NAM Newsletter 09 (2007)

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NATIONAL

ARCHIVES

ii=_ MALTA

. . .to Preserve the collective memory

of the Maltese nation through the Protection and accessib.II.Ity of all Publ.Ic archives. . .

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illEE:­`T+HENATIONALARCHIVESNEWSLETTER

MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONALARCHIVIST

Charles Farrug.Ia J`

Four months have passed from the last issue of this newsletter. The focus

~ of our activity centered once more on the administrative capacity building

which is required under the new legislation. We finalized the first

accounts and estimates of the organization, and also submitted to the rvlinister of Education,

Youth and Employment our first annual report. This report

was presented by the Minister on the Table of the House in line with the provisions of the National Archives Act.

Our human resources section finalized the detailing exercise

and also the contract for the post of Assistant National Archivist for Gozo. This is a new post established under the legislation.

Rev. Dr joseph Bezzina who for the last eighteen years was employed on a part time basis is now working full time with the National Archives.

A number of accessions were also processed. Amongst these a set of prints presented by Mr Lino Cuschieri, the private

papers of the late Amilcare German, as well as photos and film footage of Mr Stanley Fraser.

We strongly believe that awareness and educational initiatives

are the best investment in the future of Maltese archives.

Duringthelastfourmonthswehadgroupsofstudentsfollowing University courses in Public Administration and Criminology

visiting the archives. A group of students from Giovanni Curmi

Higher Secondary also conducted an extensive research visit

to the archives. \^le also hosted a number of students from the Diploma in Archives and Records Management who did

their one hundred hour placement at our repositories.

Visit by the Swedish Ambassador I I December 2006 One of the distinguished visitors to the National Archives was H.E. Fredrik vahlquist Ambassador of sweden to Malta. Initial

contacts for this visit were made by Mr Tomas Lidman, National

Archivist of Sweden and now also Treasurer of the International Council on Archives. During the visit to the National Archives

Our commitment in international archives fora has also

H.E. Mr Vahlquist had the opportunity to discuss with the

increased. In December 2006,I attended the meeting of the

National Archivist about future collaboration between the two

European Archives Experts Group in Brussels. In February,

institutions. Other discussions focused on a forthcoming

one of my staff attended a conference on the Digitization of

exhibition about the relations between Malta and Sweden.

Europe's Cultural Heritage in Berlin. We also concluded a

Himself a lover of books, Mr. Vahlquist was impressed by the

number of training placements in foreign archives sponsored

extent and wealth of the holdings in our National Archive.

under the Leonardo project and participated in the kick­off

meeting of the lnterreg Ills programme Aristhot. More information about these projects will be published in the next issue of this newsletter which will be a thematic issue on our involvement in international archival activities.

I take this opportunity to thank all those who are supportlng

our endeavors to safeguard the collective memory of the Maltese nation, Electronic copies of the first annual report are available. Send requests for

copies to customercare.archives@gov.mt

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER illE'­­I

SAFEGUARDING OUR

FILM ARCHIVES A not so much publicised task is currently under way at the Department of Information (Dol). It involves the first small, albeit sure step, to safeguard what is considered to be a unique heritage. A wide ranging collection of Malta's past, recorded on 16mm films. It

involved a hefty amount of man hours invested to identify basic issues and needs, such as how to go about the process; where to store the films; the ambient conditions they will be stored in; and eventually how to maximise their preservation and conservation.

The 16mm film collection was stored, in the past years, in a warehouse lacking the ideal conditions. Each and every film was housed in its original film can made of tin which was slowly being eroded by rust.

A top priority was to at least decrease, if not stop, the rate of deterioration and transfer the films into less mundane surroundings. \^/:­L ­L ._ . . 1 I­I­I I , ,

With this in mind Dol launched two concurrent and interrelated projects; the Film Vault room and the Film Archive transf;r. t5T~ffi€EEEE5EEEEEE5ERE#jEREE[tf£#_#+5;~#,f.±#r¥¥#g,+,..¥T.f .__ _ i=_­_===­_ +­. ===T_­_==+:I_ _ _ ­I;=JJ|"JI'L­I­­.+­i=:a­­i­.dp`th. _ . =

Film Vault Project The Film Vault project, which has since been successfully concluded, involved the setting up of a tailor­made room equipped with appropriate split­type air­conditions, fire curtains, fire door and a sophisticated fire suppression unit. The business of film preservation

involves big money but Dol managed to approach the issue in a down to earth and cost­effective manner while at the same time catering for the recommendations submitted by local and foreign experts to create a room with appropriate ambient conditions so as to prolong the preservation of what is considered to be part of our country's historical heritage.

