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Koha library system: Protecting taonga in Taranaki
03 Sep 2025, 9:31 AMExplore how Rōpū kohinga at Catalyst supported Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust to future-proof their collection in Koha.
Background
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust is the post-settlement governance entity (PSGE) for Te Ātiawa. Its role is to receive Treaty settlement assets and to hold, manage, and administer a Trust Fund for the benefit of members of Te Atiawa (irrespective of where members live).
Ani Sharland (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki), from Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust, was asked to create a digital collection for Te Ātiawa to be housed in a single digital space. With a background in heritage and research libraries, Ani had managed heritage collections and community archives. Her focus was twofold: “To look for opportunities to preserve knowledge and provide access to Te Ātiawa uri.” Ani acquired books, publications, and historical records for the library and provided descriptions of archive material related to Te Ātiawa and to the Taranaki region.
Defining the long-term goal
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust needed a technology solution that aligned with their values and ensured their collection was well cared for.
The key objectives were:
- An easy-to-use system: With the whole collection needing to be catalogued and with future records needing to be uploaded, the process needed to be straightforward.
- The ability to use Ngā Upoko Tukutuku and te reo Māori: They wanted te reo Māori as the default language, with English as an option.
- Ensured data sovereignty: With the collection belonging to Te Ātiawa and the people of Taranaki maunga, the context and security of the data needed to remain under their control.
- A future-proof system: They required secure and scalable hosting to ensure the collection’s longevity.
- Personalised support: Within this sole role, Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust needed assurance that their vendor could train them and help them become self-sufficient.
Ani had heard that a Trust with a similar-sized collection had recently set up its own catalogue. That Trust directed her to Rōpū kohinga at Catalyst and Koha library management system.
Creating an online home for the collections
Pictured: Te Wainui outside Ngāmotu house.
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust decided to partner with Catalyst for their cataloguing and hosting solution using Koha and Catalyst Cloud.
When Rōpū kohinga discussed the project, Te Wainui Witika-Park (Te Ātiawa, Waikato-Tainui), Rōpū kohinga Developer, was asked to lead.
Ani had a spreadsheet for the collection ready to be catalogued in Koha. Te Wainui and Alex Buckley, Rōpū kohinga Developer, ensured the data could be read by Koha and displayed to users in a way that made sense. Te Wainui shares, “I was so excited for the project. When we were going through the data, it was great to see people and names I recognised.”
For Te Wainui, “to be able to take my tech skills home to Taranaki, and do that for my people was really special to me.”
Key features included:
Streamlined cataloguing: The first stage of Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust library and archive collection is available online in Koha. Workflows have been established to streamline future additions, with new items added regularly. Koha is an open source library system that is flexible, extensible, and easy to use.
Te reo Māori translations: Koha is translated in over 40 languages, including te reo Māori, so the collection is accessible in the language the user prefers.
Custom theming: Their collection was aligned with the branding of Te Ātiawa.
Secure, scalable, and shared hosting: The collection can scale up as needed, with monthly upgrades and maintenance with a future-proof foundation.
Data sovereignty: Hosted on Catalyst Cloud, a 100% New Zealand-owned cloud provider, Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust has full access and control over its data under New Zealand laws.
One-on-one training: Through Rōpū kohinga training sessions, Ani gained personalised training so she could implement direct changes that met her needs. The training was an initiative to support on-going development needs.
The collection is special to me. It’s special to me to be able to create something for my children and my grandchildren. I think that’s why I valued the process so much. It has meaning. I’m doing it with the intention of how this will benefit generations to come.
Sharing the stories of Te Ātiawa uri
Pictured: The homepage of the Te Kotahitanga ot Te Atiawa Trust library.
Today, part of the growing digital collection of Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust is available to explore via their website. Ani reflects, “The whole project, from the initial contact to getting Koha running up online was seamless.”
Looking forward, Ani sees the collection as “an active space and the need to be able to share narratives and stories with Te Ātiawa uri will only grow.”
Rōpū kohinga are proud to support Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trust to future-proof their collection in Koha.
We’re here to support you at any stage of your journey
From cataloguing to training, implementation to hosting, Rōpū kohinga are happy to discuss any questions you may have.
Services provided
- Koha
- Training
- Hosting
- Cloud services
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