As the University of Malta (UM) marks its 10th anniversary of Open Access, the institution celebrates its significant strides in democratising research and its continued commitment to preserving and promoting Malta’s national heritage.
Launched in 2014, the Open Access Repository (OAR@UM), stands as a cornerstone of this mission, offering free and unrestricted access to a wealth of research outputs and cultural materials.
Since then, it has evolved into a robust platform of 114,000 items (nearly 9,000 new submissions in 2024) that disseminates academic output and is crucial in preserving the nation’s rich cultural heritage through digitisation and open access.
The repository’s focus on Open Access is aligned with broader European and international trends, particularly initiatives like Horizon 2020, which mandate Open Access for publicly funded research. The UM’s Open Access Policy, implemented in 2021, ensures that all research produced by the UM is deposited in OAR@UM and made freely accessible.
The Open Access Repository (OAR@UM) has been a transformative force in promoting research accessibility at the UM. Traditionally, much of academic research has been locked behind paywalls, accessible only to those affiliated with institutions that can afford journal subscriptions. OAR@UM breaks down these barriers, making high-quality research freely available to the public.
In fact, OAR@UM has been instrumental in digitising rare and culturally significant materials, ensuring they are not only preserved for future generations but also accessible to researchers, students, and the public across the globe, connecting them across borders.
To celebrate this important milestone, the UM will also make its debut at the Malta Book Festival, which provides the perfect platform to highlight the significance of Open Access, heritage preservation, and digitisation's role in promoting academic research and Maltese culture.
The UM’s presence at the festival will showcase the UM Library’s Open Access collections, including the Kollezzjoni Programmi tal-Festa (KPF). Housed at JC, this 8000-wide programme collection preserves the festa programmes from Malta & Gozo, offering a rare glimpse into Malta's cultural and religious celebrations.
Librarian Katja Zahra Camilleri will be giving a talk on Wednesday 6 November at 19:00, giving the public a unique insight into how these cultural events were celebrated in the past.
Additionally, also on Wednesday 6 November, the UM Library’s Archives and Rare Books Collection will take centre stage with a presentation by Matthew Cuschieri at 18:30 . The talk will showcase some of the highlights of the Archives and Rare Books Collection, illustrating these documents' immense value and unique nature.
The full programme of events is available here.
The UM Library will be joined by THINK Magazine and Malta University Press (MUP), further strengthening the UM’s representation as a hub for academic research and cultural promotion.
THINK Magazine, the official research publication of the UM, will launch its latest issue at the festival, showcasing the cutting-edge research being conducted across the UM. The magazine plays a crucial role in promoting the impact and relevance of the UM’s research, showcasing that research is deeply connected to the real-world challenges facing society.
Meanwhile, Malta University Press (MUP) will launch its latest publication, "Medical Sciences in Early Modern Malta".
Another initiative that will be highlighted at the National Book Festival is drUM, the UM’s Data Repository. Launched in October 2023, drUM extends the principles of open access beyond academic publications to encompass research data by providing a platform where researchers can share raw data, structured databases, and large-scale datasets generated through experimental research, clinical trials, or field studies. While the platform promotes openness, drUM also recognises that not all data can be immediately shared due to ethical concerns or privacy regulations. drUM offers flexible access controls to address this, allowing researchers to store data securely while ensuring compliance with data protection.
As UM looks ahead, it is committed to pushing the boundaries of accessibility and transparency in research, fostering collaborations that transcend borders and disciplines. In doing so, it ensures that knowledge is not just preserved but actively shared, inspiring future generations and driving global progress.
Visitors to the festival, scholars, and the wider public are invited to explore these rich resources and witness how open access shapes the future of research and heritage.