ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 29

from the General Bond Issue of 1939 for the purchase of this type of
equipment but none will be bought unless something especially adapted
to our requirements is offered.

A complete change has been made in the repair policy of the Hall.
Until the last year it was customary to send a large number of items to
the repair room, averaging about five hundred a year. These items were
composed mainly of miscellaneous materials from gift and deposit collec-
tions which needed repair, from the original laws, from the courts. In the
meanwhile many of the volumes of records which are in constant use
were neglected, some were withdrawn from circulation because of their
condition, many others should have been. Our policy now is to repair
those materials which are most in demand and which now need repair.
Until they are indexed or catalogued the miscellaneous loose-paper hold-
ings of the Hall will have little use and can wait their turn. As a
result of this change in policy fifty instead of five hundred items were
sent to the repair room, but each of these items represented an entire
record volume. The only loose papers which were crepelined were the
Revolutionary papers; this was done as index cards for them were filed
in the index room for the use of the public. At present there is no
volume of records not available to the public because of bad condition.

The following are the more important materials repaired during the year :

Accounts 7, 29, 30, 69

Balance Book 6

Inventories and Accounts 27, 29, 33, 34

Wills 29

Deed Books Anne Arundel County IB-JB

Deed Book Baltimore County B No. L

Provincial Court Judgments W. C. No. 1

Saint Anne's Parish Register II A

Revolutionary Papers, Boxes 4-15

Original Enlistment Papers of Revolutionary Soldiers

In addition a large number of single papers were repaired, parch-
ments were stretched, materials mounted for binding, and materials pre-
pared for exhibition of various kinds. The Repair Department also
did the binding mentioned above, and a chronological scrapbook of the
history of the Hall was completed.

During the year archival workers from two South American coun-
tries and five public institutions in this country either wrote or came in
person to study the repair methods in use at the Hall. The repair room
remains the most attractive department for visitors.