NAM Official Annual Report 2007 by National Archives Malta

Annual Report

1 January -31 December 2007

is NATIONAL

ARCHIVES

MALTA

A publication of the National Archives

Malta, February 2008 ÂŠ Copyright, National Archives, Malta 2008.

National Archives

Head Office Hospital Street

Rabat RBT1043 Malta

Tel: + 356 2145 9863

Fax: + 356 2145 0078

E-mail: customercare.archives@gov.mt

Cover Images: The internal courtyard of the Head Office of the National Archives in Rabat, services at the map

room, reading rooms and reprographics.

Cover design: Marlene Gouder

Photos: Joseph Amodio, Kevin Casha Printing: Best Print Co. Ltd

lssN 1997-6348

Table of Contents Foreword 1. Mission and Functions 1.1

Mission

1.2 Functions

2. Organisational Structure

3. Records Management Unit 3.1 Towards a National Audio Visual Policy

4. Archives Processing Unit

4.1 Accessions 4.2 Sorting 4.3 Cataloguing

4.4 Reprographics 5. Public Services Unit

5.1 Reading Room Services

5.2 Newsletter 5.3 Exhibitions / Lectures 5.4 Educational / Cultural visits

5.5 Internships

5.6 National Archives Website

6. Corporate Management Unit 6.1 Finance and Administration

7. International Projects

7.1 Leonardo Mobility Measure 2005-2007 7.2 lnterreg Ills MEDOCC -ARISTHOT:

Sciences in the Mediterranean 7.3 European Archives Group 7.4 International Council on Archives

7.5 Agreement with the HMML

7.6 Association of Commonwealth

Archivists and Records Managers 7.7 CITRA 2009 Conference 8. National Archives Council

9. The Friends of the National Archives 10. Volunteers

Tables

Unaudited Financial Statements for the year

ended 31 December 2007

Foreword The annual report gives us an opportunity of

Anothersuccessfuloutcomewastheconclusion

stocktaking our initiatives, activities, pitfalls of the negotiations for an extensive digitization

and successes. It is just one tool in our quality

project with the Hill Museum and Manuscript

control mechanisms.

Library,

The exercise has the

second purpose of communication with the

An agreement was signed on 23

October 2007. Bringing back to Malta such an

public. This year we decided to print the end

institution of high repute is an achievement not

product in order to promote better our work not

only for the National Archives but for the whole

only locally but internationally.

Maltese archives sector.

The year under review saw the consolidation of

The challenges for next year can be grouped

the new entity in various areas. The greatest

into three: finalising the organisational set-up

priority was on human resources. We offered the opportunity to most of our employees to

of the entity;

making best use of lT and the

e-government infrastructure to reach out to our

spend a week or two working in an archival

audience; and gear up the sector for the big

institution abroad.

event of 2009, when the National Archives will

successful

This was the result of

participation

the

Leonardo

Mobility and lnterreg 1118 EU programmes.

host in Malta the XLI Round Table Conference on Archives (CITRA). This event is the largest

annual activity of the sector after the Congress. Much work has been done on preparations for

It will give us a golden opportunity to showcase

our new web-portal which promises to provide

our archival heritage.

our patrons with new e-government services.

When we say public we mean anyone, both

I invite all those who consult this annual report

Maltese and foreign. Particular emphasis will

to be proactive. Your views matter to us. We

be given to the Maltese living in the diaspora.

are entrusted with safeguarding the memory

This initiative is also linked to our participation

of the Maltese nation.

on the European Archives Expert Group set up

sum total of your daily actions, activities and

by the EU Commission. The National Archives

transactions.

has been an active participant on the Working

your input will be evaluated and acted upon.

This memory is the

I do commit myself to see that

Group for the creation of a European Archives Portal, a parallel initiative with the European

Charles J. Farrugia BA (Hons) MA MA (Lond) PG Dip RM (N'Castle)

Digital Library.

National Archivist

Negotiations for the signing of the first Collective

Missionand Functions

1.1

Agreement with the recognised Union started on 31

October and are currently underway.

Mission

To preserve the collective memory of the Maltese Nation through the preservation and accessibility of all public archives regulated by the National Archives Act.

Records Managementunit

The

National Archives' role as an

overseer of

records management practices in the Public Sector

consists of; overseeing the management of records

1.2

in government departments and

Functions

institutions; the

drafting and implementation of retention and disposal

The functions of the National Archives are defined in

schedules; the provision of training to personnel

Article 4 of the National Archives Act (2005).

working in the sector; and the putting into place of

systems for the smooth transition of records from The functions are to:

the originating offices to the National Archives. This

system applies to both records in traditional formats, i.

safeguard the collective memory of the Maltese

and records in electronic or other modern formats.

nation and protect the rights of citizens through

the selection, preservation and access to the

ii.

held during this year. These included the Law Courts,

standards;

the National Audit Office, and the Treasury Repository.

establish and maintain a register to be known as the National Register of Archives;

iii.

monitor

with

powers

the

gift,

purchase,

bequest

retention

schedules of a

corporate

nature.

