Introduction

Mihi

Kia ora ki a koutou katoa,
Nau mai haere mai.

Ko Te Arawa te waka
Ko Tongariro te maunga
Ko Taupō-nui-a-tia te moana
Ko Ngāti Tuwharetoa te iwi
Ko Ngāti Turumākina te hapū
Ko Moata Tamaira tōku ingoa.

Greetings to all and welcome. My name is Moata Tamaira and I am currently undertaking a research project focused on the use of public libraries by whakapapa (Māori genealogy) researchers in New Zealand. This project is towards my completion of a Masters of Library and Information Studies, a qualification that will allow me to be known as a fully-fledged librarian!

The Kaupapa

Since I started working in libraries about 5 years ago I have become increasingly interested in the subject of family history and genealogy. I have made tentative steps at investigating my own here and there, and I have helped many library customers use library resources to fill in gaps in their family trees also. When it came time to choose a topic for my research project it seemed only natural that I choose something that I had experience of in my working life and something that interested me personally, and so I settled on the topic of whakapapa research.

In the course of investigating other work that had been done in this area (surprisingly little as it turns out) I found that an earlier Victoria University student, Heidi Kuglin, had done an interesting project on genealogists in public libraries and so I decided to attempt to do a similar study but specifically looking at those researchers looking for Māori ancestors. Some of the questions I that I wanted to find answers to included -

• Do whakapapa researchers fit the stereotypical mould associated with other genealogists of being (a) female and (b) elderly?
• Do whakapapa researchers always have Māori ancestry themselves? In my working life I have often found this not to be the case but wondered how common it might be.
• The increasing popularity of genealogy as a pastime is often explained by academics as an effect of "third generation syndrome" - wherein first generation immigrant families distance themselves from their roots in an attempt to assimilate within the predominant culture but by the third generation family members are seeking to re-acquire their lost heritage and roots. As an indigenous culture Māori cannot be said to be affected by this syndrome but could the post-war rural-urban shift have had a similar effect?
• Whakapapa is a key concept in Māori culture but Māori are often not high-users of library services. How can public libraries make their resources more appealing or easier to access for Māori users?
• Does the "digital divide" have an effect on how whakapapa researchers find their information?

If any of these questions interest you, please check out the further reading section.

The Plan

With my research project I aim to create a questionnaire which I will first circulate amongst colleagues and volunteers. After receiving feedback from these helpful volunteers a revised version will be distributed to public libraries in the four main centres. The questionnaire will be anonymous and confidential and I will be supplying a freepost address for respondents to send their completed forms to. I will then have to cross my fingers and hope that enough whakapapa researchers take the time to fill in the survey and return it so that I have enough data on which to base some conclusions and recommendations.

The questionnaire should be circulating during April 07. If you visit any of these libraries during this time please, please, PLEASE fill it out and send it back to me! My focus is on people who do whakapapa research, so even if you are not Māori yourself but do research on behalf of your Māori children/spouse/friend you can still fill out the questionnaire. You'll be contributing to the body of research on genealogists and their information needs. That's a good thing, really.

Recent additions to "Searching for Tūpuna" here.