Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
The DNZB website
Over 3,000 biographies from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography are now online at www.dnzb.govt.nz.
The website project, launched in 2001, aims to give New Zealanders and overseas visitors easier access to the content of the five published volumes in English and in Māori. Hundreds of portraits and other images as well as snapshots of New Zealand history adapted from the New Zealand Historical Atlas also make up the material now available online. Curent themes are explored through the website's News features.
The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography has achieved international recognition, taking a respected place alongside other print and electronic biographical projects such as the British Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, the Australian Dictionary of Biography and the American National Biography.
In addition the website has won accolades, and in 2002 was voted site of the year by users of Yahoo! (Australia and New Zealand).
The DNZB and Te Ara
The DNZB website is currently maintained alongside the website for Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (www.TeAra.govt.nz) by the Reference Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The two sites contain information that is closely related, and entries on the Te Ara website link directly to relevant biographies on the DNZB site.
Staff
A small staff add to and maintain the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website. Emma Dewson researches new images for online publication, liaises with institutions to obtain new material and prepares the content for publication on the website. Nancy Swarbrick oversees the development of the project and Ross Somerville is responsible for website maintenance. We also answer enquiries in relation to the biographical database. The website is updated with corrections and images. In addition, we will be publishing 10 new biographies of prominent New Zealanders in 2006/7.