Person of the Year

Frankie Webb reports in the Daily Chronicle: "Today we honour Levin librarian Joann Ransom for her work on the Kete Horowhenua project. That such an innovative website exists at all is exciting enough. That it is the brainchild of one of our very own local people is a reason to celebrate indeed. It probably will not be long before many towns and cities will have one of their own and based on what they have seen achieved here in Horowhenua.

Ms Ransom would be the first to acknowledge that it has not been all her own doing and that she has been well served by many others who have worked on the project. They too deserve congratulations for the parts they have played, and continue to play, in the website's development and ongoing running. . Such projects do not, however get off the ground by themselves. It takes somebody like Ms Ransom who has the get-up-and-go to bring the idea to fruition, to battle throught the funding issues and the red tape, and to remain on course through to the end. Now that she has done so, it is incumbent on the rest of us to visit the website and contribute what we can to the datebase of knowledge that is building steadily on the site.The unique thing about this project is that its authors are the ordinary people who visit it and offer their knowledge, experiences, and who contribute a few words or copies of photographs etc."

Horowhenua Deputy Head of Libraries Joann Ransom has put Horowhenua on the world stage. But more than that, Joann Ransom's innovative internet project has given us all a unique way to record the history of our district, its people, its features and events. She is the driving force behind Kete Horowhenua and has been chosen as the Daily Chronicle's person of 2007.

Joann says she was standing in the shower one morning when the inspiration to develop Kete Horowhenua came to her:

• "We did an audit in 2004 of heritage significant items in Horowhenua and discovered thousands of historical things out in our community which no-one may ever know about,” Ms Ransom said.
• “We don’t have a museum of any sort here, a lot of people don’t want to part with family relics, but do want to share them with the community somehow.”
• “I was familiar with the digital auction site which is a database where people get a password and can add and remove photos and text. Thousands of people use it every day.”

Ms Ransom felt positive a digital library of information on Horowhenua could be developed the same way.

It didn’t have to stop there. Other places could develop their own Kete, or basket, of information.

“Items would be stored digitally for all to view without the risk of damage or loss. Anyone can access the information and add their own story, others may read and add to it.” It would be never ending.

Ms Ransom applied for a digital strategy grant of $95,000 and received the full amount.

And so in 2006 with the strategy plan from Ms Ransom and the work of many, many volunteers Kete Horowhenua was born.

Kete Horowhenua is a world first but for non-computer literate, what is it?

• It is a world showcase for Horowhenua past and present.
• It is a website but not in the traditional manner.
• Websites allow you to read and view information on a topic, relying on regular updates, corrections and additions from the web master.
• Kete Horowhenua can be accessed by anybody and not only viewed but added to, updated, altered, corrected and commented on for all the world to see.

Horowhenua Deputy Head of Libraries Joann Ransom created Kete to keep our regional history safe, so it doesn’t get lost or forgotten. This meant when she was ready to showcase Kete to the world, it was Horowhenua who received all the exposure.

As the present becomes the past and users go into Kete adding information, it will become the most comprehensive and current library on our region that could ever be.

Kete has well and truly put Horowhenua in the face of the world.

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