The concept of the family changed over time.  For a number of decades the family became highly regularised either by the church or the state or by both.  This means that our archives are rich in records of births, marriages and deaths that are fundamental for most genealogical research.  Status animarum, government census and civil registration records are largely complete, extensive and easily accessible.  Yet as a country Maltese genealogical research is complex due to the lack of centralised record keeping.  A number of Giuliani, some in pubic archives, are facilitating the process and attracting more researchers to this theme.   Through a number of initiatives with international organisations thousands of digital records are now available online via the Archives Portal Europe.  Through these new services, the way the composition of the family and the whole concept of the family changed over time, together with heraldry, surnames and other family relations such as the mixing with foreign nationals and citizenship can be studied more than ever before.