Dusty volumes to digital : Valletta's memory institutions as cultural spaces

Abstract

Much of Malta’s written depositories of national memory are to be found within the island’s capital, Valletta. An impressive variety of such institutions, varying from public to private ones, house printed works and manuscript and archival material which goes well beyond the island’s own history, being of considerable significance within the wider Mediterranean and European contexts. The extent to which such collections are accessible, their facility of use and possible ways ahead where their further development is concerned are delved into. Of particular importance is the need to democratize access to such material, making it more known to local and foreign academics, but also more relevant to a much wider audience to who are financially sustaining it and to whom much of it belongs as national heritage.