Hall of Records Commission
Agenda

for a Meeting 
at the Maryland State Archives
Electronic Classroom
12 Noon
March 19, 1998

Call to Order by the Chairman

Attendees & Introduction of Special Guests

Reports and Minutes of Previous Meetings

• October 23, 1997
• Special meetings
• Washington's Birthday celebration and the installation of the Tench Tilghman Sword Exhibit in the Old Senate Chamber:
• donation of insurance appraisal

Records Retention and Disposal Schedules

• Retention
• Disposal

Proposed motion: approval of retention and disposal schedules

Old Business

• gift of the Sohmers/Agnew Papers
• at its May 29, 1997 meeting the Commission declined  to purchase the 13 boxes of the Sohmers/Agnew Papers at the offered price of $16,000.  The owner has subsequently decided to give the papers to the Archives.

Archivist's Report & Staff Activities

• pronouncing 'Calvert'
• illustrations for the Annual Report of the State Treasurer
• presentation of the Speaker's Medallion to Bishop Robinson
• 300th Anniversary of the Mace of the House of Delegates
• pursuit of the fugitive town records of Bladensburg
• helping to salvage and preserve the Florence Bahr collection of court room sketchbooks and other related materials
• salvaging the collection
• Organization of American Historians session on the history of Maryland communities
• research on Robert Swailes, a legislator disciplined by the House of Delegates
• public lecture on The Peggy Stewart and other Burning Issues in the Maritime History of Annapolis

Recent Acquisitions

• State Agency Records (accessions & transfers)
• Special Collections

Finding Aids, Reference Services, and Publications

• program to preserve card indexes and to make them accessible through the world wide web
• proposed updated and revised study of Thomas W. Henry by Jean Libby
• status report on the revised Maryland A New Guide to the Old Line State
• the Archives on the World Wide Web
• Museum Without Walls
• two new exhibits: black history and women's history

Education & Outreach

• Summer Internship Program
• matching funds from Morgan State University
• NEH, Anne Arundel County Schools, Maryland State Archives Collaborative Program
• March 11 visit of Carol Parham, Superintendent of Schools and announcement of a $15,000 prize to one of the participating teachers
• plans for Maryland Day with the Governor, the Comptroller, author Ann Jensen, and a 4th grade class from Anne Arundel County

Administrative & Fiscal Matters

• need for a resolution clarifying the meaning of the Archives of Maryland Series
• proposed resolution:  It is hereby resolved that all copies of documents in whatever form that are produced, as well as all finding aids in what ever form they are produced, as well as any interpretive booklets, pamphlets, and other materials in what ever form  produced, by the State Archives or for the State Archives,  are considered to be publications in the Archives of Maryland series, and that any income received from those copies, finding aids, interpretive booklets, pamphlets, and other materials should be deposited to the Archives of Maryland fund account.
• status of tobacco litigation copy requests
• recordation and preservation system for over-sized court materials:  the proposed Washington County Court pilot project
• Biennial Audit- status report
• Securing non-general fund support to access & preserve the historical record
• status of the Ameritech/Library of Congress grant proposal
• proposed cooperative program in the filming and/or scanning of Maryland newspapers from the Library of Congress
• status of the proposal for private support of the cost of filming and scanning

proposed resolution:  The Commission refers the proposal to a subcommittee of the Commission consisting of three members from the Commission who will review the proposal and recommend a course of action for the Archivist to follow with regard to the proposal for private support for the cost of conservation microfilming and scanning. The Commission encourages continuing with the conservation microfilming of Maryland newspapers and the filming for compensation of non-Maryland newspapers as long as all available Maryland newspapers are given priority for filming.

Budget Issues- Present & Future

• FY 1999 Budget submittal
Status Report on Committee Recommendations
• The Archival Challenge: ensuring quality, reliability and permanence for all forms of the historical record
• The Archival Challenge: space for existing collections and future acquisitions- beyond the year 2000
• The Archival Challenge: providing a spatial context for interpretation and education

Forthcoming special meetings of the Commission & events of interest

• Maryland Senate, First Citizen Awards

Special Presentations

Next meeting

Adjournment

Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse
State Archivist

Email: If you have an Email account linked to your WEB browser, click here to activate your mail program to send an inquiry or message to me at archives@mdarchives.state.md.us or contact me at (410) 260-6403.

© Copyright 1998 Maryland State Archives