These discussions are held with the Data Protection lmplementation Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister

and the Data Protection Commissioner.

deposit;

the unit continued with the discussions regarding

the

accept and acquire private records of national significance

In each case a records management analysis and report were compiled. During the year under review

inspection

recordkeeping practices within public office;

iv.

A number of inspections of government records were

archives in whatever medium to the highest of

provide leadership to Maltese archives in such

areas as preservation of archival records, records management and national cooperation schemes; vi.

promote the professional training of archivists and

records managers.

+:Fj:==H==ÂąE_,i,fÂĽ=E-i-TrfeiJH

Organisational structure

Duringtheyearunderreviewfurtheractionsweretaken

ln order to make all government departments or record

to consolidate the new organisational structure. The

creating agencies aware of the records management

four main areas of operation of the National Archives

obligations under the Archives Act articles 6 and 16,

represented by four units in the new organisational

a Records Management course was organised by the

set up continued to take shape. (Diagram 1 p.18)

National Archives.

Due to the high demand for the

course another session was organised. The courses The current staff structure consists of twelve dedicated

were held on the 18 and 19 September 2007. The

employees, eleven full-timers and one part-timer. The

National Archives intends to structure these courses

multitude of tasks carried out cannot be managed

and give them a permanent basis.

effectively if the total complement is not increased to

around twenty five employees.

The Records Management Unit was also responsible for the

acquisition

of several

private

deposits.

It will be of utmost importance that human resources

Amongst these there was the donation of a World

and funding are identified to equip the four new units

War 11 casualties index compiled by John Agius MBE,

with the necessary man power and expertise in order

the private papers of Amilcare German and the film/

to introduce a system of structured performance

photographic collection of Stanley Fraser (Table 1

targets for each unit.

p.13).

Requests for the recruitment

of an Administrator, a Records Manager, an Inspector of Records, a Conservator and an I.T. administrator

were submitted to be approved by OPM.

3.1

Towards a National Audio-Visual

4.1

Accessions

Archival Policy During the year under review several accessions

Some years back the National Archives drew the

were added to the National Archives holdings, (Table

attention of the Department of Information (Dol)

about the need to preserve the wealth of audio-visual heritage they possess. A wide ranging collection of

Malta's past events recorded on 16mm films were stored in the most adverse conditions. The National

Archives offered its expertise for the project and the

top priority was to at least decrease, if not stop, the rate of deterioration and transfer the films into less

mundane surroundings. Dol took the advice and set up a Film Vault to house the films.

p.13).

In most cases the accessions represent donations by the general public. The collecting policy of the National

Archives is very selective and we have refused to accession several records that are either publications or have no national connotation. This helps us keep up to the legal obligations we have, and the collection within the professional and logistical parameters.

Currently each

AparticularaccessionworthhighlightingistheDebates

and every film is being individually catalogued and

of the House of Lords and House of Commons known

registered in a data-base to be permanently stored

as the Hansard. Although the collection is primarily

in the film vault room. New plastic film cans have

of a library nature, it was decided to accession it

replaced the old metal ones which were deteriorating

and make it available to the public at the National

rapidly at the risk of causing irreparable damage to

Archives. This brings to an end a ten-year long issue

the 16 mm films. It is also envisaged that the film

during which the records were not accessible to the

collection will be professionally cleaned.

This project generated a certain interest in other quarters also in possession of film heritage. The Malta Broadcasting Authority and the Public Broadcasting Ltd also sought the advice of the National Archives.

While PBS has started a reorganisation of its archives, the Malta Broadcasting Authority has issued a call for applications to recruit an Information and Records

Officer. These are most welcome steps in the right direction.

reading public.

We entered into negotiations with

the Libraries Department in order to put into place

the plea of the Malta Historical Society and a number

of professional researchers.

The

791 volumes of

Debates we managed to collect are available for research at our head office. We are still trying to trace

the whereabouts of other volumes which researchers insist formed part of the original collection in the public domain.

Another initiative was the nation wide effort we are

To further promote this area of specialisation, the National Archives convened all stakeholders and

sent a questionnaire to PBS, Dol and the MBCA. The outcome of the questionnaire will be used in the formulation of a National

Audio-Visual Archival

policy.

making to accession state schools records. A circular by the National Archivist was issued to all schools on

6 November 2007. This was the result of discussions held with the Director General of Education and the

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment.

It is worth mentioning that

heads of schools welcomed this initiative which will be

continued throughout the upcoming year.

Our other section in Gozo was also very active in

keeping

the

momentum

accessions

notwithstanding the similar problem of lack of storage

space we have in Malta. Table 2 p.14, lists the Gozo

accessions during 2007.

The system used in the

Gozo section is that the records accessions fit directly

into the respective fonds.

