Welcome to Timeframes - Nau mai, haere mai ki Timeframes

New Zealand and the Pacific through images

Timeframes includes selected New Zealand and Pacific images from the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, the research library within the National Library of New Zealand. More about National Library of New Zealand

Changes in access to Alexander Turnbull Library collections

Need to order any pictures, maps or ephemera? From 5pm on 3 December 2009 some of the Library's collections will be unavailable during the building redevelopment. Note: digitised images will continue to be available and will still be able to be ordered.

For more information on what will and won't be available go to Access to Alexander Turnbull Library collections for details.

Faster searching is on its way for Timeframes

In 2010 we're upgrading Timeframes to be much faster. In response to requests we’re also trying out some new features - new filtering options, an RSS feed, and you can add tags or comments to an item. Take a sneak peek now.

If you already have a Timeframes login username, you can use it on the new site too. However you will need to recreate your saved searches and saved records. If you don’t have a username already, you can simply register online for free.

Zoomable images

Timeframes images are now in our recently launched National Digital Heritage Archive (NDHA) to ensure the long-term preservation of digital heritage under the Library's guardianship.

We're excited that this also means you can now zoom right in to view the images in much more detail than ever before. The zoom controls appear at the top right of the image on the 'Large Image' tab:

• Click to enlarge the image to the size you want, then click on the preview thumbnail on the left to move around the image
• Click to change to the alternative view that allows you to click and drag around the image itself directly (similar to Google Maps). This is the best view to print from.

Let us know if you experience any difficulties. Please note that if you have switched off Javascript in your browser, you will not be able to use the zoom controls.

View Timeframes help about:

• Finding images
• Saving your favourites
• Ordering copies

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Timeframes News

The current Featured Collection highlights maps found in the papers of Donald McLean, one of the most important political figures in nineteenth century New Zealand. Significant parts of his papers, held in the Alexander Turnbull Library, have been digitised and are now available on the Manuscript & Pictorial website http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/. The 51 maps from the McLean collection that can be viewed on Timeframes are among the over 900 maps that available online from the Turnbull collections. Of these 250 can be seen on Timeframes using the new zoom functionality. For further information go to the Cartographic page of the National Library website http://www.natlib.govt.nz/collections/a-z-of-all-collections/cartographic-collection.

The Featured Image is a Christmas card published by Frank Duncan & Co of Auckland during World War I. The original card is held in the Library's Ephemera Collection, and comes from an album of postcards donated by the Hurley family. This card is featured in the recently published A New Zealand Christmas: three centuries of Kiwi Christmas celebrations from the Alexander Turnbull Library by Sarah Ell (Random House, 2008).

Matapihi is a window onto the online collections of a number of New Zealand cultural organisations. You can search across the digital collections of different New Zealand organisations from one website. New collections from the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu and from the University of Canterbury Library have recently been added. Timeframes images are available through Matapihi.

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