What is in CEISMIC?

Collections in Our Repository

CEISMIC is different from many other repositories, largely because we don't discriminate when it comes to content: every item forms a part of Canterbury's story, and thus is valuable and worthy of being catalogued. Our ethos has created a vast digital collection of stories, research, artefacts, and images, so hunting through everything can take time. This page provides some examples of the material housed in CEISMIC, and offers context to the various collections.

Content Providers

Over the years, CEISMIC has accumulated over 150,000 objects, and continues to grow. This content comes from a range of sources: the vast majority is collected by UC QuakeStudies which was created in conjunction with CEISMIC, but there are a number of other significant contributions from organisations like Christchurch City Libraries, Radio New Zealand, and university research repositories. This has created a substantial collection of content, such as personal narratives, news reports, photography, conference recordings, audio interviews, official documents, and research papers. Listed below is a selection of the material available through CEISMIC, grouped by different content providers.

  • This extensive selection of Images from Christchurch City Libraries contains over 6,000 items. The photographs span several years and show various parts of Canterbury in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
  • The earthquakes created unique archaeological opportunities and research, as shown by the collection of Articles from Christchurch Uncovered. This material delves into the history of Christchurch and showcases the various artifacts discovered in the rubble of collapsed buildings and demolition sites.
  • In the years following the earthquakes, much academic work has been conducted by universities and scholars. This selection of Research Papers from Lincoln University includes dissertations, case studies, and theses (NOTE: some papers may only be accessed by students and staff of Lincoln University).
  • The earthquakes generated much media coverage and political debate. The National Library of New Zealand houses a collection of Digital Cartoons from the Alexander Turnball Library; these examples of social commentary provide a snapshot of the political climate during the lengthy rebuild of Canterbury.
  • The need to preserve important artefacts became evident in the aftermath of the earthquakes. This collection of Material from the Canterbury Museum contains a variety of books, clothing, historical objects, and memorial tributes connected to the Canterbury quakes.
  • Consortium partner Radio New Zealand National provided important news coverage of the earthquakes and their impact on Canterbury. This collection of Audio files from RNZ includes over 2,000 reports spanning the decade that followed the initial quakes.
  • This Academic Collection from the University of Auckland is another example of the extensive research projects about the Canterbury earthquakes. These items include books, peer-reviewed papers, and articles from scholarly journals.
  • The loss of many heritage buildings in Christchurch prompted preservation efforts and commemoration of the city’s history. This selection of Historical Articles from Lost Christchurch serves to inform and educate researchers on Canterbury’s past, from the lost buildings to the mundane rituals of everyday life.

To try your own search of the CEISMIC repository, check out the “How to Use CEISMIC” page or start searching here.

UC QuakeStudies

QuakeStudies is the University of Canterbury’s main contribution to CEISMIC and makes up approximately 93% of the archive’s material. It was created with the purpose of collecting “in the gaps” to account for any items not preserved by the consortium partners that might be in danger of being lost. Thus, the objects housed by QuakeStudies cover a variety of topics that give context to the earthquakes as a moment in Canterbury’s history.

A large percentage of the items in QuakeStudies are newspapers, but it also contains collections of images, videos and audio files. Each object is accompanied by human-curated metadata such as descriptions, geolocations, dates, and times, offering rich content for researchers from a range of disciplines to draw on. Below are a few examples of the collections housed in QuakeStudies.

  • The majority of Quakestudies is made up of newspaper pages, thanks in large part to the Fairfax Media Collection. Owners of several regional newspapers, Fairfax Media contributed issues of The Press from September 2010 onwards, accessible in searchable, high-resolution documents. Also available in this collection are newspaper infographics such as cartoons and charts, previously published and unpublished images, and videos recorded by Fairfax Media.
  • Images make up a significant proportion of QuakeStudies, and one of the largest photographic collections is the Becker Fraser Earthquake Photos. With professional experience in photography, engineering, and librarianship, Ross Becker and Moira Fraser documented the impacts of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes on Canterbury – its buildings, people, and places. This project received support from the National Library and the collection contains over 12,000 photos.
  • The UC QuakeBox Project was a significant collaborative project between CEISMIC and the New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour. Following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, a mobile recording studio (built into a shipping container) travelled around Canterbury, allowing communities to share their experiences of the earthquakes. The collection of audio files, transcripts, and photos are now housed in QuakeStudies, alongside a second QuakeBox project that started in 2019 with the purpose of documenting the long-term effects of the earthquakes.
  • QuakeStudies aims to document the impact of and responses to the Canterbury earthquakes, and the Gap Filler collection provides a lot of information on these topics. The urban regeneration initiative worked to introduce creative, accessible projects and events for communities throughout Christchurch – literally “filling the gaps” made by demolition sites and empty lots. The collection in QuakeStudies is organised by project and contains images, videos and documents of each event. Since its creation in 2010, Gap Filler has grown into the Gap Filler Charitable Trust, and operates across Aotearoa New Zealand.
  • After the demolition of many buildings left empty lots and walls exposed, street art experienced a surge in Christchurch. QuakeStudies houses Paul and Sam Corliss’s Street Art Photographs, which illustrate the rise of street art throughout the city. The collection was gathered between 2010 and 2015, documenting the shifting street art scene and how certain artworks were altered, added to, and obscured.
  • QuakeStudies has been lucky to receive digital scans of published work, such as the entire book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. Published in 2012, this book aimed to catalogue the range of projects that arose in Christchurch in the eighteen months after the earthquakes. It was a collaboration between many contributors, who wrote about their creations in the aftermath of the earthquakes, whether that was artistic, practical, temporary, political, or to bring people together.
  • The earthquakes caused irreparable damage to many of Canterbury’s historical buildings. QuakeStudies houses an extensive collection on Canterbury’s lost heritage from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. With over 3,000 items including archaeological reports, photographs of the residential Red Zone, and register records of heritage buildings, this collection is invaluable to remember pre-quake Canterbury.
  • The Community Collection contains a wide range of material given to QuakeStudies by organisations and individuals. In it, you will find a variety of photographs, writing, art, videos, and more connected to the Canterbury earthquakes.

To explore more collections in UC QuakeStudies, click here