The goal of the New Zealand Skating History Project (NZSHP) is to preserve, share and trace the changing story of ice skating in NZ.
The overall scope of the project is to collect materials relating to skating in NZ, digitise these, and use this material to write publications.
We are recording 5 oral history interviews as part of this in 2025-6, and would like to hear from anyone who is interested in sharing their memories about skating in New Zealand. Please use the Contact Form to register your interest!
Converting materials to digital form will not only preserve them for the future and provide the basis for our historical writing, but also enable everyone to access the materials online.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We can't do this without you! There is a wide array of historical material relating to skating, but it is currently all scattered throughout NZ in private hands. These all need digitisation to be preserved for the future, and made accessible to everyone. We can't write the history of skating without the historical evidence!
If you have any skating memorabilia, please contact us. You might be surprised at the historical value of your items!
WHAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN COLLECTING:
History is not just about dates or organisations, but also personal stories about people's experiences. We are interested in the social and cultural history aspects of skating in NZ, from the perspectives of skaters and their families. History also doesn't mean 'old', in this context it means everything in the past up to this year.
The overall scope of the project is to collect materials relating to skating in NZ, digitise these, and use this material to write publications.
We are recording 5 oral history interviews as part of this in 2025-6, and would like to hear from anyone who is interested in sharing their memories about skating in New Zealand. Please use the Contact Form to register your interest!
Converting materials to digital form will not only preserve them for the future and provide the basis for our historical writing, but also enable everyone to access the materials online.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We can't do this without you! There is a wide array of historical material relating to skating, but it is currently all scattered throughout NZ in private hands. These all need digitisation to be preserved for the future, and made accessible to everyone. We can't write the history of skating without the historical evidence!
If you have any skating memorabilia, please contact us. You might be surprised at the historical value of your items!
WHAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN COLLECTING:
History is not just about dates or organisations, but also personal stories about people's experiences. We are interested in the social and cultural history aspects of skating in NZ, from the perspectives of skaters and their families. History also doesn't mean 'old', in this context it means everything in the past up to this year.
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We hope you will share with us your:
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Trophies won by Lynne & Ivan McDonald, photo by Ivan McDonald
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Check out the NZSHP Youtube channel for examples of already-digitised historical skating videos!
youtube.com/@nzskatinghistory
We would love to post more videos - use the Contact Form to discuss how we can share your videos!
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DIGITISE YOUR ITEMS
The NZSHP is run by volunteers, and we have only ever received grants for the oral history component of the project. As such, we would be overjoyed to receive help with the process of digitising the materials. This will significantly speed up the process. The advantages of this include that the precious historical items are never out of your own hands! Plus it is very good practice to digitise old materials for your own purposes as well, before they fade/become technologically obsolete, etc.
PLEASE FOLLOW THESE KEY TIPS WHEN DIGITISING:
- Please scan flat items wherever possible, using the highest possible resolution.
- Only photograph items when you cannot scan them (eg 3D objects like costumes, skates, medals, trophies etc).
- Please include as much information as possible: eg for photos, it is invaluable to include the date, location and names of people. Even an estimate of these things can be very helpful.
- If you simply cannot digitise items yourself or with your family's help, please use the Contact Form to communicate, and we can help you out. We can work out a way to digitise them for you, as we do not want any more historical material to be lost!
Plus we can provide further advice on best ways to digitise if needed - please use the Contact Form.
YOU CAN SHARE YOUR ITEMS SECURELY AND PRIVATELY
- Once you have digitised your files, you can send them to us via a web browser or an app. We self-host a NextCloud server, which we can use to securely transfer very large data files. Please use the Contact Form to communicate about this.
- Alternatively, you can post us a memory stick with your files on. Both these options are private and secure, with the data not going through any third party.
YOU CHOOSE IF ITEMS ARE SHARED PUBLICLY OR NOT
We are planning to put digitised material on this website for everyone to enjoy - but it's up to you what happens to your material. If you would like, we can use digitised material only in our research and not make it public. Or, we can post it on the website to make it available for all to see (in a database coming soon!). It's up to you, just tell us whether you want your data to be private or public, or a combination of the two.
DEPOSITING ORIGINAL MATERIAL IN ARCHIVES/MUSEUMS
After the materials are digitised, you can keep the originals or choose to deposit them in the archives. The Hocken Library in Dunedin will accept many skating-related materials, and we can assess your collection and liaise with the library for you. Other archives and museums in your area may be interested in your materials as well. Don't throw anything out, digitise it then deposit the original in the archives!
Please use the Contact Form to register your interest in being involved, and what materials you can share with the NZ Skating History Project!
We also have a Facebook page, but would prefer all contact through the Contact Form here on our website please.
youtube.com/@nzskatinghistory
We would love to post more videos - use the Contact Form to discuss how we can share your videos!
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DIGITISE YOUR ITEMS
The NZSHP is run by volunteers, and we have only ever received grants for the oral history component of the project. As such, we would be overjoyed to receive help with the process of digitising the materials. This will significantly speed up the process. The advantages of this include that the precious historical items are never out of your own hands! Plus it is very good practice to digitise old materials for your own purposes as well, before they fade/become technologically obsolete, etc.
PLEASE FOLLOW THESE KEY TIPS WHEN DIGITISING:
- Please scan flat items wherever possible, using the highest possible resolution.
- Only photograph items when you cannot scan them (eg 3D objects like costumes, skates, medals, trophies etc).
- Please include as much information as possible: eg for photos, it is invaluable to include the date, location and names of people. Even an estimate of these things can be very helpful.
- If you simply cannot digitise items yourself or with your family's help, please use the Contact Form to communicate, and we can help you out. We can work out a way to digitise them for you, as we do not want any more historical material to be lost!
Plus we can provide further advice on best ways to digitise if needed - please use the Contact Form.
YOU CAN SHARE YOUR ITEMS SECURELY AND PRIVATELY
- Once you have digitised your files, you can send them to us via a web browser or an app. We self-host a NextCloud server, which we can use to securely transfer very large data files. Please use the Contact Form to communicate about this.
- Alternatively, you can post us a memory stick with your files on. Both these options are private and secure, with the data not going through any third party.
YOU CHOOSE IF ITEMS ARE SHARED PUBLICLY OR NOT
We are planning to put digitised material on this website for everyone to enjoy - but it's up to you what happens to your material. If you would like, we can use digitised material only in our research and not make it public. Or, we can post it on the website to make it available for all to see (in a database coming soon!). It's up to you, just tell us whether you want your data to be private or public, or a combination of the two.
DEPOSITING ORIGINAL MATERIAL IN ARCHIVES/MUSEUMS
After the materials are digitised, you can keep the originals or choose to deposit them in the archives. The Hocken Library in Dunedin will accept many skating-related materials, and we can assess your collection and liaise with the library for you. Other archives and museums in your area may be interested in your materials as well. Don't throw anything out, digitise it then deposit the original in the archives!
Please use the Contact Form to register your interest in being involved, and what materials you can share with the NZ Skating History Project!
We also have a Facebook page, but would prefer all contact through the Contact Form here on our website please.