2.5 Definitions

The following terms will be used throughout this research project –

Genealogy is the study of lineage of one or more families, often with the view to creating a family tree or pedigree chart.

Family history relates to, but is not the same as, genealogy. Where genealogy is concerned strictly with lineage, family history allows for the inclusion of broader contextual information about families and individuals.

Information seeking behaviours refers to the strategies that researchers employ in finding the sources that will further their research. This may include the use of a range of resources.

Public libraries refers to those libraries that are funded by local government rather than libraries that are accessible to the general public.

Resource is an item that has been produced by the library or librarian to help researchers find specific sources within the library collection. Printed or website based guides, archival finding aides, and computer catalogues are all examples of resources.

“Source is a published or unpublished item purchased or acquired by a library as a part of its colleciton and is catalogued” Kuglin (2004). Examples of whakapapa sources include Māori Land Court records, Birth, death, and marriage records, and published genealogies of Māori families.

Search strategies are those patterns of information seeking behaviour that are favoured by the researchers in question. Search strategies will relate to the use of resources within the public library setting such as use of computer catalogues etc.

Whakapapa is a Māori word meaning family history or genealogy, although it can also apply in contexts other than genealogy.

Whakapapa researchers are researchers, either professional or amateur, who study and investigate the family history and lineage of Māori New Zealanders either regarding their own ancestry or someone elses.