Authority list of Maltese names for libraries using AACR2

Abstract

This little publication is being issued as the University of Malta Library's latest contribution to Universal Bibliographic Control. Anyone having even a limited experience of cataloguing Maltese publications must feel the need for a similar publication, since the authors with the same names crop up frequently, and several Maltese authors tend to use different forms of their names - most notably, Maltese and English forms of the forenames from time to time, or even within the same period. Moreover, Maltese printers and publishers have often been careless about the information given on the title-page, so the establishing of a heading according to the criteria of AACR2 is not infrequently an arduous task. Now that a pilot edition of a current Maltese national bibliography is on the verge of publication, it has become more important to establish authoritatively all forms of personal and corporate names to be used in cataloguing. A great deal of work has gone into the compilation of this list, and for this all cataloguers must owe a debt of gratitude to Lillian Sciberras, Deputy Librarian, and Victor Magri, A.A. in charge of Special Collection`s. Naturally, this is a task that is never complete: this publication is already outdated as I write this foreword. It is our intention, for this reason, to update it annually, by issuing either a list of additions, or a cumulative list. If present plans for automating the Library go through, the publication of annual cumulation should become a simple matter. [Foreword by Paul Xuereb]