The St. Catherine’s Musical Society archive : a case study

Abstract

The objective of this long essay is to analyse in depth the archives and the recordkeeping methods of a typical Maltese band club. The band club on which this study will focus is St. Catherine’s Musical Society, a voluntary, non governmental organisation based in the village of Żurrieq. A review based on research of this and four similiar archives will help to highlight the importance of such collections within the Maltese cultural and artistic contexts.

The first chapter focuses on the setup of the St. Catherine’s Musical Society and its evolvement throughout the years. The other chapters discuss all the collections of this Society and who is responsible for the upkeep of these records.

A detailed description of the existing fonds, from its creation up to the present day will be provided. These will in turn be compared to other archives from different band clubs together with the best standard practice norms. Another chapter deals with the preservation of these documents, digitalisation and other means of making the material accessible. Improvements, together with benefits and recommendations within the standards will be suggested in the final chapter.