4.2

Sorting

Archives processing unit An important task of archival processing is the Unit conducts all the

sorting, cleaning and re-boxing of documents. When

operations involved once the records reach our

the National Archives moved to its current location,

repositories starting from the accessioning process

extensive holdings were found dumped in basements

The Archives

Processing

up to the provision of finding aids in the reading

in departments. As an emergency measure, these

rooms.

documents were rescued and moved to the National

facilitate access to the reading public. As the archival community still believes that microfilm is the safest

medium for long term preservation, we are adopting a policy of dual media -using microfilm backup for long term preservation and digitization for accessibility.

The various digitisation projects spanning over the Archives. The archive is still faced with a back log of

last four years have totalled to approximately 1.5

circa 550 boxes of unsorted material. In most cases

million digital images.

the records in question are in need of conservation treatment.

The original order in a number of cases

cannot be identified.

Publicservicesunit

During the year under review

the staff of the National Archives sorted, cleaned and

The National Archives firmly believe that archives

re-boxed several records. (Table 3, p.15)

are about people.

They are the result of people's

activities, used by the people and tell the story of

Another ongoing task is the relocation of records in order to make the collections more accessible to

people. This makes us strive hard to reach out to as wide an audience as possible. The main tools in

reading room officers.

This process was not done

this strategy are the services provided to the public,

when the archives were migrated from Valletta to

including the reading room services, answering to

Rabat as at that time major infrastructural works

research requests, the website, our newsletter, the

still had to be carried out,

various educational programmes and exhibitions.

We are now taking the

opportunity to relocate, re-box and in most cases allocate codes to the records. (Table 5, p.15)

This process was also replicated at the Legal Documentation Section in Mdina.

Here the task

is easier as the collection is smaller and more homogeneous. (Tables 4, 6 p.15)

4.3

Cataloguing

5.1

Reading Roomservices

The main task of the unit is to bring together the

thousands of catalogue entries already available and

Tables 10,11 and 12 give details showing the number

those currently being developed and apply to them

of researchers who visited our reading rooms during

a regime of standards in line with the International

2007.

Standard of Archival Description lsAD(G).

(Table

7, p.16) Archival cataloguing is a specialisation one

has to train in and we are hoping that in a few years time we will have a group of trained people who can tackle the present back log,

With this in mind the

National Archives is at the forefront in supporting the

University courses training students in archives and

records management. (Table 7, p.16)

4.4

Reprographics

Research activity at the head office resulted in a total of 1358 researchers, who consulted 3140 items during

3241 hours of research,

Research activity at the

Legal Documentation Section repository registered

an increase in the total of documents consulted and the number of research hours. (Tables 10,11 p.17)

The total number of researchers visiting the Gozo reading room was 466 spending 1033 hours of research and consulting 1449 items. (Table 12, p.17)

As from 2003 the National Archives started an

The total statistics for all reading rooms managed by

ambitious project of microfilming and digitisation. The

the National Archives sums up to 1920 researchers

aims are to preserve the records better through the

spending 4505.17 hours of research and consulting

duplication of images, and the reduction of handling.

4866 items.

We also managed to overcome the issue of funding

represents an increase of 350 researchers.

Compared to the previous year this

through sponsorship schemes organised by the Friends of the National Archives and agreements with

The digitization on demand service introduced last

international organisations.

year has established itself well with the reading public,

and several orders are processed weekly. The National Archives is using state of the art

technology to create surrogates of records and also

5.2

lecture was attended by an audience of more than

Newsletter

80 persons. The National Archives Newsletter which is issued

on a quarterly basis, has been the main tool for the

organisation to keep adjourning researchers and the

During the year 2007, the National Archives Gozo Section mounted three exhibitions,

public in general, about the ongoing works carried out by the National entity responsible for the upkeep of

The first was held on 19 May 2007 to coincide with

public documents of enduring value. HSBC Bank was the official sponsor of this publication during the year

within the premises of the National Archives, was

under review.

destignated Images of Gozo's Past - an exhibition of

Lejlet Lapsi . Notte Gozl.tana - the Gozj++an verstion the

IVofte

Bi'anca.

The

exhibition,

mounted

o/d photographs. Tours of the National Archives, were also featuring during the event.

The second exhibition was on Gozo Gui.de Books. It

was open between 9 and 25 August - a period that coincides with the influx of thousands of local and foreign visitors to Gozo. The exhibition, mounted in

rffiE-F¥=-_-I_--_ -I_i i -,, Ti_=±i_-F±= =ffi

conjunction with the Friends of the National Archives,

was an added attraction to these visitors. It consisted of a collection of one hundred guide books to Gozo

5.3

Exhibitions/Lectures

and Comino or somehow related to the islands. Pride of place was taken by an original copy of JEAN QuiNTiN

During the year under review the National Archives

held several events focused on the educational aspect of archives. This year's Education Day was held on 24 October. Students from different schools

ctAIUTUN, lnsulae Melitae Descriptio - a gu'ide to

Malta and Gozo, published in Lyons in 1536. Several

hundreds visited the exhibition and the Archives during the fortnight that it was on.

who are studying history as an optional subject

were invited to spend a whole day at the Archives.

