RAPID Heritage
Enabling access to New Zealand's heritage
Our Service
I can only provide images of photographs and scans of documents.
If you provide the record information, my process is:
1. Verify the document and ascertain whether it has restrictions on viewing, scanning, or being photographed.
2. I will email you a contract, which will include an estimate.
3. If you decide to proceed, I will require a fifty percent deposit before I order the records and travel to the repository to view them.
The deposit is non-refundable and covers my time and ability to:
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liaise with the repository.
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order the records.
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travel to the repository to view the records.
4. Full payment of the invoice is required before you are given access to a copy of the records.
How you will receive records
1. Documents will be in PDF/A version 1.7 with an ‘Advanced Encryption Standard’ (AES) of 128 and will include metadata.
You will receive a report with:
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any descriptions of the document given by the repository
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edited pictures to aid you in reading, transcribing and understanding the contents of the document.
Example
Figure 2: An extract from 'God Defend New Zealand - National Anthem lyrics' written by Thomas Bracken, 1876.¹
If this document was for a client the report would contain Figure 2 and the following:
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Description:
'Lyrics to God Defend New Zealand, written in Thomas Bracken's hand. Noted at the end: Dunedin, July 9th 1876.
Provenance: 'When Sir George Grey visited the town of Lawrence, as Premier of the country, in March 1878, a large gathering of local school children sang God defend New Zealand to him, with Woods conducting. Deeply moved, he asked the composer for the original music to add to his collection of New Zealand artefacts. He later wrote to Bracken requesting the original manuscript of the words. Both are now in the Library’s safekeeping.'²
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Edited extract showing the writing clearer to aid reading, transcribing and understanding the contents of the document (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Edited version of Figure 2.
2. If the record is a picture it will be A RAW file, unaltered and unedited.
Records will be sent via email. Turnaround time depends on our current workload, repository restrictions, and your specific requirements. I will provide an estimated timeframe along with your cost estimate.
Remuneration
Rate: $50 NZD per hour (1-hour minimum).
Multiple records can often be scanned within a single hour. If your requested record is obtained in less than one hour, a refund will be provided for the remaining time, minus the non-refundable deposit.
For research project requests, I can research repositories for records if required. I will provide a clear cost estimate once the scope of work is defined. You can then decide whether you wish to proceed. This cost is not dependent on the outcome of the search.
Please get in touch if you have any questions.
¹Auckland Council Libraries. God Defend New Zealand - National Anthem lyrics. Image 1. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections GNZMS-006. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/manuscripts/id/13526 : accessed 12 July 2026.
² Ibid.