Religious serials in Malta, 1945- : historical notes with a catalogue of periodical holdings at John XXIII Library

Abstract

In the first part of this dissertation some thirty newspapers and periodicals of religious interest have been examined and described as to their content, format, printing history, circulation (whenever possible: many editors being reluctant to furnish this information), changes in title and editorial policy. Bibliographic notes in the form of catalogue entries head the description of each periodical. Selection of the serials examined has been made with care to make them representative of the local religious publications in this category. The serials are arranged in chronological order according to the date of their first appearance. The second part of this project is the complete catalogue of periodical holdings at John XXIII Memorial Library, Valletta, which collection had never been catalogued before. This catalogue is compiled according to AACR2 (third level of description), although the main entry of the serials is invariably given by title. This may not always be in accord with Rule 21.1 B of the Rules, but if this rule were adopted, it would not help much the users of the Library, many of whom look for periodicals mostly by title. This is also the opinion of the Librarian of the mentioned library. Each entry includes notes regarding the frequency of the periodical, any special features, and where a particular collection is incomplete, details of the Library's holdings. Quite often, Ulrich's International Periodical Directory and A Checklist of Maltese Periodicals were consulted for information otherwise not obtainable. When available, the International Serial Number rounds up the entry.