The third exhibition was held on the occasion of the

The participating schools were: Maria Regina Girls

Archives Awareness Week. This year the exhibition

Junior Lyceum, San Anton, St. Aloysius College, St. was related to The Citadel - the crown of Gozo and

Michael and St. Theresa Girls Junior Lyceum. The

it was open from 18 October to 3 November. The

theme for d-isousstion was The Development of the

exhibition featured a number of documents related to

Grand Harbour facill.ties. Sfuder\ts from G.iovann.i

the Citadel, plans of the fortifications, maps, and old

Curmi Higher Secondary School were roped in to help

photographs. These were selected from several of the twenty-six entities whose records are deposited at the

prepare for these activities, especially the exhibition about the Grand Harbour. These older students have

Archives. Concurrently, there was a parallel exhibition

also shared their research with the participants and

of three hundred and fifty photographs on the Citadel

helped them to take part in workshops where primary

shot by Daniel Cilia, a photographer of international

source material was discussed. The main speakers

fame, at the beginning of his photographic career. An

during the event were: Mr Joseph caruana, Mr Manuel

exhibition catalogue - sponsored by HSBC (Gozo) - was specifically printed and it carries detailed

Magro Conti and Prof. Charles Savona Ventura.

information on all the exhibits as well as on the NAG.

During the year under review, the National Archives

This catalogue in English was also made available

maintained the permanent exhibition on Maltese

on-line on the NAG web-page hosted on the web-

site of the Ministry for Gozo. A number of locals and personalities at the Legal Documentation section in Mdina, and increased new exhibition boards, that foreignersaswellasanumberofsecondaryandsenior

give a more attractive display setup to the exhibits. The National Memory Project now holds 80 portraits

primary school children from both the Government and the Church sector visited the exhibition.

on exhibit. The extension was once more sponsored by the Friends of the National Archives.

Another

5.4

Educational/cultural visits

sponsorship for the printing works came from Bank ofvalletta.

One important aspect of the educational programmes organised by the National Archives is the hosting

The Annual Public Lecture entitled Porfa Rea/e and

of school visits from a number of state, private and

its Envt.rons, was delivered by Architect Michael

church schools.

EIIul on 25 October 2007. As in previous years the

repositories of the National Archives.

The visits are held in all three

During

2007

Information

the

Ministry

Technology

Investments

issued

calls

for

and

the

identification of strategic partners in the development

of e-government projects.

One of the projects

identified was that of the archives portal.

Through

this project the National Archives is developing a new

The outreach was spread over the year but, several

internet portal with the technical support of Seasus

school visits were organised

Ltd.

during the Archives

Awareness week that was held in October. The aim

of these visits is to raise awareness among students,

Corporate Management unit

and help them appreciate archives by educating them and also giving them hands on experience.

6.1

Finance and Administration

This is a positive approach were the students get to enjoy the opportunity of handling original documents

Prior to 1 September 2005 the National Archives

and sample some of the challenges involved in the

formed part of the Libraries and Archives Department.

cataloguing and reorganisation of archival holdings.

Budget allocation was only identifiable separately for

The National Archives also developed an outreach

the National Archives as from 2005 under the item Contribution to Government Entities.

programme for other sectors that are interested in the cultural aspect of the National Archives. The tours are

designed to promote awareness amongst the different strata of society, thus promoting the value and use of archives as a national information and educational

resource.

The allocation

for 2007 was Lm 90,000. This was later augmented by Lm 18,000 specifically for the running of the Gozo

Section.

These funds came under an agreement

which was reached with the Ministry for Gozo.

During the year under review the National Archives

Several tours were organised during the year (Table 15, p.18). There were several school visits amongst which were the Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary

students who afterthe visit embarked on a collaborative project with the National Archives. The results were presented during the Education Day held in October. Other groups included students from the U3E Gozo

and the `lntroduction to Records Management' groups.

strengthened its financial set up through the services of Attard, Giglio + Co. who are providing accounting services. In line with the National Archives Act article

25(2) the National Archives appointed RSM Ltd as private auditors.

The section is also in charge of collating data and

answering PQ's. During the year under review several

procedures had to be put into place in order to make

In all these totalled to 238 visitors.

all systems Euro-compliant.

5.5

Another initiative was that of participation in the Public

lnternships

Sector wide-exercise by the Better Regulations Unit. During the last years the National Archives has

The section also shouldered the administration of the

attracted a number of students who opted to do their

National Archives Council.

work experience at the archives. Most were students reading for a diploma or degree at the University of

International projects

Malta. With recent developments in post-secondary

education there was a change in the pattern 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 archives.

5.6

possible,

thus

envisage

building

Leonardo Mobility Measure

2005-2007 The Leonardo da Vinci. is one of the European Union

competency of people, promote and reinforce the and improve the quality of and access to technological

comprehensive and user friendly web-site that is

and organisational change. The programme consists of six types of projects, one of which is the mobility

measure.

