Audio Archives

28th Maori Battalion Historical Archive

Person Describing Archive

Celyn Harding Jones (2010); Chelsea Obodoechina (2020)

Is this primarily a poetry audio site?

N (Audio, text, photographs, video- not poetry, although there are songs featured on the website.)

Sponsoring Person or Institution

Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand.

Site URL

http://www.28maoribattalion.org.nz/

Site Last Updated

20202020/04/28

Date Visited

20202020/04/28

General Description of Archive

This is an archive that documents the 28th Maori Battalion, from New Zealand, who fought in WWII. This website contains history, Interactive maps, Photos, Videos and Audio files as well as user comments. This is an interesting site because it creates a very vivid picture of an event in all forms of media for research and learning purposes.

Description of archive history or URL

Published on July 30, 2009 by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Hon Christopher and the Minister of Maori Affairs, Hon Pita Sharples. Audio files are from the Sound Archives/Nga Taonga Koreo in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Contact information

info@28maoribattalion.org.nz, History Group, Ministry for Culture & Heritage, PO Box 5364, Wellington, NZ.

Searchable options

There is a keyword search bar, along with the options of browsing stories, images and media, and resources on other sites relating to the searched keyword.

Relation from the audio to the text

Audio sometimes has transcription. The transcription is not time-stamped and is written in paragraph format. It is written in the native Maori language. The audio clips are usually no longer than a few minutes of speech or song. Some are extracts from interviews. Internal links to Related Stories or Related Soldiers are also available on the pages of the audio files.

Date/Time/Length/Context info about the audio items

Dates and context as well as a summary of the audio is given. Length of the file is only available on the Play Bar. Adobe Flash Player plugin (version 10+) is required to play the audio files.

Author bios and context within literary history

There is a very short contextualization of the speaker in relation to these audio clips. The aim of this site is to contextualize the information and provide a history of the men who fought in WWII. The entire site provides historical context on the 28th Maori Battalion who fought in World War II.

Audio file type: streaming, download, file format, audio file compression quality (WAV, MP3, bitrate)

The files stream, and I believe it's in MP3 format, but it's not clear.

Multimedia integration (pictures, video, etc.)

This site includes audio, video and photos, although they are in separate sections. When an audio is played, there is a photo of the speaker above the play bar.

Audio playback setup (opens in Flash player, on new blank screen, etc.)

The file plays in Flash Player 10 or higher, in the same screen above the text.

Mobile access (i.e. accessible on smart phones, tablets, etc.)

Website is accessible on smart mobile devices, though some errors in the design of the website may occur (jumbling of words, gaps between website banner and the requested page). Otherwise, photographs and videos show and the audio plays as it should, complete with a Play Bar and volume control.

Browsing

Browsing is good on this site, as there are several categories and venues to explore, search and find related clips, stories, or soldiers on the Battalion Roll.

Discovery features (pre-made playlists; dynamic lists: lists of recent additions, featured items, related items, etc).
Interactivity and Web 2.0 features

There is an interactive map feature, as well as a comments section below each recording. There are also School Resources that provide fact sheets, activities, conceptual strands, etc. Each audio file has a pause/play feature and local volume control.

Other notes

Note: Registered Users are listed and contribute to the site. Language options are English and Maori.