Archive Film Transfer The first phase to transfer the 16 mm film archives held in its former stores has been completed. A substantial number of films (some

dating back from the forties and early f`ft`es) have been ident`fied wh``e others of histor.ical, pol'it.Ical and soc.Ial 'Importance have been

hived off and transferred to a temporary storage room at the Department of lnformation's premises. Currently each and every film is being individually catalogued and registered in a data­base to be permanently stored in the film vault room, New plastic film cans

have replaced the current metal ones which are deteriorating rapidly at the risk of causing irreparable damage to the 16 mm films.

It is also envisaged that the film collection will be professionally cleaned,

Digitisation The ultimate and most ambitious aim is to embark on another project. This will lead to each and every 16mm film being

transferred to a digitised version with state of the art equipment, thus ensuring its

conservation for future generations, At the

end of the day, with modem day technology already at hand, the film archives can very

easily be put on­line to be accessed by the

public who will be amazed to see what Malta went through over the years.

ENEEr­~ THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES NEWSLETTEB

ARCHIVE AVVARENESS WEEK 2006 Last year's Archive Awareness week was held between the I 3 and 18 November 2006. The theme for the activities was `Going Digital'. \^/e are conscious that a number of archival repositories are turning to digitisation in order to enhance accessibility to the

holdings. However, in most cases, the issues of long term preservation and also of the management of large amounts of digital data

are not appreciated.

The National Archives has built considerable experience in the digitisation of archival holdings, \^le are currently undergoing a large scale digitisation project on the Customs records. We are also in close collaboration with international institutions specializing in these

areas.

Members of the public touring the National Archives reposit®i<ies. dui­ing the open day on 18 Novembefr­ 2006 ARE i

Annual Public Lecture The theme of the 2006 Annual Public Lecture was `Reconnecting the Past: The role of digitization in the creation of virtual archives'. The guest speaker

was Ms Gabriella lvacs, Chief Archivist and Records rvlanager of the Open Society Archives in Budapest, Hungary.

The speaker dealt with the challenges facing archivists in creating digital content,

Issues such as the use of open source systems for digitization and protection

of privacy were raised. The event was well attended and accompanied by an audio visual presentation about the digital content available online on the

site of the Open Society Archives.

Lecture by Ms. Ivacs on 14 November 2006

School Visits As in previous years due importance was given to the education aspect of archives. A number of students visited the National Archives

and had the opportunity to view the procedures and systems used. This year's students came from the Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary and Liceo Vassalli.

F :i±IiLiii= I­I

RIcht: Stirdents from the Giovanni Curmi Higher

Secondary at the National Archives.

Far Right: School visit

by Mikiel AIiton Vassalli

junior Lyceum students.

THE NATIONAL APICHIVES NEWSLETTEB ENEEr|

GOING DIGITAL Gozo Section The Gozo section run by the Assistant National Archivist Rev. Dr joseph Bezzina also participated in the Archive Awareness Week. An exhibition entitled Re`i.gt.oL/s Aspects

of Life in Gozo from the deposits at the National Archives

was inaugurated on 16 November 2006 by the Minister

for Gozo, the Honourable Giovanna Debono. In a short speech, she highlighted the progressive steps taken by the

Government to upgrade the structure of the National Archives and praised the efforts being made in Gozo to preserve the historical memory of the island and its people.

During the same ceremony, National Archivist, Charles

Farrugia elaborated further on the archives reform and presented Minster Debono with his recent publication entjitled L­Aridvji ta' Maltc].

Concurrently with this exhibition, a second exhibition was Opening of the Gozo Exhibition on 16 November 2006 by the Hon. Giovanna Debono, Set uP under the heading Re`/g/ous Pub`/.cot/.or) /.n Mo`tese Minister for Gozo.

( I 863 to 2000) .

The Gozo archlves

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I 3 I I 200o ­ I 8 I I 200o

Exhibi(ion: National Archives Head Office, Rabat The National Archives Over the Years M{)nday to Friday 9.(Mt am to 4.(M} pin S.`[urddy 9.Ow) am tt) 12.30 pin

Exhibition: National Archives Gozo Section Rc.ligious As[iects Of Life in Gozo

16 ­30 No\Ji`mbcr 2(" Mi}nday ti} Frid¢ly 7.30 am t{t 1.3(t pin

Wcdncsday 2.00 pin to 6.0{) pin S.iturdciy 7.30 am to I.(X) pin

National Archives Annual Public Lecture Reconnecting the' Past: T]Ie role Of digili~zf ltion in thc' cretltion o.f virlunl archius Thi. li`cture wlll be. di`liveri.d in English by

Signing of a dlgltisation agreement with the Genealogical Society of

Utah on 17 November 2006

Ms Gabrie]la Tvacs Cllief Archivist aiid Records Mnliager o`f the Op(n Society Archi{ngs ­Hiingary

at the head off­ii`e {if the National Archives, Rabat 14th Nttvember 2006 ­6.30 p,in.

