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Preserving Malta鈥檚 Written Heritage through Open Access
Through long-term collaboration between the Open Science Department of the University of Malta Library and the Department of Maltese in the Faculty of Arts, an extensive project is being carried out to make newspapers, journals, and other historical Maltese publications available on the Open Access Repository (OAR@UM).
One of the main aims of this project is to provide academic researchers and other interested individuals with remote access to these materials for their studies. The project also helps to protect printed copies of these newspapers and journals—some of which have become very fragile—from excessive physical handling.
The digital copies uploaded so far include the following:
- In-Na魔la (1908–1912, 1928), a newspaper edited by Agostino Levanzin that published Levanzin’s novel Is-Sa魔魔ar Falzun in parts; articles on the history of Malta; histories of specific towns and villages; accounts of specialised artistic fields such as sacred music; first publications of poems by various poets; opera librettos; biographies of Maltese and foreign figures; reviews; and fictional dialogues on current affairs or topical issues.
- Il-摩abib (1912–1928), a newspaper edited by 臓u偶è Muscat Azzopardi, which has a long history linked to the Maltese language and literature. It features various forms of writing, including articles on crafts, skills, tools, and traditions; the first publication of works by leading poets; prose translations from Italian; serialized long-form articles on subjects such as emigration; biographies; and transcripts of public lectures delivered by 臓u偶è Muscat Azzopardi.
- Il-Polz – Organu tal-Moviment Qawmien Letterarju (1967–1974; 1977–1984), a literary journal that published the aims of the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju (Literary Revival Movement); early essays on the style and poetics of Maltese Modernist poets; the first publication of many Modernist literary works; writings on the literary and cultural evenings organised by the movement; reviews of books published during the period; and critical studies.
Online access to these research sources has already been of great benefit to students and independent researchers studying Maltese literature, the history of writing in Maltese, and the biographies of notable figures in the Maltese cultural field. The project has also been of considerable value to linguists who are developing electronic datasets of registers, idioms, collocations, grammatical paradigms, and other linguistic features of Maltese across its historical development.
One of the major advantages of the digital format of these publications produced by the Open Science Department of the Library is the ability to convert the image of each word into computer-readable text (OCR). This allows researchers to search for specific words or specialised themes across the issues, and then to apply digital analytical tools installed on their personal computers.
Both departments have agreed to continue this valuable collaboration, which is making Maltese-language materials and their digital analysis increasingly accessible to anyone interested in studies related to them.
Minn In-Na魔la sa Il-Polz: Gazzetti u Perjodi膵i Antiki Online
Permezz ta’ kollaborazzjoni fit-tul bejn id-Dipartiment tax-Xjenza Miftu魔a (Open Science Department) tal-Librerija tal-Università ta’ Malta u d-Dipartiment tal-Malti fil-Fakultà tal-Arti, qed jitwettaq pro摹ett estensiv biex jittellg魔u gazzetti, perjodi膵i, u 魔ar摹iet o魔ra antiki bil-Malti fir-Ripo偶itorju b’A膵膵ess Miftu魔 (OAR@UM). Wie魔ed mill-g魔anijiet ta’ dan il-pro摹ett huwa li r-ri膵erkaturi akkademi膵i u persuni o魔ra b’interess fil-materjal ta’ dawn il-魔ar摹iet ikollhom a膵膵ess remot biex iwettqu l-istudji tag魔hom. Dan il-pro摹ett jg魔in ukoll biex il-kopji stampati tal-gazzetti u r-rivisti, li f’膵erti ka偶ijiet saru fra摹li 魔afna, ma jkomplux jitg魔arrqu min魔abba l-u偶u.
Il-kopji di摹itali li ttellg魔u sa issa huma dawn li 摹ejjin:
Il-gazzetta In-Na魔la (1908-1912, 1928) ta’ Agostino Levanzin li toffri, fost o魔rajn, il-faxxikli tar-rumanz Is-Sa魔魔ar Falzun ta’ Levanzin stess; artikli fuq l-istorja ta’ Malta; l-istorja ta’ xi bliet u r魔ula; l-istorja ta’ oqsma spe膵jalizzati ta’ arti, b魔all-mu偶ika sagra; l-ewwel pubblikazzjoni ta’ poe偶iji ta’ poeti differenti; libretti tal-opri; bijografiji ta’ persuna摹摹i Maltin u barranin; re膵ensjonijiet; u djalogi fittizji dwar kwistjonijiet jew su摹摹etti attwali.
- Il-gazzetta Il-摩abib (1912-1928) ta’ 臓u偶è Muscat Azzopardi, bi storja twila marbuta mal-lingwa u l-letteratura Maltin, u li fiha artikli fuq snajja’, 魔iliet, g魔odod, u drawwiet; l-ewwel pubblikazzjoni ta’ xog魔lijiet ta’ poeti ewlenin; traduzzjonijiet ta’ pro偶a mit-Taljan; artikli twal (mifruxin f’魔afna 魔ar摹iet) fuq su摹摹etti b魔all-emigrazzjoni; bijografiji; u ta魔ditiet pubbli膵i ta’ 臓u偶è Muscat Azzopardi.
- Ir-rivista letterarja Il-Polz - Organu tal-Moviment Qawmien Letterarju (1967-1974; 1977-1984), li tinkludi l-g魔anijiet tal-Moviment Qawmien Letterarju; artikli bikrin fuq l-istil u l-poetika tal-poeti Modernisti Maltin; l-ewwel pubblikazzjoni ta’ g魔add kbir ta’ xog魔lijiet letterarji Modernisti; kitbiet dwar is-serati letterarji u kulturali tal-Moviment Qawmien Letterarju; re膵ensjonijiet dwar il-kotba ppubblikati tal-perjodu; u studji kriti膵i.
- L-a膵膵ess online g魔al dawn is-sorsi ta’ ri膵erka di摹à serva tajjeb 魔afna lill-istudenti u r-ri膵erkaturi indipendenti li qed jistudjaw il-letteratura Maltija, l-istorja tal-kitba bil-Malti, u l-bijografiji ta’ persuna摹摹i mag魔rufin fil-qasam 摹enerali tal-Malti. Dan il-pro摹ett qed jg魔in 魔afna wkoll lil ri膵erkaturi fil-qasam tal-lingwistika li qeg魔din jibnu data elettronika ta’ re摹istri, idjomi, kollokazzjonijiet, paradimmi grammatikali, u elementi o魔ra tal-Malti fl-i偶vilupp lingwistiku tieg魔u.
Wie魔ed mill-vanta摹摹i l-kbar tal-format di摹itali ta’ dawn il-魔ar摹iet, mag魔mul b’metodolo摹ija professjonali u b’apparat spe膵jali mid-Dipartiment tax-Xjenza Miftu魔a tal-Librerija, huwa l-fa膵ilità li x-xbieha ta’ kull kelma tinqaleb f’test moqri mill-kompjuter (Optical Character Recognition [OCR]). Dan jippermetti li r-ri膵erkaturi jfittxu g魔al vokabularju spe膵ifiku jew g魔al temi spe膵jalizzati fil-魔ar摹iet, u li mbag魔ad japplikaw fuqhom g魔odod di摹itali installati fil-kompjuter personali tag魔hom.
I偶-偶ew摹 dipartimenti qablu li jkomplu b’din il-kollaborazzjoni siewja li qed tag魔mel il-materjal bil-Malti u l-anali偶i di摹itali tieg魔u dejjem aktar a膵膵essibbli g魔al kull min huwa interessat fi studji marbutin mieg魔u.