Thus in the forthcoming year we

During the year under review the National Archives

plan to introduce a search engine developed to these

concluded successfully the Project Preserving Digl.tal

specifications.

Archi.va/ Content which ran for the period 2005-7.

primarily functional.

*FT*,

funded programmes aimed at improving the skill and contribution to vocational training and lifelong learning,

NationaiArchiveswebsite

The National Archives aims to be as accessible as

7.1

Education and Culture

Leonardo da Vinci

The Leonardo-sponsored project set out to achieve

ii.

four objectives: iii.

The

gaining

experience

digitization

processes in archives; ii.

iv.

Noel

D'Anastas

Digitization

Bulgarian

Institutions

vi.

accession countries; iv.

Joseph Amodio -Digitization and Microfilming by Datadisc.it -Global Microfilm Digital SRL

The assessment of the current situation in digital

contents preservation in both the EU, and in

Alison Borg-Hili - Privacy issues in digitization

agreements

Training in the preservation practices of digital

contents; iii,

Angelo Dalli -Linguamine Digital PaperArchive

forArchives and Libraries

Frederick

Cauchi-Inglott - An

experience

microfilming and digitization in Bulgaria

An analysis of the possible synergies in the

vii.

methods of digitizing archival contents.

Max Farrugia -Microfilming projects in Hungarian

Archives viii. Martin Hampton - Digitization projects at the

OSA, Budapest ix.

Charles J. Farrugia - The experiences of the National Archives of Malta in digitizing archival

records. On

November

2007

the

European

Union

Programmes Unit held an information seminar on

EU projects at Kempinski San Lawrenz in Gozo.

Asagreedintheproposal,fromtheensuingexperience

The agency invited National Archivist Mr Charles

a digitization handbook was produced. The final result

Farrugia to share the experience of the project with

of the project was compiled in a publication launched

the participants as they considered it an excellent

on 24 May 2007 during an event at the National

best practice case.

Archives Head Office. The guest for this event was

Permanent Secretary Mr Frans Borg who praised

7.2

the National Archives for their efforts to preserve the

lnterreglllBMEDOCC-ARISTHOT:

Sciences in the Mediterranean

country's archival heritage.

The publication brings together an in-depth study

of the preservation of records in digitized format following assessments in three countries; Bulgaria, Hungary, and Sicily, Italy. It is in part the result of a

number of case-studies carried out by participants in the archival and commercial institutions involved in

the project.

The Aristhot is the second EU-sponsored project that the National Archives is participating in. The objective

Of Sciences in the Mediterranean 'is to develop cultural solidarities in the area of the Mediterranean Basin by

easing the access for all to a common heritage. The goal of this digitization of documentary heritage is a better dissemination of the common memory of both

sides of the Mediterranean. The Project Sci'ences /'n the Medr.terranean aims at developing, using the

The participating institutions were:

ls tools, the scientific heritage (books, manuscripts,

The National Archl.ves of Malta as lead.ing partner.,

archives, graphic documents, photographs, video

The Friends of the National Archives of Malta.,

and audio records) common to both sides of the

The Malta-based company Li'nguami'rte Ltd;

Mediterranean basin.

The

Institute

Mathematics

and

lnformatics,

Bulgarian Academy of Science, Satia, Bulgar.ia.,

Themes of the project :

The National Archives of Bulgaria, Sofia.,

The

Open Soci.efy Arohi.ves - OSA,

Budapest,

Hungary - an archives and a centre for research and education.

The two private companies Dafadt.sc.it and G/oba/ MI.crofilm Digital SRL operating .in S.idily, Italy,

offering the services of the digitization and

microfilming of documents and related services. The nine participants who published their findings in

Sciences of Nature and Mathematics: Astronomy and Botany. Applied

Sciences:

Medicine,

Pharmacy,

Alchemy,

Divinatory

Veterinarian, Traditional

sciences:

Sciences, Esotericism. Auxiliary

Palaeography,

science

Codicology,

history:

Archaeology,

Sigillography

and

Numismatics.

the booklet dealt with:

Joseph

Bezzina - Digitizing documents and

selecting Subject Headings

The

Sol.ences in the Mediterranean pawhersh.ip

consists of 14 institutions, out of which 10 are from

the European Union and 4 from the Meda Countries.

Managers. The National Archivist is a member on the

The National Archives participated in the kick-off

Executive Committee of this organisation.

meeting in Arles France, the meeting in Murcia, Spain,

and the meeting in Genoa, Italy. The documents to be digitized have been identified.

the three repositories of the National Archives and the Wignacourt Archives.

Work is at hand on the

CITRA2009Conference

The National Archives has applied to host the International

Round

Table

Conference

2009.

Malta's application was accepted by the Executive

digitization of the records.

7.3

7.7

They come from

EuropeanArchivesGroup

Committee

during a meeting held in Tokyo on 24

May 2006.