Behind the Scenes Tours: Tlake this opportunity and tour I he reserved areas Of the National Archives ­ Wliat we do? Why? Are we succeeding?

Tt`urs: National Archivi`s Hi`ad Offii`i` & Legal Doi`umentati{in Si`ction Saturday l8th November 2(ro6 Time: 9.00; 10.On; 11.00; 12.On

Pli`asi` b{tt)k {m customercare.archives@gov.mt t)r phoni` {tn 21459863 Places on the tours ar( limited aiid booking is olt a first (oliie first seni.:d basis

School Visits: At the. Ijcgnl Doclitiicntation sc.(lion in Mdina and lhc

Head O.fficc of the National Archives iit Rabilt 15th Notiember 2006

Publicrty poster Issued for the Archive Awareness week 2006

nHE`~~= THE NATioNAL ARCH,vEs NEwsLETTER

Recent

Donat.Ions Maltese Landscape 50 years ago Donation of slides by Prof. lan Thompson My first, of many, visits to Malta was in 1956, when I was an

undergraduate student in Geography at the University of rvlalta.

I was engaged as a field assistant in a project concerned with the

mapping of land use for the whole of Malta and Gozo, This was the first comprehensive land use survey of the islands, field by field, outside the built­up areas. As well as the land use, other

expert studies were carried out on the geology, climatology, soils, hydrology as well as socio­economic studies of the Maltese

population. Detailed crop maps and technical reports were prepared for the rvlinistries in Malta and London and a book, "rvlalta. Background for Development" was published.

My own involvement was to record land use, field by field, on

a six inch to the mile base map which showed every field boundary. There were many difficulties in this task. In many

it was back by bus to Valletta to our headquarters in the Osborne

cases, several different crops were grown in a tiny field. Secondly,

Hotel and delicious tea and toast, followed by an evening's work

many of the fields were surrounded by high stone walls which

transferring the information gathered in the field on to a master

made observation difficult. Access could be very strenuous,

copy. \^/hat one accomplished in a day was highly variable. On

especially in deeply incised w/dien with terraced walls. A typical

the Blue Clay slopes beneath the Upper Coralline, for example,

day would consist of setting off by the first available bus from

whole swathes of land would be covered in glorious purple s/.``o,

Valletta to a particular village, Once orientated on the map,

which made mapping easy, On the other hand, mapping on the

recording could begin with little opportunity for a lunch break.

northern ridges, like the Wardija or Marfa ridges, was often

In those days, little existed in the way of cafes and the main

frustrating. A whole day tramping the glistening white limestone

beverage consisted of tea with condensed, rather than fresh,

under a blazing sun, at the end of which I had mapped a few

milk. I can still taste it now! As well as mapping land use, I was

desiccated patches of barley plus some prickly pear and carobs

required where possible to talk with farmers. This was usually

was hardly rewarding.

difficult because of the language barrier and because of suspicion

that I was gathering information for tax purposes. Once communication was established, the inevitable question was

whether integration of Malta into the UK would be good for the islands or not. As a young student with little grasp of local politics,

Malta was a very different island then as compared with now.

Agricultural workers were commonly without shoes, most of

the ploughs were wooden and drawn by draught animals, irrigation systems consisted of open stone troughs with inevitable

my answers were usually non­committal. In addition to informal

high loss through evaporation. Only in the Pwales Valley did I

interviews I also had to draw sketches of distinctive landscapes

see something resembling a modernised agriculture, the deeper

and also to take photographs. Once the day's task was completed,

soil permitting the use of motorised hand tractors.

Prof lan Thompson presenting the slides to the National Archivist I December 2006

Tourism was embryonic at that time. Access from the UK was by twin­engined "Elizabethan" aircraft operated by British European

Airways, which struggled to clear the Alps and refueled at Rome.

