Antarctica New Zealand launches global outreach platform

Antarctica New Zealand launches global outreach platform

Antarctica New Zealand has launched a digital platform which makes thousands of images and videos of our proud Antarctic history available to the public.

Originally designed as a photo archive, this affectionately named tool, ADAM, is a custom-designed web-platform showcasing more than 40,000 images dating back to 1957.

The collection hosts images from Sir Edmond Hillary’s record-breaking push to the South Pole on his Massey Fergusson tractor, and the Trans-Antarctic Expedition Hut – the very first building at Scott Base.

The collection includes images of 3000 penguins, more than 1000 seals, 200 whales and a cat on the ice.

There are images from 13 international Antarctic programmes, 21 different branches of science, with over 1100 individual photographers credited for their work.

Antarctica New Zealand has been able to geo-tag more than 25,000 locations attributed to the sites of stunning imagery loaded into the platform.

“The platform has evolved into a sophisticated outreach tool for the Antarctic community,” says Antarctica New Zealand Chief Executive Peter Beggs. “It not only serves as a record of New Zealand’s proud heritage in Antarctica, it provides a mechanism to share the Antarctic content in living rooms of families across the world each keen to learn more about this precious environment.”
The Antarctic community is very passionate, and ADAM Project Manager, Jenny Ryan, is an Antarctican whose love for Antarctica and information-sharing has driven the success of this project.

“Antarctica New Zealand is grateful to the many cataloguers who worked to ensure the metadata attached to each image is as accurate as we can make it. The quality of information represented within this tool is a testament to the research and input of the wider Antarctic community,” says Ms Ryan.

“This project has taken 60-years of images which were stored in a dated filing cabinet in a cold-store facility in Christchurch, and produced a future proof-platform which all Kiwis can be proud of.

“The commitment by Wellington web-based platform developer New Zealand Micrographic Services has been significant. Their flexibility and willingness to innovate, create and adapt existing systems to produce this unique platform has been unwavering.”

“ADAM currently contains more than 400,000 nodes of data, including personal profiles, event information and geographic locations, along with journal transcripts and video records. But we have more work to do,” says Antarctica New Zealand General Manager Marketing and Communications Jeanine Begg.

“We need the support of fellow Antarcticans and the wider community to further develop this asset. If more information is known about a photo or video, the crowd-sourcing capability of the site means we can better enhance our strong historic records.”

Antarctica New Zealand is confident this platform hosts the largest collection of Antarctic imagery in the world. As such, an application has been made to the Guinness World Records, with confirmation of claim acceptance expected in the near future.

ADAM will be launched at an event in Christchurch this evening. Guests include the Hon Mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, members of the diplomatic corps, the science and business communities, teachers and passionate Antarcticans.

Start browsing through a few of our favourite links now:
25th Anniversary of Scott Base (1982) http://antarctica.recollect.co.nz/nodes/index/q:BRDA
Antarctic expedition video/s http://antarctica.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/34600
Shackleton’s whiskey http://antarctica.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/34405

ENDS

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