Archives of the Cathedral of Malta Misc.32B: 1530-1660 : the study and text of an eighteenth-century index of transcripts [Book review]

Abstract

One of the frustrations in the life of an archivist is the difficulty in answering clients when they ask for records specific to their area of research. We do not have the magic wand librarians have in the form of their automated catalogues. The highly structured world of cataloguing in libraries is nowadays very much ingrained in our academic programs at Universities. Thus, it is not surprising that researchers who spend much of their time browsing between library and archival worlds find the archival systems quite complex, slow, and archaic. This derives from the very nature of the records. No archival record comes with a ready-made CIP or any of the other authority control metadata. In most cases researchers will be reaching out for items that were never studied before. Thus, archives need to invest in the creation of finding aids, and this is a specialized and elaborate process. That explains why this publication is another most welcome initiative for the sector.