There were few hotels outside Valletta and Sliema and the Qawra peninsula, now a tourist hot­bed, was mainly scrub­ covered waste land. The general impression was of an island reaching the end of the colonial era, still recovering from the

wartime suffering but unsure of what the future direction of economic and political development would be, The photographs that I have donated to the archives reflect this "pre­modernisation"

period. Agriculture was dependent on family labour. Water shortages were a perennial problem. Agricultural marketing was inefficient. Some agricultural practices, like for example using

domestic refuse in an attempt to add structure and fertility to poor thin soils, were detrimental to production, leading to plant

THE NATloNALARCHIVES NEWSLETTEB ENEE. ­­

diseases. On the other hand, the use of wooden ploughs was not as primitive as it may seem. Cheap to manufacture, no

On 23 january 2003 the National Archives received a

maintenance costs, easily transported on horse or donkey­back

collection of prints from Mr Lino Cuschieri, Mr

to fields which were often scattered across the countryside, this

Cuschieri served on the first committee of the Friends

plough had the advantage of just loosening the soil to enable weeding and planting, rather than turning the shallow soils,

of the National Archives. He is also a collector of

dragging up the rocky sub soil and losing water through

donated to the archives are the series published over

evaporation. Many more examples could be quoted of practices

a number of years by the Malta Independent,

Melitensia, and other historical ephemera. The prints

that at first sight appeared archaic but which in fact had evolved

over centuries and were perfectly adapted to a difficult environment. Nevertheless, it was clear that although agriculture

could be reformed and become more productive, it could not be a springboard for economic growth. Emigration was a temporary safety valve but clearly rvlalta had to find alternative

development paths in the non­agricultural sector to secure its future.

Mr Lino Cuschieri

presenting the prints to the

National Archivist

Amilcare German ( 1882 ­ 1944) The National Archives have just received

a donation of the private papers of authorAmilcare German. The late Dr

Lino German, who was also a member of the Friends of the National Archives

made several attempts to donate these records to a public archive, Lately his

wish came true following contacts Mrs Maureen German made with the National Archives. What follows is some information about the life and contribution Return visits to the islands over the years, with student field

Amilcare German gave to our nation.

excursions, for holidays and for research, have permitted me to monitor this development, However, the colour slides that I

Amilcare German was born on 23 November 1882 to Matteo

have donated I believe are of importance because they give a

German and Teresa nee Spiteri. He loved books and languages.

visual documentation of a time when Malta was poised for

He was proflcient in Italian, French, Esperanto and other languages.

transition and thus a rural way of life which has changed

Several of his works were produced at the Sacro Cuor theatre

fundamentally.

in Sliema. He was married to Concetta nee Messina. His

brother Gustu German was a prominent legal procurator and

was renowned in Valletta as he used to make arrangements for opera singers to come to Malta. His sister Matilde was married to Giuseppe Mizzi, the brother of Prime Minister Nerik Mizzi.

When Matilde died, Giuseppe married the other sister ofAmilcare,

Gemma. One of the works by Amilcare entitled Sidor Barbara and written in 1931 was later on written in more current Maltese

by his grandson Dr Lino German. Amilcare German died on I 0 November 1944.

STU DENTS AT TH E NATIONALARCHIVES trJ± The experience ofa German Archives student in Malta

I am a third year student at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam, Germany, As part of my studies in Archives Science I did a practicum

at the National Archives of Maha from I September

2006 to 30 November 2006. There has been a co­operation between my University and the National Archives for some years, so that German students of Archives Science have the possibility

to apply for a practicum at the National Archives.

I came over to Malta with the support of the Leonardo Project of the EU. The aim of this project is to enable students to do a practicum in a foreign European country.

Maltese Student's \^/ork Experience at the Archives During the last years the National Archives

has attracted a number of students who opted to do their work experience at the archives. Most were students reading for a

These three months provided me with a very

diploma or degree at the University of Malta.

detailed insight of the work of archivists. After

With recent developments in post­secondary

doing a short induction course I started to do

education there was a change in the pattern

almost all tasks that the regular staff do, Apart from

of students we attract to carry out placements, Recently we had students coming from MCAST and other students who as part of the Systems of Knowledge project are opting to follow a practical experience at the

special tasks that were assigned to me, the staff involved me in their daily work, especially in the

preparations for the exhibition during the Archive Awareness Week. I also found the contact with

the researchers very interesting.

archives. One of these is jonathan Falzon

In addition to my practicum at the Archives, I

who is working on the numbering, cross­

attended a lecture on Digital Archives which formed

part of the Archives Studies Course at the Universfy of rvlalta. This was a good possibility to improve

checking and labelling of the Chief Secretary

to Government record series. jonathan attends St. Aloysious College.

my archival knowledge as well as to get to know some rvlaltese fellow students. rvlr. Farrugia also

invited me to deliver a lecture for the archives

students who appreciated my presentation on German Archives very much, Malta is a diverse country and also very rich in

culture. That made my stay absolutely interesting, ln my free time I visited as much places and

museums as possible, and also got to know a lot of interesting people not only Maltese, but people from all over the world. These encounters made my stay in Malta so enriching and enjoyable. After this experience of working and living in a foreign

country I have to say that I would not hesitate to

do such a long stay again or even to work in a foreign country on a regular basis. It was worth it!

74y­8„Ogiv

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