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The National Archives Council was launched by Minster Louis Galea which marks another step in the archives reform. On 1st September 2005 a new Archives Act (V) came into effect, reforming the whole archives set-up. The Act separates the archives sector from the Libraries Department and sets up the office of the National Archivist.
Under the new legislation the National Archives of Malta has been restructured into a government agency. On 1st September 2005 the Minister appointed Mr. Charles J. Farrugia to serve as Malta’s first National Archivist. Mr Farrugia is a professionally trained archivist with 18 years experience in the job. Mgr. Dr Joseph Bezzina was appointed as Assistant National Archivist for Gozo. Bezzina is a leading historian and also a professionally trained archivist.
The new Act places before the National Archives the challenge of safeguarding the collective memory of the Maltese Nation. In line with the same legislation the Minister is to appoint an Archives Council to act as an advisory body.
The role and responsibilities of the Archives Council are defined in the National Archives Act. The Council has advisory and non-executive powers. It brings together stakeholders in the sector and also has the duty to convene a National Archives Forum every two years.
The composition of the Archives Council brings together representatives from the heritage sector such as the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and Heritage Malta, and expertise from the Public sector administrative background such as the Permanent Secretary at OPM. Gozo is represented by an appointee by the Minister of Gozo. Represented on the Council are also users of archives, non-governmental archives, and the academic aspect of the profession.
Speaking at the Press Conference, Minister Galea thanked all members who accepted to serve on the new Council. He said that the challenge before the National Archives and the Council is to tackle records-management issues, especially the management of electronic records and digital content. Apart from safeguarding the collective memory of the Maltese nation, the new set up also has to guarantee that the public sector becomes more efficient through ready access to essential evidence. Good record-keeping is the cornerstone of efficient and transparent decision-making in government.
The National Archives Council is headed by Mr Joe Izzo as Chairperson, and eight other board members. Mr Izzo is a long-serving public officers who served in various positions of responsibility especially at the Office of the Prime Minister.
The National Archives Council will be composed of Joe Izzo as President, Mr Nathaniel Cutajar, Dr Mario Tabone, Mr Philip Borg and Mr Anthony J. Vella as as ex-officio members. Mons Dun Gwann Azzopardi, Dr Lillian Sciberras, Mr Max Farrugia and Mr John Cremona as council members.
Mr Joe W. Izzo – President Archives Council - Mr Joseph W Izzo has only recently retired from the post of Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, an appointment which he took up on the 11th January, 2005. Following his retirement, Mr Izzo was engaged on contract as Adviser on Human Resources in the Office of the Prime Minister. Mr Izzo is a career civil servant with over forty years to his credit in the Malta Public Service.
He has moved up the ranks to middle management, to the position of Director, Policy and Planning in 1993, and to that of Director General, Management and Personnel Office in 1998, and Permanent Secretary in 2005. During his years in a headship position, Mr Izzo played a major role in the negotiating and implementation of sectoral and collective agreements for public officers. Mr Izzo joined the Public Service in 1964, moving from the Education Department to the Establishments Division in the Office of the Prime Minister in 1970, where he has served until his retirement in March 2005.
Falling within his area of responsibility within the Office of the Prime Minister were the Departments of Defence, Corporate Services, Information, EU Affairs, Operations and Programme Implementation. Mr Izzo remained at the helm of the central HR agency for the Public Service until his retirement, with responsibility for the recruitment, deployment, and industrial relations in the the Human Resource Management areas of the Public Service and redeployment of HR in the broader public sector. Mr Izzo is married to Bernadette nee Kerridge and has a son, Julian.
Mr Charles J. Farrugia – National Archivist - Mr Farrugia worked at the National Archives for 18 years and has been occupying the post of Head for the last 8 years. He occupied the post of Secretary to the National Archives Advisory Committee. A Commonwealth Scholar, Mr. Farrugia holds an Honours Degree and a Masters Degree in history from the University of Malta, a Post Graduate Diploma in Records Management from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, and a Masters in Archives and Records Management from University College London, U.K.
He represented Malta at a number of international archives conferences in Hungary, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria, and the UAE. Lately he presented a paper at the VIIth European Archives conference held in Poland. Mr Farrugia was council member of the Malta Library Association for a number of years and is a founding member of the Friends of the National Archives of Malta and of the Maltese National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM - Malta). He is also a member of the Society of Archivists of the U.K.
Charles Farrugia has authored two books on Maltese local history, one of which has been awarded the prize by the Ministry of Education for the best researched book published in Malta during 1998. His forthcoming publication will present to the reading public the history of Maltese archives.
During the last six years Mr Farrugia worked on the drafting of the archives reform including the new Archives Act. He also convinced University authorities to set up archives courses. He is a member on the Board of studies of the Diploma in Archives and Records Management and the Degree in Library, Archive and Information studies. During 2005-06 he was the main lecturer on the archives course.
On 1st September 2005 Mr Farrugia was appointed as Malta’s first National Archivist. Some months later he was appointed as Malta’s expert on Archives on the European Archives Group set up by the European Commission. Mr Farrugia is married to Rosette nee Bonello and has a son, Gabriele.
Rev. Dr Joseph Bezzina – Assistant National Archivist - Joseph Bezzina was born in Rabat, Gozo. He studied at the University of Malta and the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He holds three history degrees, including a First-class Honours Doctorate in Church History, and has also received the Pope’s Award, his University’s highest honour, after being placed first in the 1982 finals. He has written a number of books based on research carried out in archives in Malta, London, the Vatican City, Rome, Naples, Palermo and other archives.
In the early 1970s, he helping in the systemization of the archives of the Gozo Cathedral and worked alongside Professor Godfrey Wettinger in the cataloguing of those archives. Later on he specialised in archives and archivistic science and followed a full course at the Institute of Archivists, Rome. He also did practical archivistic work at the Public Records Office, now renamed The National Archives, London.
Back in Malta, he helped in the cataloguing of the Episcopal Archives, Gozo, on modern lines and was later appointed its Keeper. He wrote and published a guide to these archives. On 1 August 1989, he was engaged by the Ministry for Gozo to set up a Gozo Section of the National Archives. He began from scratch. The National Archives (Gozo Section) was inaugurated on 24 November 1989. He has been in charge of the Gozo section since then and it now houses over 9000 items. Documentation starts in 1560. In 1989, he was also appointed adviser on Archives to the Government of Malta.
During these years, he organised several specialised exhibitions with documents held at the Archives and wrote three publications related to the subject. He also spoke on archives-related subjects in several international fora, including a meeting of the European Association of Ecclesiastical Archives. He was appointed Assistant National Archivist with effect from 1 September 2005.
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