Preserving history with new technology
The preservation of historic documents has opened a time window on the 16th century telling, for example, of the generous dowry given to a slave and the conditions laid down to take part in a corsairing competition.
Over 40 volumes dating back to the time of the Knights of the Order of St John are making the transition into the modern world by being digitally preserved in a pilot project at the Notarial Archives in Valletta.
Preserved at a building in St Christopher Street are thousands of registered copies of contracts carried out by notaries, the oldest going back to the 14th century.
Reading the records, either in Maltese or in Latin, reveals a wealth of information about the social life of all classes of society dating back to those times.
"The notary was one of the most important people in the past. Everyone, from slaves to merchants to property owners and even knights, had to go to the notary almost always," Joan Abela, from the Notarial Archive Resources Council, explained.
One document lists the dowry a businessman left for his slave, which included her freedom, clothes laced with gold, animals and other slaves. "This slave was probably his illegitimate daughter," Ms Abela said.
Other documents include details of the clauses imposed by a 17th-century insurance agency to cover cargo and a contract signed by a property owner from Vittoriosa who wanted to sell her slave for 40 scudi.
"These documents hold the country's collective memory of the past."
The project is headed by the Maltese Notarial Archives in collaboration with the American Hill Museum and Manuscript Library from St John's University in Minneapolis, two departments that are among the leaders in their field.
The project involves taking a digital photo of each page, a laborious and delicate task carried out by Nadine Genovese and her team.
The set-up looks out of place in the 18th-century building. Two floodlights stand guard over a table where a hand bound book is carefully positioned under a digital camera set on a stand.
Wearing gloves, Ms Genovese delicately slips a white sheet under an onion-skin page and takes a photo.
After checking that the photo has been downloaded to a computer connected to the camera, she lifts the page and pegs it to the other side.
And she starts again.
"You need a lot of patience but, at least, we know that these documents will be preserved," she said.
Although the Notarial Archive will still hold copyright over the documents, these will eventually become accessible to researchers via the internet.
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Christian Sciberras
Mar 21st 2010, 21:20
A very well done to this team. Hope other archives, including the one in Gozo, get digitized at some point.
Other countries have done this and are still doing it.
I prime example is the Internet Archives.
Yes, you probably guessed it, it contains archives of many historical websites! You can even see how Google looked like in 1998! At a first glace it may not be much, but you will realize how the making of websites (and web applications) have evolved in time!
http://www.archive.org/
Joe Fenech
Mar 21st 2010, 13:29
NEW...for Malta!
Joe Xuereb
Mar 20th 2010, 18:47
3) What has any of this to do with the archiving of our heritage? I hear you ask. Quite a lot actually. Applying a bit of lateral-thinking to anything opens up new vistas, new horizons the scenario unfolds like a fascinating and never-ending Bayeux tapestry, the wonder that is the WWW we live in - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry - that could lead one anywhere. It could even lead to the creation of something today that will be as awesome and wonderful in a thousand years' time as the documents being archived today from a thousand years back. Food for thought.
Joe Xuereb
Mar 20th 2010, 18:33
2) My feeling of elation at reliving my first teaching post half a century ago was summarily dashed. How sad I thought. Compounded by being told it was ill-advised to take pictures of cheer-leading kids at a school-fete. Of course I do understand the issue. The next stranger may have an agenda not so innocent as remembering one's first job after high-school. What a world we live in!
These archives. These documents could be set between perspex sheets, back-lit, exhibited. School-children can be taken to exhibiting venue. But please, don't let them graze all over the place like lost sheep, left to their own devices. Teacher must sweep his/her charges along with .....and make up plausible stories around the simple document. Children love stories, need I say. And it is so each to engage them, amuse them, entertain them, educate them, fire them. And set projects for afterwards. This is how I was startd off, if by default, and it never left me. I may not always be the most popular person around, all of the time, with all people. But all in all, I am quite satisfied with how I deal with this thing we call 'life's journey'.
cont./
Joe Xuereb
Mar 20th 2010, 18:25
1)
1) I recently visited a relative in the West Country UK and wandered into a small museum. I saw what I had to see and on my way out, I became aware of a group of school-children playing in a designated area, plus toys, just in case 'they get bored. I plucked up some courage and said to one, listen guys, come and have a look at this. They abandoned their toys and listened all agog as I brought back to life battered black leather Victorian pram - with a flapped window under the pushing handle so that uniformed nanny could see whether her charge was asleep, turning blue, choking or merely dribbling. Likewise, a sedan chair and where the carrying-poles went through and the strong muscled carriers who had to be because the passenger often was overweight. And the first flushing toilets, and so on. They, the kids, were wonderful. Said my goodbye and thanked the teacher sitting peacefully in a corner, quite rightly watching me? watching them? I thanked her and rejoined my cousin. Who said I mustn't do that again as people don't like their kids being spoken to by strangers.
cont./
j n ebejer
Mar 20th 2010, 14:43
THE NEXT STEP IS FINDING FUNDS TO SPONSOR SCHOLARS TO DO RESEARCH IN ARCHIVES ABROAD LIKE PALERMO, NAPLES OR MADRID, WERE VERY MUCH LIKELY THE UNWRITTEN MEDIEVAL HISTORY OF MALTA LIES TO BE DISCOVERED.
I BELIEVE THIS IS THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURE TRIP WE NEED TO INSPIRE OUR CHILDREN TO DELVE IN.
J. Aquilina
Mar 20th 2010, 13:06
On reading this article highlighting such a commendable project, an idea came to mind. What about legislating in favour of covicted persons, who have achademic background, being given the opportunity to opt for this kind of community work. It is a very noble way to pay back the society for the wrongs done, while also a form of rehabilitation with a personal satisfaction. Otherwise what use will it be of having a lawyer, medical doctor, accountant or notary rotting away in prison. How many highly schooled individuals have gone through drug rehab, only to face a prison or suspended sentence, waisting funds and precious time away at corradino. Just imagine how many volumes can be digitised at no labour cost, even more rewarding a repentant with high self-esteem and society with invaluable treasures.
Legislators, please just give it a condieration.
Anne Farrugia
Mar 20th 2010, 12:13
Preserving Malta's history is something invaluable! Money should be spent on such and not given away to people like Renzo Piano! Who is he anyway? What will he be giving Malta & the Maltese? The Knights have given so much, he should be ashamed! One party ruined the entrance by removing the original archs (and only God knows where those slabs are) then comes the other party to make matters even worse! Naqra ta-tassida!
Joe Xuereb
Mar 20th 2010, 11:33
This is a wonderful project and no amount of money thrown at it should be too much.
According to the article, these archives are housed in a building in St. Christopher Street. If the archived documents are the original (not copies) can we please make sure that said building in St. Christopher Street is adequate, fire-proof, earthquake-proof, etc. Wearing special gloves is all very well (cheap and affords a clear conscience). But I am more concerned about the horror of horrors, the destruction of irreplaceables that no gloves, of whatever material, could protect. I do not want a square centimetre of my documents destroyed through lack of foresight. Please.