“I thought it might be useful to know that my students particularly at Level 2 and 3 and to a lesser extent at Level 1 use PapersPast frequently.  At each level over one term we focus mostly on research.  I encourage my students to focus on an aspect of NZ History and the requirements of the assessment set by NZQA are that students must engage with primary evidence.  PapersPast is an absolute treasure trove of information.  

However, as recently as Wednesday one of my students discovered its shortcomings when researching a local topic (Kaitangata Mine Disaster) at the Hocken. Whilst using gloves to handle old papers is a novelty at first, it quickly wears off. A newspaper clipping from a very long time past had been saved and given to the Hocken Library and my student assumed that it would likely have been also already digitised on PapersPast.  The reference librarian checked for us and discovered that no, as it was not the Clutha Leader but another publication from the area it had not yet been digitised.  Interestingly the student is what the MOE classifies as a priority learner and therefore removing barriers to accessing information to help achievement is of huge importance.  

Analysis of sources is one of the very first skills we introduce our Year 11 students to.  Percepetive students understand that analysing the strengths and limitations of a source includes cross-referencing it with other sources.  If other sources are not available to be cross-referenced then they do feel that they are not perhaps getting an accurate view of the past.  The smaller papers provide a unique insight into community life and views that may not always be represented in the larger papers.”

From a Dunedin-based History Teacher