year would provide increased storage facilities, future-proofed for 50 years.

A moratorium on accepting additional items for the archives and museum is sought until a review in December on advancing the redevelopment project.

- david.bruce@odt.co.nz

 

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