Appendix 1. Letter of Information

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Ko Te Arawa te waka
Ko Ngāti Tuwharetoa te iwi
Ko Moata Tamaira tōku ingoa

Tēnā koe,

My name is Moata Tamaira and I am a student with the Masters of Library and Information Studies programme at Victoria University of Wellington. I am undertaking a research project as part of this course that will investigate how customers in public libraries go about researching whakapapa, Māori genealogy. The aim of my research is to be able to identify ways in which public library services to whakapapa researchers might be improved. XXX Library has kindly given permission for me to distribute this questionnaire to customers who use the library for whakapapa research. Your participation in this study would be greatly appreciated.

Participation in this study is completely voluntary. Your contribution will be totally anonymous and I will not be able to identify who filled in which form. You will not be asked to supply any information that could identify you and I ask that you do not include your name anywhere on the questionnaire form. Your informed consent to this survey is implied by your voluntary participation. Ethical approval to carry out this research project has been granted by the School of Information Management Human Ethics Committee, Victoria University of Wellington.

Your completed survey, once received will be kept by me in a secure, locked drawer. Only myself and my supervisor, Alastair Smith will see the completed questionnaires and once this research project is completed and the final report written and approved, all survey forms will be destroyed.

If you use public libraries to do whakapapa research then please fill in the attached survey. You do not need to have Māori ancestry yourself but must be involved in researching Māori genealogy or family history. I estimate it should take approximately 10 – 15 minutes to fill in. Please answer all questions as accurately as possible and do not include your name anywhere on the form. When you have completed the survey please put it in the box provided or if you would like to take it with you to fill in later please take one of the self-addressed freepost envelopes. Please do not include a return address on the envelope when you send it. The cut-off date for receiving surveys back will be 31 August 2007.

A copy of the completed research report will be deposited with the Victoria University of Wellington library and will be available on the internet at http://www.searching4tupuna.blogspot.com . The results may also be published in academic, professional, or genealogical journals or presented at professional conferences. At the conclusion of the project participating libraries will also be given aggregated data as relates to users of their library. This will not take a form that may identify any individual participant.

If you have any questions about this research project or wish to be sent a copy of results please contact me or my supervisor at;


Kia ora.