National soil-profile observation records with earlier paper, card and computer database stages.
The National Soils Database includes descriptions and laboratory results for about 1,500 soil profiles. Manaaki Whenua records that the collection was paper-based until 1980, when soil observations were entered into Datatrieve; it later moved to Paradox in 1993 and Microsoft SQL Server in 2000.
The site observations record conditions measured at particular locations rather than continuous soil-map polygons. The soil analyses, dates and original classification methods should be retained when those observations contribute to derived national spatial layers.