Understanding authenticity : a case study of the agricultural records at the national archives of Malta

Abstract

This long essay will focus on the understanding of documentary authenticity in the Maltese context from an archival point of view by analysing Maltese agricultural records. Chapter 2 gives a general overview of the understanding of authenticity from the Anglo-American and the Italian archival schools, and their relationship with Civil and Common Law. Furthermore, these two perspectives will be combined in order to reflect the hybridity of the Maltese law. Moreover, the case study of the agricultural records, known as Farmers Registration Code (FRC) records, has been adopted due to the various documentary typologies linked to this system. In addition, these records were/are used in Law Court litigations as they are the oldest records in Malta providing information about the farmers who are working the lands and their rights on them. Chapter 3 aims to provide a better understanding of the history, production, preservation, and legal purpose of these records. Thanks to interviews with main protagonists in the creation, use and archiving of these records, the authentication analysis is explained in Chapters 4 and 5. Furthermore, Chapter 5 delves into the results of the data collection and analysis of the FRC records, especially their intrinsic and extrinsic elements. Lastly, samples of authority records can be found in the appendix of this long essay as a way of creating access points to this complex network of records, together with additional information which will surely be of interest to those reading this work. In conclusion, this groundwork research discusses the documentary authenticity of public records, created, used, and archived within the Maltese hybrid legal framework, as well as revealing the blurred lines between authenticity and reliability.