The Maryland State Archives is offering one-day workshops on September 30 and October 14 on how to use records at the Archives to research family history. Each workshop will cover the same material and will be a thorough introduction to genealogical records at the Archives and elsewhere for the beginner as well as an excellent refresher course for more experienced researchers.
The all-day workshops will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Hall of Records Building in Annapolis and end at 3:30 p.m. The registration fee is $50.00 which includes lunch and materials. Subjects to be covered include: vital records and church records, census and passenger records/naturalization records, city directories, tax lists, and probate and land records. Registration is limited to 35 participants for each date.
The workshop leaders are Robert W. Barnes and Patricia D. Anderson. Mr. Barnes has been conducting genealogical research in Maryland for over 30 years and is the compiler of several standard source books in Maryland genealogy. His publications include the three-volume Maryland Marriages 1634-1820, Baltimore County Families 1659-1759, and Guide to Research in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Ms. Anderson has taught genealogy courses for the Baltimore County Adult Education Program and has written extensively on genealogy in the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin.
Proceeds from these workshops will be used to support the Endowment Fund of the State Archives Fund. For more information contact Pat Melville or Mimi Calver.
Black studies involved African Americans in Maryland, slaves at Hampton owned by the Ridgely family, and Maryland colonization of Liberia. Other topics concerned Delmarva Loyalists during the American Revolution, Maryland gunsmiths in the Civil War, and freight rates in Maryland.
In general, activity in the search room in July changed very little statistically from last year. Total record circulation remained virtually unchanged, 9,755 compared to 9,728 in 1994. Library usage rose 12.4%, 1,229 compared to 1,093. Circulation of original records increased 3.5%, 2,698 compared to 2,606. Use of microfilm decreased 3.3%, 5,828 compared to 6,029.
The total number of researchers fell 1.7%, 1,317 in July 1995 compared to 1,340 last year. New patrons fell 7.2%, 387 compared to 417. Returning researchers rose .8%, 930 compared to 923. Each researcher used an average of 7.4 records; in 1994 the figure was 7.3.
Photoduplication orders climbed dramatically in July, up 105.5%, $3,499 compared to $1,702, due in part to the standard fee of $10 per record under twenty pages. As expected with the newer machines, reader printer income rose 270.4%, $1,241 compared to $335.
On course with a two-year pattern, telephone reference continued to grow, up 47.8%, 1,224 calls compared to 828 in 1994. For the first time the daily average climbed above 60; it reached 61 in July, compared to 41 last year. In fact, a new daily record was set on the 18th when the phone reference handled 83 calls.
There were 19 more vital records requests in July 1995 (239) than in 1994 (220), up 8.6%. Circulation of district court records increased by 15.9%, 263 compared to 227. Requests for records of the circuit courts and other agencies rose by an impressive 48%, 644 compared to 435.
Overall, the judiciary continues as the largest single user of SLR reference services. While the number of reference requests received from the courts decreased by 8.4% (208 compared to 227), overall the judiciary accounted for 23.4% of all requests received, a decrease of 6.7%, and for 25.8% of total record circulation.
Requests received by phone increased in July, accounting for 37.3% of total requests, compared to 22.9% in 1994. Surprisingly, the number of requests faxed to the Archives decreased from 89 to 18. Overall, fax requests made up only 2% of the July 1995 total, while accounting for 11.8% of the July 1994 total. Fewer requests were generated from the search room (88) than in July 1994 (127). Search room requests accounted for 9.9% of July 1995 reference activity as compared to 16.8% last year, a decrease of 6.9%. We also received 25 requests handled in the lobby without requiring the patron to register for the search room.
The number of phone/fax requests (349) again fell short of the number of requests received through the mail (424), but far exceeded those received through in-person visits (113). Phone/fax requests accounted for 39.3% of total requests, with the mail accounting for 47.8%.
Revenue from reference activity was up 102.8%, $8,402 compared to $4,142, in part because SLR is copying many records formerly done in the photo lab.
Patrons and staff have also benefited from two filming projects. The refilming of the patent records is progressing well, with a total of 67 volumes now completed. We are also beginning to work on Baltimore City naturalization records, and the first four reels from this very diverse group are now in circulation.
Also in July nearly 4,000 aperture cards containing plats were delivered to the Baltimore County Circuit Court in Towson. It is expected that nearly 8,000 more cards will be shipped in August. The Allegany County plat project drew somewhat closer to completion with the delivery of nearly another 300 cards to Cumberland. Circulating copies of the microfilm used to create the aperture cards, and every other plat project, are placed in the search room. When used with the plat databases, the microfilm provides a quick and convenient way to retrieve copies of this material.
Archives staff participated in assisting both Calvert County and Dorchester County circuit courts transfer their land record operations from paper-based systems to 16mm film-based systems, as Kodak Imagelink rotary cameras were installed in those counties. Microfilm targets were also provided to the vendor that is refilming the collection of Calvert County land records. The Archives has already started receiving 16mm microfilm from both jurisdictions.
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