![[Color photograph of Hall of Records]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/archives.jpg)
Major collections of manuscript and published materials relating to Maryland also are held by the Maryland Historical Society and the Maryland Division of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, and the libraries of Maryland's colleges and universities. Many federal government records are at the National Archives at College Park. Known as Archives II, the federal facility, opened in May 1994.
Additional archives of interest include:
In Maryland are twenty-four public library systems (one in each county and Baltimore City) with a combined collection of 13.5 million items. Some 178 public libraries were operating in 1997. School library media centers in 1,284 public elementary, middle and secondary schools hold more than 11.8 million items. Automated circulation systems exist in 71 percent of these schools and 49 percent provide on-line public access to their catalogs.
The Maryland State Library Network serves more than 400 libraries throughout the State, primarily through interlibrary loan of materials and information. The Network consists of the State Library Resource Center (Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore); 3 regional library resource centers (Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, Western Maryland); 4 academic libraries lending specialized materials; and more than 125 libraries that fill interlibrary loan requests from their collections.
Patrons may identify and locate library materials by searching catalogs linked to Sailor, an online public information network. Sailor connects Marylanders and their libraries to resources within the State and worldwide, providing access to the Internet and to e-mail. Opened in 1994, Sailor is available through modem-equipped computers from homes, schools, and offices; and free through every public library.
Maryland residents may register with and borrow materials from any public library in the State. Information and materials found through the Maryland State Library Network may be mailed, trucked, or transferred electronically to a local library. The public checked out over 46.4 million items in 1997.
Libraries of Note: Enoch Pratt Free Library, and the Johns Hopkins University Libraries, Baltimore; the State Law Library, and Nimitz Library of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis; National Library of Medicine, Bethesda; University System of Maryland Libraries; National Agricultural Library, Beltsville; National Institute of Standards and Technology Research Information Center, Gaithersburg; National Criminal Justice Reference Service of the National Institute of Justice, Rockville; Library of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring; and U.S. Bureau of the Census Library, Suitland. As the regional depository for Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, McKeldin Library at the University of Maryland, College Park, receives all publications of the U.S. government designated for deposit.
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