The recommendation of the Executive

Committee was approved during the Annual General The National Archivist has been appointed by the

Meeting of lcA held in Curagao, Netherlands Antilles

Minister of Culture as Malta's representative on

on 24 November 2006.

the new archives body set up by the European The European Archives Group is

During 2007 the initial preparations for the CITRA

composed of 27 archives experts representing the

2009 conference started. Discussions were held with

27 EU countries.

the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment and

Commission.

Two meetings were held during

The Group established four

the Malta Tourism Authority. Talks were also held in

working groups tackling the following areas; Disaster

Portugal with the incoming Secretary General of ICA.

the year under review.

Preparedness, Legislation, Theft from Archives, and The plans are that the date, theme and basic logistics be announced by the forthcoming International the European Archives Portal. The National Archives of Malta actively participate in the Working Group on

Congress on Archives to be held in Malaysia in July

the Archives Portal. Meetings were held in Brussels,

2008.

Spain, Poland and Portugal. During the same period the National Archivist was

also appointed on the European Experts Group on the Digitization of Cultural and Scientific Heritage. â&#x20AC;˘\Rkl\'Jl

\ A/Z'ON A! I

7.4

International council on Archives

KUNSILL

(lcA) Malta is a member of the International Council on

NationalArchives council

Archives. During the year under review the National Archives of Malta gave active input to this international

The National Archives Council has the role of an

advisory body to Government on all archives matters.

organisation.

It is set up by virtue of the National Archives Act (V,

7.5

AgreementwiththeHMML

2005). During the last year there was a change in the headship of this Council following Mr Joe W. Izzo's

On 23 October 2007 an agreement was signed

resignation from the post of President. The incumbent

between the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library

is Magistrate Dr Joseph Cassar, an ex-Parliamentary

of St[ John's University Minnesota and the National

Secretary and a keen researcher. Magistrate Cassar

Archives of Malta.

made his first official visit to the Head Office of the

The agreement brings back this

highly esteemed institution to our shores. Under this

National Archives on 6 June 2007.

project the National Archives will digitize thousands of volumes of law courts records dating from 1530

During a meeting held on the 14 June 2007 the

onwards. This will also render the collection currently

National Archives Council approved its logo. The

held at the Legal Documentation Section in Mdina

design is by Mr Godwin Borg.

more accessible to academic researchers and the

The present Council is composed as follows:

general public,

7.6

Association

Commonwealth

DrJoseph cassar-Chairperson;

ii.

MrAnthony pace (the superintendent of cultural

Archivists and Records Managers (ACARM)

Heritage ex offr.cr.o/ ;

iii,

Dr Mario Tabone (the Chairperson of Heritage Malta ex offi.ci.o/ ;

The National Archives of Malta is a member of the

Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records

iv.

Philip

Borg

(Director

Department ex offi.ci.o/;

the

Libraries

Mr Anthony Vella (the Permanent Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister ex offr.c7.o/;

vi.

Mgr Gwann Azzopardi, Dr Lillian Sciberras, Mr

John Cremona, Mr Max Farrugia The legislation also stipulates that the

National

Archivist and the Assistant National Archivist for Gozo attend all the Council meetings.

Meetings were held on: 1 February, 6 June, 26 July, 13 September,1 Novemberand 11 December. The mission of the Council (Article No.15) is to:

promote the National Archives and other record keeping entities;

ensure and facilitate the collaboration between the different stakeholders with direct or indirect

responsibility for the protection and management

of the archives sector; 3.

advise the Minister on the management of archives in Malta;

draw the attention of the Minister or of any

organization or person responsible for archives

Archives and raises awareness about archives and

records management issues. Membership of the Friends of the National Archives has continued to grow during 2007. During the period

under review the Friends of the National Archives sponsored microfilming projects amounting to Lm

5,500.

These funds were part of a donation they

received from the Vodafone Malta Foundation.

The organisation has also collaborated with the

to any urgent action that may be considered

National Archivist and submitted two other bids for

necessary for the better management of archives

funding targeted at conservation works on a number

and records;

of records. One of these was accepted and received

advise the Minister on any matter arising from

the provisions of the National Archives Act and

on any other matter referred to it by the Minister. The Council also has the duty to biannually convene

a National Forum to discuss the state of archives generally after receiving a relative report to be drawn up by the Council. During the last two meetings the

financial support from the Good Causes Fund. This resulted in the setting up of a first aid preservation unit

and the first conservation works on royal warrants. The Friends of the National Archives also developed a new website which was inaugurated during this year's Annual General Meeting on 14 December 2007. The

site is accessible at www.fnamalta.org.

Council started the preparations for the first National

Archives Forum to be held during the first months of 2008.

The Friends of the National

Other documents

449

Total

1954

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Table 14

. .,.-: r}iÂĽ`a-

rJf,

Other Request

-IE--|-No.

