Welcome to the Library on Newspoint, a monthly update sent to all UM staff and students
We will send you the latest notices issued by the UM Library, its developments, services, resources, workshops and more. and .Send any comments and/or feedback to library@um.edu.mt.
Opening Hours
During this academic year, from 1 October to 15 June, the Main Library will open:
Mondays to Fridays: 07:00 - 20:00
Saturdays: 09:00 - 12:15
Get to know all details on opening hours of Library departments, branch libraries and depositories.
Training workshops
During this semester the Library is organising:
- HyDi Workshops: Learn how to use our online catalogue to search for print and electronic resources!
- RefWorks Workshops: Create citations and bibliography with a click of a button!
- Library tours: Find your way around the Main Library!
- InfoBit Talks: 30-minute talks about useful tips and online tools that can assist you with your assignments and dissertations!
The timetable is available on the Library website.
Special Collections news
Prof. Mario Buhagiar donates a collection of 75 photographic glass plates to the University of Malta Library
In January Prof. Mario Buhagiar kindly donated a collection of 75 photographic glass plates to the Archives & Special Collections Dept. The plates are photographs of early 20th century Malta including various churches, townscapes, country views and pictures of military events and folkloric traditions. The collection is a very welcome addition to the Archives and a complete listing will soon be uploaded to OAR.
What's new at Melitensia
Melitensia's book of the month - February 2020
Black Monday: A Night of Mob Violence - Victor Aquilina
Black Monday, A Night of Mob Violence by Victor Aquilina is a first-hand account of the burning down of The Times building on 15 October 1979. In the words of law and media professor Kevin Aquilina, Black Monday symbolizes a breakdown of the high virtues of the rule of law, democracy, and freedom of the press. Black Monday, A night of mob violence gives the background to the troubled relationship between the Times of Malta and the Labour Party, and goes into some length into the shooting at Castille on the morning of 15 October 1979.
The author of this title, Victor Aquilina, is a former editor of the Times of Malta and Malta correspondent for the Associated Press.
What's new in OAR@UM
Newest additions to the Maltese Journals collection
The first month of the new decade has seen further expansion of the Maltese Journals collection, with the addition of the latest issues of the Journal of the Malta College of Family Doctors, Malta Medical Journal, and Postcolonial Directions in Education.
Postcolonial Directions in Education, vol. 8, issue 2, is a special edition which focuses on "the de(colonial) pedagogical possibilities of film and film festivals". Contained within, you can find articles, commentaries, and reviews tackling issues of sovereignty, empathy, indigenous knowledge, and more.
Journal of the Malta College of Family Doctors, vol. 8, issue 1, features a trio of research articles focusing on the primary care in Malta in the context of specific issues such as nasal bone imaging, depression in patients suffering from diabetes and referrals to social services.
Finally, the last issue of Malta Medical Journal in 2019 (vol. 31, issue 3) brings forth a number of original and review articles, and case reports showcasing interesting problematics, including childhood BMI data for Malta, trunk asymmetries, and psychological interventions in postpartum depression.
Open Access fact of the month
Whereas the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) can be considered as focusing mostly on Green OA (by providing a useful way to interconnect various types of repositories), the Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a prime example of an initiative that concentrates solely on Gold OA. PLoS, founded in 2003 by Patrick O. Brown and Michael Eisen in response to a failed petition calling for authors to stop submitting their work in the conventional pay-per-access journals, is a nonprofit OA publisher producing 10 peer-reviewed journals (all content is published under the Creative Commons "attribution" license) that cover the majority of the main scientific fields. Although the publisher relies heavily on the APC model to cover the necessary costs, it reduces or completely waives the fee for authors from poorer countries.
Whereas the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) can be considered as focusing mostly on Green OA (by providing a useful way to interconnect various types of repositories), the Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a prime example of an initiative that concentrates solely on Gold OA. PLoS, founded in 2003 by Patrick O. Brown and Michael Eisen in response to a failed petition calling for authors to stop submitting their work in the conventional pay-per-access journals, is a nonprofit OA publisher producing 10 peer-reviewed journals (all content is published under the Creative Commons "attribution" license) that cover the majority of the main scientific fields. Although the publisher relies heavily on the APC model to cover the necessary costs, it reduces or completely waives the fee for authors from poorer countries.
