Landmark collaborative effort for long-term preservation of historical texts, images and sounds

The University of Malta joins the National Archives of Malta, the Broadcasting Authority, the Department of Information, Malta Libraries, MCAST and PBS in a landmark collaborative effort to undertake an audio-visual digitisation programme for the long-term preservation of historical texts, sounds and other documents. The effort is being coordinated by the National Archives in collaboration with the M3P Foundation.

Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education and Employment, presided over the signing of this collaborative charter during a ceremony held at the National Archives in Rabat. The University of Malta was represented at the event by pro-rector Professor Godfrey Baldacchino.

Through this agreement, these public entities will discuss and plan how Malta’s cultural and creative legacy can be preserved and how important collections can be saved.

A National Audio-visual Archives Steering Committee was set up last year to address electoral manifesto pledges to preserve Malta’s audio-visual heritage and oral histories by consolidating the sound, video and image collections held by a number of government departments and public sector organisations.

Minister Bartolo explained how the Ministry for Education and Employment has placed the implementation of these electoral manifesto pledges under the direction of the National Archives and how these seven entities are now formally agreeing to preserve the cultural heritage of Malta by pooling their resources to digitise, curate and provide access to their audio- visual collections.

Dr Charles Farrugia, national archivist, spoke of the need to develop and enact a systematic plan to ensure the long-term preservation of substantial audiovisual materials on a national level. Some of this work will become accessible to the public through a consolidated online catalogue coordinated by the National Archives.