Wellington the latest place to feature in Te Ara

Media Advisory
6 July 2007

Wellington the latest place to feature in Te Ara: the Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Web users will be able to enjoy an interactive walk around the Wellington waterfront in the Wellington entry of Te Ara: the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (www.TeAra.govt.nz) when it is launched by Hon Judith Tizard, Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, on Monday 9 July.

The Wellington entry is the seventh in Te Ara’s highly successful ‘Places’ theme, which also includes entries on the Wairarapa and Manawatu-Horowhenua. The completed theme will cover 22 regions.

Some 14,000 words and over 200 images, maps and interactives have been used for the Wellington entry. There are some fascinating film clips including an extract from a historical film on the 1940 centennial exhibition and a clip from an early television show featuring Lynn of Tawa.

The entry was written by the well-known Wellington historian, Chris Maclean. He notes, ‘The dynamic landscape and challenging climate of the Wellington region gives the place an energy and vibrancy which is hard to find anywhere else in the country. Not everyone loves Wellington, but those who do, love it with a passion.’

In preparing the entry Maclean was struck by the remarkable changes that had occurred in the region over the last generation. ‘The place has been transformed – and for the better,’ he says.

Te Ara will eventually be a complete encyclopedia of New Zealand, available free on the web. The first theme on the peoples of New Zealand was launched in 2005, the second theme of ‘Earth Sea and Sky’ in 2006, and ‘The Bush’, featuring another 106 entries, will go live in September.

Te Ara is a world first – the first national encyclopedia to be prepared for the web, and it has already won a number of prizes.

The Wellington entry will be launched at the City Gallery Wellington on Monday 9 July at 5.30pm. The entry can be found at www.TeAra.govt.nz/Places/Wellington/en.

ENDS

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