![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
This contribution shares the first findings and methodological approaches emerging from a research project aiming at exploring how 20th-century archives and libraries in Malta were perceived and in turn shaped by people who engaged and dedicated their lives to their mission. The project also intends to reconstruct the early embryonic development of the profession in Malta, provide a better understanding of the custodial history of archival and library collections on the island, and contribute to the recent local development of university-level archival and library education. To retrace the steps of this pathway through the lens of the changes that are currently happening in Maltese holding institutions, extensive archival research and semi-structured interviews are held in collaboration with the community archive project Memorja (National Archives of Malta). The project will also lay the foundations to trace back the history of Maltese archives and libraries through the 19th century.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to James Baldacchino and Zvetlana Pace of the Memorja team for supporting the project.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. The Maltese archipelago was a British colony from 1813, after the British protectorate (1800–1813), to 1964. For an historical account, see Mallia-Milanes, The British Colonial Experience, 1800–1964.
2. An assessment of the archival/records management systems in Malta was carried out by Sir Hilary Jenkinson (1882–1961). He visited the island aiming at formalizing the Colonial Office reply to a request for information about the archives made a number of years earlier by the Institut International de Cooperation Intellectuelle. His report was completed in May 1944. National Archives of Malta (NAM), Chief Secretary to Government (CSG), CSG01_1400/44, Jenkinson’s report.
3. An analysis of the developments and the way forward is offered by Farrugia in L-Arkivji ta’ Malta and “Guarding the memory of the nation: the National Archives’ past, present and future.”
4. To mention the most important cataloguing activities, from the 1970s to the 1990s, a collection of catalogues was published by focusing on some of the series of the archives of the Order preserved at the National Library of Malta. Although they are still an important source of information, no archival standards were fully developed at the time. Particularly important for the archival custodial history in Malta, Mifsud, “Appunti sugli Archivi di Malta.;” Gatt, “Gli archivi di Malta durante il periodo della occupazione francese e i primi anni della dominazione inglese.;” Farrugia, L-Arkivji ta’ Malta; Camilleri, ‘The Archives of the Order of Malta. AOM 6520–6577: A Case of Irrespect des Fondes.’
5. For a first account of archival dispersion in Malta, see Vanesio, ‘Rediscovering the archival history of the Order of Saint John: the proofs of admission of the Langue of Italy (c.15th-18th century).’
6. Fenech, ‘The strangeness of Anglo-Maltese relations’.
7. Mifsud Bonnici, An introduction to cultural heritage law.
8. For more information, see HMML. ‘Malta Study Center’.
9. About colonial and post-colonial archives and cultural heritage, the scientific literature is vast. See mainly Forget Chaterera Zambuko, Anne Gilliland, James Lowry, and Michelle Caswell’s works.
10. For the first steps of the Department, see Sciberras, Lillian. ‘Library and Information Studies in Malta’
11. NAM, CSG01_1400/44, Government Archives Committee. Report dated Valletta 6th March 1947, p. 2. The support to foreign students to explore Maltese Archives and study Maltese history was also emphasized by the Institute of Historical Research founded in Malta in 1931. See Farrugia, ‘Libraries and archives: surviving, striving and thriving.’
12. For Elisabeth Shepherd, see the most recent: ‘Hidden Voices in the Archives: Pioneering Women Archivists in Early 20th-Century England.’ The authors are grateful for the conversation with Elisabeth Shepherd at the online ICHORA conference 2022.
13. The project was conducted jointly from 2019 to 2022 between Trento University, the Central Institute for Archives (ICAR), and the National Association of Italian Archivists (ANAI).
14. The Department of Library, Information, and Archive Sciences was founded 30 years ago and offered diplomas in library studies and only more recently in archives and information management. Since 2021, it also offers the first MAs in Archives, Records Management and Librarianship.
15. NAM, CSG series.
16. National Archives of Malta. ‘Memorja. Pioneers Project.’
17. The last comprehensive overview on public and church records scenario was offered in 1913 by Mifsud, ‘Appunti sugli Archivi di Malta.’
18. Malta Government Gazette (MGG), 27 June 1851, no. 1715.
19. MGG, 28 August 1931, no. 315. The members of the Committee of the Institute were: H. Luke, H. Balbi, A. Bartolo, R. J. Dunbar Cousin, S. Cremona, A. V. Laferla, F. Ryan, T. Zammit, D. Callus, V. Laurenza, G. Darmanin Demajo, A. Hamilton Stilon, H. P. Scicluna, V. Gatt. Professor Carlo Mallia was appointed later on in September 1931 and replaced Rev. D. M. Callus. Another appointee was S. F. Newcombe in December 1931.
