Bloggage will be light for a day or two, as I'm in Wellington to visit the National Archives. I recently discovered their Archway service - an online catalogue of (some of) what they have available - and it's like heroin for information addicts. I can browse, and browse, and browse, and find out that all sorts of interesting information exists. Like briefing papers on the 1989 Crimes Bill (and the 1990's asset forfeiture bill, for that matter). Like magistrate's court minute books from the 1920's. Like a Crown Law Office opinion on whether the 1st November, 1917 edition of the New Zealand Tablet (which I know from elsewhere called Queen Victoria "a certain fat old German woman") was seditious.
This is dangerous. It'd be easy to get lost. With kilometers of files, I could browse forever...
So, I've given myself a day. One day. I'll read as much as I can of the material on my list, copy it if allowed (this involves bureaucracy), and go away and think about it. Maybe I'll even blog about some of it. And hopefully, I'll manage to avoid being consumed by addiction...
Omfg, I/S. It has me hooked!
ReplyDeleteIt would be so cool if there were a project to scan public documents (overseas as well as here) into a wikisource type database (or into wikisource indeed).
ReplyDeleteThis would never be commercially viable, but maybe some wealthy benefactor who wants to advance the study of history will finance it.
Good Hunting, we can look forward to even more of your on the button comments.
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