An agreement for the Giuliana Letard Ciantar genealogical collection has been signed between the National Archives of Malta and the globally-known company Ancestry.

The ceremony for the signing of this agreement took place in the presence of the Minister for National Heritage, the Arts, and Local Government, Owen Bonnici. He stated that thanks to this agreement, it will be easier for individuals to build their family tree through free access to the National Archives of Malta's records in the global Ancestry database, which currently contains 40 billion records from 80 countries.

Minister Bonnici commended the National Archives for this service, where they will be providing high-quality genealogical research services. He expressed his hope that this service will continue to expand and strengthen the National Archives' contribution to national memory preservation.

National Archivist Charles Farrugia explained how four years ago, the National Archives acquired the Giuliana Letard Ciantar collection. Giuliana Letard Ciantar's collection is a fundamental tool for genealogical research and consists of a collection of notes on births, marriages, and deaths. He explained that initially, the National Archives started the necessary conservation and preservation work, as well as cataloguing of this collection, before it was made available for research.

He further explained that during this time, the National Archives began discussions with Ancestry, one of the largest global companies in the genealogy field, on how to develop access to and use of these documents. This company, registered in Malta, already has agreements with several leading National Archives, including those of the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Australia, and others.

The agreement signed on Friday will result in Ancestry creating a digital copy of the Giuliana Letard Ciantar collection as well as indexing it at its own expense, before then passing it on to the National Archives while Giuliana's collection remains the property of the Archives. This agreement will lead to a number of benefits, including that the Giuliana will be included in a global genealogical research structure.