Type of Request Phone

Average of 2 calls daily

Customer Care e-mail

186

Army records requests

Ordnance Department Plans research

Table 15

School/Cultural visits:

Date of visit

Name of organisation

Number

Location of visit

1 March 2007

University

Mdina & Head Office

2 March 2007

Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary

Mdina & Head Office

12 March 2007

Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary

Mdina & Head Office

12 March 2007

Criminology Group

Head Office

13 April 2007

Girls Junior Lyceum

Mdina

30 April 2007

Verdala Boys JL

Head Office

12 May 2007

School of Art

Head Office

25 May 2007

U3E Gozo

Head Office

18 September 2007

Introduction to Records Management

Head Office

19 September 2007

Introduction to Records Management

Head Office

Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2007

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 01.09.05

to 2007

Notes

31.12.06

LmLm

Income Government Subvention Funds from the Ministry for Gozo Other Income Funds from Aristhot and Leonardo Mobility project

Total recurrent income Operational Costs Administrative Expenses

Deficit before Interest Interest receivable

Appx 1 Appx 1

90,000 18'000

85,011 I

2,059 1,607

1,404 2,349

111,666

88,764

(97,228) (22,253)

(78,958) (22,941)

(7,815)

13,135)

233

Deficit for the year before transfer of Depreciation Transfer of depreciation on assets taken over from Government Deficit for the year

(7,581)

(13,080)

7,543

7,543 (5,537)

BALANCE SHEET

As at 31 December 2007 01.09.05

to Notes

2007 Lm

31.12.06

ASSETS

Fixed assets Tangible assets

49,775

54,469

Current assets Prepayments Cash at bank

4,553

Total assets

55,642

59,022

RESERVES AND LIABILITIES

Accumulated fund - Capital vote - Recurrent vote and operating activities

in 42,112

49,655

(5,575)

(5,537)

36,537

44,1 18

Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year Trade and other creditors

19,105

14,904

Total Reserves and liabilities

55,642

59,022

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN ACCUMULATED FUND

Capital Vote

Recurrent vote & operating activities

Accumulated Fund

Financial year ended 31 December 2007

Balance at 1 January 2007

49,655

44,118

Deficit for the year

Transfer of depreciation on assets taken over from the government

(

(7,543)

7,543

42,112

(5,575)

7,581)

to caDital vote.

Balance at 31 December 2007

36,537

CASH FLOW STATEMENT 01.09.05

to Notes

2007 Lm

31.12.06

Cash Flows from Operating Activities Deficit for the Financial Year Adjustments for: Depreciation of tangible fixed assets

(13,080)

8,231

Operating profit before working capital changes Increase in Debtors Increase in Creditors

Cash generated from operations

4,891

Net Cash from Operating Activities

10,055

Cash Flows from Investing Activities Purchase of Tangible assets

( 3,999)

Net movement in cash and cash equivalents

(5,502)

4,554

Cash and cash equivalents at the Beginning of the Year

Cash and cash equivalents at the End of the Year

10,055

4,554

Notes to the financial statements 1. Accounting policies The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below:

Accounting convention and basis of preparation These financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and under the historical cost convention The Agency finances its operations through a subvention voted by the Government in its annual financial estimates for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment. In 2007, Lm90,000 was allocated to meet the National Archives of Malta's recurrent operation and administrative expenditure for the calendar

year 2007. A further Lml8,000 has been transferred from the Ministry of Gozo in order to finance the detailing of two employees and the employment costs of an Assistant National Archivist for the Gozo Branch.

In September 2005, the Government transferred moveable property owned by it and currently in use by the National Archives of Malta to the Agency under the same title by which they were held by the Government immediately before the said date in accordance with Article 29 of the National Archives Act. During the year, the National Archives of Malta incurred a deficit of Lm38 bringing the total accumulated deficit on its operating activities to Lm5,575. These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis that assumes that the National Archives of Malta will continue in operational existence in the foreseeable future. The validity of this assumption depends on the National Archives ability to stimulate its revenues. Failure to secure additional revenue would mean that the National Archives would need support of Government to meet its liabilities.

Tangible Fixed Assets Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Gains and losses on disposal of tangible fixed assets are determined by reference to their carrying amount and are taken into account in determining operating profit. Depreciation is provided for on the straight-line method in order to write off the cost of each asset to its residual value over its estimated useful life as follows:

Improvements to Premises Passengers Lift Shelving Motor Vehicles Climate Control Equipment

1 5 0/o 1 5 0/o 1 5 0/o 12.50/o 1 0 0/o

Computer Software

200/o 330/o

Office Equipment Furniture and Fittings

1 0 0/o 1 0 0/o

Computer Equipment

1. Accounting Policies -continued Cash and Cash equivalents Cash in hand and at banks and short-term deposits which are held to maturity are carried at cost. Cash and cash equivalents are defined as cash in hand, demand deposits and short-term, highly liquid investments readily convertible to known amounts of cash and subject to insignificant risk of changes in value.

For the purpose of the Cash Flow Statement, cash and cash equivalents consist of cash in hand and deposits at banks, net of outstanding bank overdrafts.

Creditors Amounts payable are carried at cost which is the fair value of the consideration to be paid in the future for goods and services received, whether or not billed to the company.

