FAQ
Do
I have to make an appointment before visiting?
There is no need for an appointment if your research
is from the collection held at the head office in Rabat.
However,
an appointment has to be made for any research at the
Mdina repository. All we ask for is an identification
document
(identity card or passport) and that patrons register
their entry on the researcher's register.
Do you have a catalogue of your
holdings?
The catalogue is the list
of all the records open for research at the National
Archives. Since records
are kept
in a way that reflects the original order, instead of
subject order records are kept in alphabetical
order by a code
assigned to the department or court that created them.
There is no simple index of all personal names or subjects
to browse. No automated catalogue exists up to this day. What do the letter codes mentioned in your catalogue
mean?
Letter codes are used
in the archival cataloguing system to indicate who
created, used or inherited
the records. Not
all Letter codes are acronyms of their originating government
department. E.g. CSG stands for Chief Secretary to Government,
while EDU stands for Education.
Can
I order copies of documents?
Yes, for most of the records copies can be provided
against payment. The Officer in Charge of the National
Archives
has the right to refuse any permission for copying from
records which in his opinion are not fit for copying.
I have some old documents at home, can I donate them
to the National Archives?
The main aim of the National Archives is to preserve
public records. Acquisition of private records is
not one of the
priorities of the National Archives. However, the National
Archives is interested in any documents which might have
a certain degree of national importance. It is thus advisable
that if you have any records which you think might be of
importance to other researchers, please contact the National
Archives.
How long does it take to find what I am after?
Research in archives is time consuming. The delivery
of a document from the storage areas can take up
to 15 minutes.
However, the identification of the document can take
much longer if the exact reference is not provided.
For holdings
which are not yet catalogued, research might mean browsing
through all the volumes related to your research request.
What we do guarantee is that our reading room staff will
do every effort to help you in identifying the best record
groups to look into. Can I
build a family tree from your records?
The National Archives of
Malta does not include the records related to births,
marriages, deaths
and wills. These form
part of the Public Registry in Valletta, and the Notarial
Archives in Valletta. As these are the main sources for
genealogical research, the building of family trees from
our sources is almost impossible. However, some of our
records (e.g. passport applications, and passenger lists)
can help in such a task.
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