M3P:About

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M3P is a collaborative multimedia database of Maltese music and associated arts. M3P also stands for Malta Music Memory Project. This project aims to build a comprehensive multimedia database and gateway to the creation of a national collection of artifacts from the Maltese music scene and associated arts.


Why is M3P needed?

Here are a few reasons why M3P exists:

  1. There is a glut of uncollected documents and data relating to Maltese music and associated arts, which have increased exponentially with the recent proliferation of digital technologies and the Internet. M3P will provide a repository for this type of data, and ensure that it is kept in posterity for current and future generations.
  2. There is no cohesive multimedia database or any other sort of collection of most Maltese music.
  3. Specifically, there is a need to document and showcase:
  • the work and lives of aging musicians who are still alive or recently deceased
  • under-documented Maltese performers, such as underground rock scenes, or music that does not normally get radio play in Malta
  • endangered collections and artifacts, such as 78 rpm record collections and tape recordings at PBS and in private collections
  • alternative aspects of mainstream performers
  • young non-mainstream performers
  • overseas-based Maltese musicians

What’s a wiki?

M3P is organised around a wiki. A wiki – derived from wikiwiki, the Hawaiian word for quick – is an example of a collaborative technology that operates in direct correlation with social networks. Wikis are designed to facilitate conversational knowledge management and group collaboration. The best example of a wiki is Wikipedia. M3P uses the same server-based software, MediaWiki, as that used by Wikipedia.

Why not just use Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is a general encyclopedia. M3P is about Maltese music and associated arts. Wikipedia is about everything. M3P is specifically about Malta's arts and culture within the country and beyond the shores of the Maltese Islands.

Can everyone edit and/or add data on M3P?

Yes, as long as you're a registered user and logged in. Please note that all data edited and/or uploaded by users is monitored on a regular basis by M3P’s Editorial Board. Check out the M3P Policies and Procedures section for more information on how our submissions policy works.

How do you know if the information is correct?

As anyone who registers a user account can edit practically any part of the wiki, it is possible for out of date, partial, biased or incorrect information to be posted. However, because there are other people reading the articles and monitoring contributions, information that does not comply with the M3P submission policy will be corrected or removed relatively quickly. As M3P attracts more and more contributors over the years, the overall accuracy and reliability of information will improve. Anyone who can contribute new entries or corrections to existing ones is more than welcome to help by correcting and improving what's available on the website.

What type of information will be kept in the database?

Since M3P is an open and collaborative project, everything that falls within the interest qualifies for entry. M3P aims to be all inclusive and exclusive only in as much as ensuring that all submissions are somehow directly or indirectly related to its mission of collecting, cataloging and preserving Maltese music and associated arts.

Who is responsible for entries that appear on the M3P website?

This is a collaborative project. So, everyone is responsible, including you! Lots of people have contributed information to different parts of this project, and anyone can do so. All you need is to know how to edit a page and have some relevant information you want to share. You can find out who is responsible for the most recent versions of any specific page by clicking on the history link at the top of the page. You're always free to edit or add to an open article, even if you didn't start it or haven't contributed to it. If you see something you're sure is wrong, please feel free to correct it.

What plans are there for M3P to grow?

There is an ongoing plan of action for M3P is to capture detailed information about live performances and recordings from shows, studio sessions, and public releases on CD and through the Internet, along with photos, posters and other similar materials. The database also needs to collate details of all the technologies used to create and document music – from the equipment used for recording and live performances, to individual websites and social networking websites used by both artists and their fans.

We're hoping that the data captured systematically by this project they can serve as the basis for a broader collection within a relatively short period of time. More importantly, however, all the data gathered will help establish an ongoing research base with a pedagogical dimension closely associated with postgraduate research projects. The research projects will subsequently feed back into further development on the database itself.

Will M3P always be free for end-users?

It is our goal to keep all the information in the M3P free and open under a creative commons license, unless it is protected by copyright. Music, video or other materials that are under copyright will obviously not be available for free but may be made available via an appropriate payment gateway in due course. An initial way forward on this aspect of the project is being explored with the University of Hull's Creative Enterprise Lab in Scarborough, UK.

See also