5.4.2 Using whakapapa sources

In order to determine which sources of information were being used for whakapapa research purposes respondents were given a list of possible sources and asked to tick any that they might use (Appendix 2, Question 9). This question was presented slightly differently from Kuglin’s study which asked researchers to rank the sources by importance. Due to the length of the list supplied it resulted in a number of questionnaires being rejected in that study. To avoid this problem respondents were not asked to rank the options provided but merely indicate which ones they used in their whakapapa research (Table 2).
Table 2. Sources commonly used by whakapapa researchers
It is important that library staff know which sources are likely to be in demand for whakapapa research not only for acquisition of suitable sources but also for improving access to those already owned by the library. The most frequently selected item was Māori Land Court records. There are indexes for some Māori Land Court Minute books, both available as CD-ROM or subscription database. Given that this seems to be a highly used source by whakapapa researchers it will be to their benefit to have access to these indexes. Also, it is worth considering which sources might be better utilised if they were sited within a Māori collection rather than as part of a genealogy collection.

Also worth noting is that both Births, deaths, and marriages indexes and Electoral rolls (2nd and 3rd most selected sources respectively) have sub-sections, or separate indexes for Māori individuals during some time ranges. This means that these very popular sources are potentially more complicated to use for whakapapa researchers, who may have to check both the Māori, and general roll or index. Library staff should be aware of the added complexity of these sources with respect to whakapapa research, as it may mean that more staff help is needed, at least in the beginning.

In Kuglin’s study Census records ranked very highly in this question but did not appear to be a preferred option for whakapapa researchers. This is probably due to the fact that many census records for the United Kingdom, which contain personal information about individuals, are now available online. Though New Zealand census information is only available in the form of aggregate data, and does not feature individuals’ information, some regional historical censuses for Māori populations exist and do contain individual and family names. However these are not widely publicised and are often “buried” within larger works such as Waitangi Tribunal evidence, or the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives. This is most likely the reason that whakapapa researchers do not make use of these kind of records as often as other genealogists might.

Ranking what tools whakapapa researchers used that found most useful information for their research was the subject of the next question (Appendix 2, Question 10). Although there were only 6 options given that respondents needed to rank, this proved difficult for some respondents, with 7 questionnaires being considered void for this question, usually because the same ranking was used for more than one option. The most notable difference between results in this study and Kuglin’s (2004) was the high use of fiche/CD-ROM indexes that Kuglin found. In this study whakapapa researchers surveyed ranked this as lowest. This could be due to the fact that microfiche indexes form a large part of the resources held at Latter Day Saints (Mormon) family history centres, an institution that many respondents in Kuglin’s used.

The table below shows the strategy that received the most ticks for a particular ranking (Table 3). Asking a librarian for help was ranked as the most useful strategy, compared with its third place ranking in Kuglin’s study, though this was the option most often ranked fourth as well. It seems that some whakapapa researchers rate the help of librarians, while others prefer alternate methods (Appendix 3, Aggregate data).
Table 3. Strategy that most frequently finds a source useful to whakapapa research