THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MALTA Ms Maroma Camilleri The Bibliotheca, besides being the historic library of the Knights of Malta and the depository of the national imprint, is home also to three major archival record groups – the Archives of the Order of St John (1107-1798), the Archives of the Treasury of the Order and the Archives of the Universitas of Mdina and Valletta (1350-1818). The significance of these documents for scholars of Melitensia and Hierosolimitana is undisputed in terms of the important historical information they yield, and for this reason they have been the focus of study and research over the years. However, the mission of the National Library, which is the custodian of these priceless archives, is to render them accessible not only to scholars and researchers but to as wide an audience as possible.
3.1
Digivault
One way of providing National Library material for consultation at the touch of a computer screen is via the portal Digivault which now hosts the digital assets of a considerable amount of newspapers and books from the National Library collections. The digitisation of archival material has begun to be undertaken, but this is an extremely long process due to the compilation of the metadata, since the General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G)) requires very detailed metadata down to Item level. By mid-2016, there were over 500,000 items featuring mostly newspapers and books, engaged in Digivault. These ranged from items having been captured digitally to items that were completely accessible on Digivault, also including those existing in the different stages of processing. The selection of material to be digitised is based on the rarity of the items, on the state of conservation and on the demands of the public. Once the images are captured, the ensuing processes of editing, grouping, downsizing, saving as PDFs and indexing are carried out. The input of foreign volunteers, usually Erasmus students, is vital for the progress of the project. They assist in the scanning process under the supervision of the Digitisation studio staff. The indexed images are eventually joined to their respective metadata before being uploaded on Digivault. On 2nd December 2015, Digivault was officially launched by the Hon. Minister of Education, Mr Evarist Bartolo.
3.2
Exhibitions
Another way to giving visibility to the documents contained in the archives housed at the National Library is through the medium of exhibitions and publications. The year 2015 was characterised by the commemoration of one of the most notable events in the history of Malta – the Great Siege of 1565. The National Library of Malta contributed to the celebrations by organising an exhibition entitled “Obsidio Melitae: the 1565 event in National Library holdings”. The exhibition, which was open between 18th May and 16th August 2015, explored the theme of the Great Siege by means of the holdings conserved in the National Library collections. The main focus of the display consisted of documents from the archives, among them the original letters of congratulations from European sovereigns sent to Grand Master Jean de Valette after the lifting of the siege. Other interesting exhibits included the original prints by Matteo Perez d’Aleccio depicting the highlights of the siege. On view were also published contemporary accounts 33