Getting Wares' "Retail Icons" online - for posterity!

27 November: Wares magazine and its "Retail Icon" series now enjoys a privileged place with the Auckland Library.

Kate DeCourcy, Manuscript Collections Librarian, explains: “Publishers in New Zealand are legally required to send two copies of each publication to the National Library. These are kept in perpetuity as part of the printed story of New Zealand.

“In Auckland, Auckland Libraries has a subscription to Wares. They used to keep the copies for 5 years only, but since February 2005 they are retaining each issue indefinitely. The magazines are kept in the Library’s reference collection at the Central Library at 44-46 Lorne Street.”

But why Wares? “We maintain details of the history of New Zealand across various sectors and retail is one of them. Since Wares have started publishing articles on iconic appliance retailers, brands which are still trading after 50 or more years in the community, a one-stop-shop for this category has been set up in the library and the Wares articles plus other material provided make up our file.”

How did this come about? “Your contributor, Merv Robertson, is a neighbour of Louise Linnell, who is on our staff. They were chatting one day, about 18 months ago and the Bond & Bond story came up. Louise asked for a copy and brought it in for me to read. It was a perfect fit for our collection.”

So now, every time a “Retail Icon” story appears in the magazine, all the background material, as well as a PDF of the article as published, is kept for posterity. The same goes for the “Where are they now?” series which are stored permanently in the library computer system in the Manuscripts Collection in Sir George Grey Special Collections located on the 2nd floor of the Central Library.

To see the stories that are available through the library website click here. The stories cannot be viewed online but you can go into the library Reading Room, request the file and read it on-site. Copies of materials are available for a small fee, on the basis they are not used commercially.

Once the “Iconic Retailer” series concludes, sometime in 2012, Kate DeCourcy is hoping to arrange an online exhibition. We’ll keep you posted!