20. Ryan, F., Coville, A., and Rossi, E. Les Archives de Malte.
21. NAM, CSG01/45/1935. The Insinuazione functions date back to 1681 when Grand Master Carafa promulgated the code of laws which founded the Ufficio delle Insinuazioni for the registration of acts regarding transfers of immovable property. In 1859 it became part of the Public Registry. In 1863 the Public Registry became also responsible for the registration of all acts of birth, marriage and death.
22. NAM/CSG1/1400/1944. The full recommendations are reproduced in Maltese in Farrugia, L-Arkviji ta’ Malta, 33. The recommendations in English are listed in the National Archives of Malta, Annual Report 2008, which also includes comments on the current state of progress on each recommendation and discussed in Farrugia, Charles J. ‘Libraries and archives : surviving, striving and thriving,’ 21–22.
23. Evans, Report on a visit to the Royal University of Malta.
24. For an account of Dom Mauro Inguanez’s contribution to the archival community see Avagliano, ‘Mauro Inguanez: Monaco ed Archivista di Montecassino.’
25. NAM, CSG01/4475/1945, red. 9.
26. Farrugia, ‘Dun Ġwann: An Archival Influencer and Reformer.’
27. Xuereb, Promoters of Information: the first twenty years of the Għaqda Bibljotekarji 1969–1989.
28. Boffa, ‘Half a century of school libraries.’
29. NAM, Cabinet Memo 657, 15 September 1966.
30. Smith, ‘Brief report and recommendations on the subject of school libraries.’
31. The organization changed its name to Għaqda Bibljotekarja when it became illegal to use the word Malta in the title due to legislation prohibiting the use of the term ‘Malta’ by non-official bodies.
32. Xuereb, Promoters of information: the first twenty years of the Għaqda Bibljotekarji, 1969–1989, 6.
33. Boffa, ‘Half a century of school libraries.’
34. Ibid., 112.
35. Ibid., 113.
36. Williams and Vella Bonavita, Maltese History: what future?. The conference was held on 19 and 20 March 1971.
37. Ibid., 172.
38. Ibid., 116.
39. For such an assessment see Farrugia, ‘Libraries and archives: surviving, striving and thriving.’
40. NAM, CSG01_1400/44.
41. Archives Portal Europe. Accessed 13/02/2023. https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/.
42. Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers. Accessed 13/02/2023. https://acarmblog.wordpress.com/.
43. EURBICA. Accessed 13/02/2023. https://www.ica.org/en/about-eurbica.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Charles Farrugia
Charles Farrugia is Malta’s National Archivist. A Commonwealth Scholar, Dr Farrugia holds degrees in history and records management and a doctorate in archives management. For the last thirty years Farrugia worked at the National Archives and contributed towards its establishment and the professionalization of the organization. He introduced archives and records management studies at the University of Malta in 2005 and was host to the CITRA archives conference in Malta in 2009. Dr Farrugia has published and lectured about archives in Malta and in a number of countries and also served as Chairperson of the Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers. For the last nine years he occupied the post of President of the European Branch of the International Council on Archives (EURBICA). He is also the current head of the Department of Library, Information and Archive Sciences at the University of Malta.
Valeria Vanesio
Valeria Vanesio is Lecturer at the Department of Library, Information and Archive Sciences, University of Malta (2020-) where she is coordinator of the Bachelor of Knowledge and Information Management and worked for the introduction of MA courses in Archival and Library Science (2021). Her main field of research is archival science and history, in particular the early modern period and the Maltese and Italian archival scenario. She holds a PhD in Archival and Library Science from Sapienza University of Rome and two specialization diplomas from the State Archive in Rome and the Archivio Apostolico Vaticano. She received the Premio Bibliographica (2016), the mention of the Premio Minerva (Sapienza, 2020), and the Heckman Stipend at Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML, 2017; 2022). She was post-doctoral fellow and Archivist and now Field site manager in Malta and Italy of the Malta Study Center at HMML, US. Valeria was also in charge of the first 3-years project of reorganization of the historical fonds at the Magistral Archives of Order of Saint John in Rome (2014-2017). She is involved in international projects and collaborations.