2. Government Subvention Amounts advanced by Government for recurrent expenditure are made in the form of subventions from the consolidated fund in accordance with Section 20 of the National Archives Act. In accordance with the selected accounting policy, these amounts are accounted for upon an accrual basis.

3. Funds from Ministry for Gozo During year 2007, two employees working in Gozo branch of the National Archives of Malta were detailed to the National Archives of Malta. A part-time employee has been appointed as full-time Assistant National Archivist for Gozo branch. These employment costs were previously funded from the vote of the Ministry for Gozo.

An agreement has been reached with the Ministry for Gozo to transfer Lml8,000 from its vote to the National Archives of Malta in order to continue financing the aforesaid employment costs and to contribute to the Gozo branch's general and administrative running costs.

4. Other Income Other income generated from operations is estimated to be Lm2,059. The service provided by the National Archives of Malta to the general public is free of charge. Mainly, the income is generated from

photocopy services and courses which are charged at minimal rates.

5. Funds from Aristhot -lnterreg 1118 Medocc Programme and EU Leonardo Mobility Project The National Archives of Malta actively participated in the EU Leonardo Mobility Project and in the Aristhot - lnterreg Ills Medocc programme which are both funded by European Union. The funds received from these two programmes during 2007 amounted to Lm 1,607.

6. Payroll costs and personnel information 01.09.05

to 2007

31.12.06

LmLm Wages and Salaries paid by Government Wages and Salaries paid Directly Social Security contributions Council Members

4,561

53,461

73,680 6,097

7,667 4,791

199I

84,537

65,919

The National Archives of Malta employs twelve people on full time basis and one on part time basis.

7. Deficit before interest The deficit before interest is stated after charging:

01.09.05

to 2007

31.12.06

LmLm Staff Costs (Note 6) Depreciation of tangible assets (Note 10) Auditors' remuneration

84,537 8,692 205

65,919 8,231 205

8. Interest Receivable 01.09.05

to 2007

31.12.06

LmLm Bank Interest

233

9. Taxation The National Archives of Malta is exempt from any liability for the payment of income tax in accordance with Section 13 of the National Archives Act, 2005.

93|

10.Tangiblefixedassets Computer Equipment

Climate

Passenges Lift

Shelving

Motorvehicles

Control

Computer Software

Office Equipment

Furniture and Fittings

Total

Cost As at 01.01.2007

2,990

28,556

5,138

9,195

2,554

Additions

3,304

266

As at 31.12.2007

2,990

28,556

5,138

9,195

336

2,554

3,640

10,963

62,700

3,397

3,999

14,360

66,699

Depreciation As at 01.01.2007

449

4,283

642

920

511

330

1,096

8,231

Charge for the year

449

4,283

642

920

511

364

1,436

8,692

As at 31.12.2007

898

8,566

1,284

1,840

1,022

694

2,532

16,923

As at 31.12.2007

2,093

19,990

3,854

7,356

1,532

2,946

11,828

49,775

As at 31.12.2006

2,541

24,273

4,496

Net Book Value

Note:

8,275

2,043

178

2,974

9,867

Cost as at o1.01.07 includes an amount of Lm57,198 which represents assets taken over from the government to capital vote.

In September 2005, the government transferred these assets to the Agency under the same title by which they were held by the Government immediately before the said date in accordance with Article 29 of the National Archives Act.

The amount of Lm 57,198 comprises of :

Passenger Lift Shelving

Lm2,990

Lm28,556

Climate Control

Lm8,930

Computer Equipment

Lm2,455

Office Equipment Furniture and Fittings

Lm3,304

Lml0,963

54,469

11. Accumulated Funds Capital Vote The Capital Vote represents assets taken over from Government, net of depreciation.

Recurrent vote and operating activities The recurrent vote and operating activities represent the accumulated deficit or surplus resulting from operations.

12. Creditors

01.09.05

to 2007

31.12.06

LmLm Amounts falling due within one year= Creditors Indirect tax and social security Accruals

13. Cash and Cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash in hand and balances with banks.

3,707

844

1,625 13,773

206 13,854

19,105

14,904

Appendix 1

Supplementary Statements for the year ended 31 December 2007

Operational Expenses

01.09.05

to 2007

31.12.06

LmLm Salaries and Social Security Water and Electricity

Telecom Expenses Cleaning Expenses Computer Expenses Office Expenses Packaging Material Repairs and Maintenance Depreciation Charge:Shelving Furniture and Fittings Climate Control Equipment Computer Equipment

84,537

65,919

1,701 1,327 467

2,594 1,666 631

236

206

212

390504

141

Computer Software Passenger Lift Office equipment

Total operational expenses

Administrative Expenses 01.09.05

to 2007

31.12.06

LmLm Rent Staff Training Costs Advertising

Staff related expenses Motor Vehicle Expenses Printing, postage and stationery

Accountancy fees Travelling

Subscriptions and Brochures Miscellaneous Expenses Audit Fee Bank Charges Depreciation charge:Motor vehicle

Total administrative expenses

22.941

-3! . -1 '.,i:...

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