Two in-house classification schemes for works on Malta and the Maltese and for works on Arabic & Maltese language & literature respectively housed in the Melitensia Special Collections Dept., the University of Malta Library

Abstract

This latest revised and enlarged edition of the Melitensia classification scheme for works on Malta and the Maltese includes not only the addition of new classmarks that have been added to the schedule in the intervening two years since the 4th rev. ed. was uploaded on the University of Malta’s (UM) Institutional Repository OAR@UM but, it also includes for the classifier’s convenience, the ‘Arabic and Maltese Language and Literature Schedule’. This document therefore includes the two inhouse classification schemes, (affectionately referred to as the “MZs” and the “PJs”), in operation for Melitensia works housed in the Melitensia Special Collections Department. Because these schedules are quintessentially products of the UM Library and are among the oldest inhouse classification schedules for Melitensia works that I know of, I have in the following pages also taken the liberty to add a small note on their history, which I hope may be of interest to the reader. This edition also differs from its predecessor in that it includes for the first time a written policy that spells out the steps which need to be followed when updating the schedules. This serves not only to formalise the procedure but also ensures its dissemination to other classifiers within the UM Library who may also be affected by these additions.