Paul Reynolds

Paul Séamus Reynolds (4 October 1949 – 23 May 2010) was a New Zealand internet advocate in the cultural sector. He was an early advocate of IT systems and the Internet in the cultural sector in New Zealand. Biography Born in Scotland on 4 October 1949, Reynolds studied at the Middlesex University, graduating with a BA in the history of ideas in 1983. He then completed an MA in social and political thought at the University of Sussex in 1988. Reynolds moved to Auckland, working part-time in a Parnell bookshop and becoming a book reviewer. He founded McGovern Online, an internet consulting company, with his wife, Helen Smith, in 1995. For many years a commentator for Radio New Zealand on information technology, he was also an active advocate for the use of public-facing information technology by cultural institutions. He worked with libraries, museums and similar institutions to develop websites that informed, educated and engaged with the general public. Reynolds held a number of roles, including as a member of the Governance Group of Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa, board member of the National Digital Forum, adjunct director (Digital Library) to the National Library of New Zealand, board member of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and member of the New Zealand government’s digital strategy advisory group.