ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 19

CIRCULATION

The Hall of Records experienced its most active year in the number of
searchers who worked here and the quantity of material circulated. Ten years
ago I reported that the revival of graduate studies after the war had not meant
the revival of work in early American history. This is, fortunately, no longer
true. Our records are now being used by scholars in every area of American
history and culture. The figures below, covering the last three fiscal years,
indicate how rapidly this new interest has grown.

Number of Searchers

1955-1956 ........................................ 1,360

1956-1957 ........................................ 1,520

1957-1958 ........................................ 1,933

Items Circulated (including microfilm)

1955-1956 ........................................ 7,726

1956-1957 ........................................ 9,714

1957-1958 ........................................ 10,698

As is shown in another part of this report, microfilm holdings at the
Hall of Records are increasing more rapidly than any other type of archival
acquisition. Several series of probate materials are complete for every county
and we have started filming county land records from the beginning of each
county up to 1949 when the film in the Land Office begins. The figures given
here below indicate how much our circulation of microfilm has increased.

Items Circulated Microfilm Circulated
(not including Microfilm)

1955-1956 6,874 852

1956-1957 8,788 926

1957-1958 9,384 1,314

The Research Room staff also gives assistance to searchers who are un-
familiar with our indexes. In addition, staff members answer queries sent by
mail if extensive research is not required. Answering these queries is one of the
most time-consuming services the Hall of Records performs. During the last
fiscal year we received 1,317 queries, mostly genealogical in nature, from
every state except Nevada and Rhode Island, and from three foreign countries.

We keep a daily record of all documents used by people who are not
members of the staff. The list of documents used twenty times or more, given
here below, shows that probate and land records are most in demand. Our
collection of church records, however, is now of sufficient size to attract a
considerable number of searchers. In addition, several projects in Maryland
history have brought researchers interested in our unindexed collections of
executive and administrative papers.