Between 13 and 17 May 2024, three delegates from the University of Malta Library were invited to attend the Third University of Cadiz Erasmus Library Staff Week: Fostering Collaboration and Best Practices. During this week, they joined sixteen other professionals from nine SEA-EU universities.
The University of Malta’s delegates for this visit were: Mr Silvio Cortis (Senior Manager, Reader Services) Ms Antida Mizzi (Manager, Special Collections), Ms Rosa Previti ((Assistant Librarian, Acquisitions Department).
In order to facilitate networking and knowledge-building, all participants were requested to deliver a brief presentation highlighting the most important aspects of their university and, particularly, their university’s academic library. The Staff Week was structured around visits to units and departments which are essential to an academic library, followed by discussions about how each of the participating universities approaches the area. The aim was to identify potential approaches and allow attendees to consider other strategies which could be implemented within their home university.
Given the University of Malta Library’s present shift towards digitisation of material, participants had an opportunity to exchange views on managing institutional repositories and promoting open access, and approaches to disseminating scholarly works. Contrasting, and equally relevant, were the workshops around preservation and utilisation of material of national heritage, such as those held within the Special Collections department of the University of Malta Library.
In addition to visiting these key areas of the University of Cadiz’s library, study visits were organised to a number of other related sites, including the Puerto Real Campus Library, the Jerez Campus Library and the Algeciras Campus Library.
Participation was coordinated by the SEA-EU Office at UM and supported by the International Office via the Erasmus+ funding.