Newsletter of
The Maryland State Archives
Vol. 15, No. 15
August 13, 2001
www.mdsa.net
PLATS IN THE PLATO SYSTEM 
by Kim Collins Moreno 

The preservation of a nation's documents serves far more than a few people's interest in history.  It is no coincidence that the idea of a formal national archives arose around the same time as the world's first free republics were born, in the late 1700s -- the United States, France, and other nations opened the world's eyes to the necessity of legal rights for all citizens.  An archives preserves, on paper then and in several formats today, the written or pictorial legal proof of the past, which no dictator or monarch can deny.  Land claims, citizenship papers, court proceedings, patent certificates military-service records -- all of these items are the proof of an individual's service to or claims upon a government.  To entrust them to a permanent and safe holding place...is to ensure that person's legal place in society. (1)

Three years ago the State Archives and the Administrative Office of the Courts agreed to develop a system for preserving and making accessible all plats filed with the Land Office and the circuit courts of Maryland. This year phase I of installation for the PLATO (PLATs Online) system nears completion. All 24 Maryland jurisdictions are scheduled to have completed phase I of PLATO installation by the end of calendar year 2001. Phase I includes survey, subdivision, and condominium plats recorded for the courts, as well as plats from equity, land records, and judicial records. 

Plats are cartography relating to land ownership. They represent in graphic and pictorial terms the metes and bounds of properties as described in 

deeds.  As such, plats are crucial to understanding and documenting the conveyance of land title in Maryland. Attorneys, realtors, surveyors, title searchers, and private citizens need to consult plats recorded in the circuit courts when researching property boundaries and land conveyances. 

Beginning in 1945 copies of subdivision plats recorded with the circuit courts were filed with the Land Office. In 1965, the Hall of Records, now called the State Archives, assumed the functions and responsibilities of the Land Office, including the preservation and storage of the state copies of plats. The Archives began microfilming these documents and providing aperture cards (plats on microfiche) to most jurisdictions in 1993. During this process, the Archives recognized the need for a more comprehensive appraisal and accessibility of all plats. By 1997 the Archives, Administrative Office of the Courts, and circuit court clerks had determined that an online system for plats reference and retrieval could meet this need. 

Since most plats are oversized documents -- often as large as 24"x36" and sometimes even larger -- the storage and preservation of these important and heavily-used records have long posed a challenge. Moreover, the court clerks have felt increased pressure for more space as the courts experienced expansions in workload, personnel, technology equipment, and sheer paperwork produced as part of the daily work of the judicial system. Likewise, as faster technology has increased the pace of work in our society, the legal, surveying, and title professions must conduct their research in 
county plats and land records with increasing 
speed and efficiency. The PLATO system has 

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The Archivists' Bulldog
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The Archivists' Bulldog 
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PLATS (continued from Page 2)
task of creating entries in the various plats databases. Currently, there are over 571,000 database records online. Recently the index entry process was streamlined by digitally scanning indices borrowed from the courts. These indices are now available on plats.net as virtual books. 

Imaging services personnel digitally scan plats from microfilm and originals that have been transferred from the courts. Since each county may have thousands of plats, imaging services maintains a relentless production schedule by use of three microfilm scanners and four large, flatbed scanners for original documents. After an extensive quality control check, the images are sent back to geographic services for correlation with index entries. 

The public would never be able to access the plat images online if not for the Archives' information technology department. IT personnel write the computer programming code and maintain the network servers that enable the plats.net system to be accessible and searchable on the Internet. They also install the PLATO workstations and provide system support and maintenance for the circuit courts.

Plats.net represents both the vision and mission of archives in the twenty-first century. By using state-of-the-art information technology, the Archives preserves these important documents while also expanding their accessibility to an increasingly wider segment of the public. Furthermore, the Archives safeguards the property rights of current and prospective land owners. In this way, the Archives is using new technology to further its mission of preserving and making accessible documents of lasting historical value to Maryland citizens. 
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1  Christina Rudy Smith, The National Archives and Records Administration, Know Your Government (New York:  Chelsea House Publishers, 1989), 101-103.

RECORD TRANSFERS 

DISTRICT COURT 1, BC 
    (Civil Docket) 1994-1997 [MSA T1441] 

DISTRICT COURT 2, DO 
    (Civil Docket) 1996 [MSA T1741] 

DISTRICT COURT 2, WI 
    (Civil Docket) 1987 [MSA T1643] 
    (Domestic Violence Docket) 1985-1986 
        [MSA T3340] 

DISTRICT COURT 2, WO 
    (Natural Resources Docket) 1991-1995 
        [MSA T3308] 

DISTRICT COURT 2, SO 
    (Civil Docket) 1980-1995 [MSA T256] 

DISTRICT COURT 3, CA 
    (Civil Docket) 1994-1996 [MSA T1813] 

DISTRICT COURT 3, KE 
    (Civil Docket) 1997 [MSA T1743] 

DISTRICT COURT 3, QA 
    (Citations) 1995-1997 [MSA T3214] 
    (Civil Docket) 1997 [MSA T2444] 
    (Domestic Violence Docket) 1988 [MSA T3338] 
    (Natural Resources Docket) 1997 [MSA T2970] 

DISTRICT COURT 3, TA 
    (Municipal Docket) 1996 [MSA T3339] 
    (Civil Docket) 1995 [MSA T388] 
    (Natural Resources Docket) 1996 [MSA T2973] 

DISTRICT COURT 4, CH 
    (Civil Docket) 1995-1996 [MSA T235] 
    (Natural Resources Docket) 1995-1996 
        [MSA T2819] 

DISTRICT COURT 4, CV 
    (Civil Docket) 1989-1995 [MSA T1857] 
    (Natural Resources Docket) 1991-1995 
        [MSA 3306] 

DISTRICT COURT 4, SM 
    (Civil Docket) 1987 [MSA T1096] 

DISTRICT COURT 5, PG 
    (Civil Docket) 1989-1995 [MSA T240] 

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RECORD TRANSFERS (continued from Page 3)

DISTRICT COURT 6, MO 
    (Civil Docket) 1987-1992 [MSA T1335] 

DISTRICT COURT 7, AA 
    (Civil Docket) 1995-1996 [MSA T1171] 
    (Special Proceedings Docket) 1995-1996 [MSA T2840] 

DISTRICT COURT 8, BA 
    (Civil Docket) 1987 [MSA T1442] 
    (Special Proceedings Docket) 1986 [MSA T3305] 

DISTRICT COURT 9, HA 
    (Civil Docket) 1985-1986 [MSA T1466] 

DISTRICT COURT 10, CR 
    (Civil Docket) 1987-1994 [MSA T1744] 
    (Special Proceedings Docket) 1986-1987 [MSA T2837] 

DISTRICT COURT 10, HO 
    (Civil Docket) 1987 [MSA T1024] 

DISTRICT COURT 11, FR 
    (Civil Docket) 1995-1996 [MSA T1086] 

DISTRICT COURT 11, WA 
    (Civil Docket) 1996 [MSA T1088]