The Southern Maryland Studies Center offers a variety of resources for researchers and patrons. While the majority of our collections are archival (primary source materials), we also offer access to other research and library materials including: archival finding aids, oral history transcripts, resource guides for commonly-requested topics, research and genealogical databases, a topic-specific Maryland Collection of printed materials and books, and interlibrary loan access for materials outside of our holdings.
Other resources include support for faculty interested in including primary source literacy instruction in their classes, which improves students' ability to identify, locate, and evaluate primary source materials.
Before your visit, review some of the Southern Maryland Studies Center's resources to make your visit as seamless as possible and to get you to the information you're looking for. Many of our collections can be identified in our online collections catalog, ArchivesSpace.
ArchivesSpace is a web-application database, similar to a library catalog, which contains descriptive information (also known as a finding aid) about what is in each of the archival collections in the Southern Maryland Studies Center. It does not currently include digitized material, but serves as a guide to help identify collections that may be useful to you in your research. The database is completely text searchable, and you can also search by name, subject, or other identifiers.
At this time, we have uploaded descriptions of all of our oral history collections to ArchivesSpace, and we are in the process of uploading descriptions of all of our archival collections to the database.
Search over 4,000 databases and find U.S. Census records, military records, land and probate records, vital and church records, directories, passenger lists, and more.
We look forward to working with faculty to provide primary source literacy instruction, which improves students' ability to identify, locate, and evaluate primary source materials. Our collections include strong holdings in 19th and 20th century Southern Maryland history, local business and organizational histories, religious life in the Southern Maryland region, environmental conservation, photography and the visual arts, and the history of education in the Southern Maryland region.
Our services include:
Leading instruction sessions in the classroom or the Reading Room, as well as collaborating with instructors to develop teaching materials or assignments related to primary source materials.
Assistance in identifying and accessing relevant materials available online that can be applied with specific or interdisciplinary emphasis.
Reference assistance and guidance for navigating large repositories of archival materials, documents, books and more, such as the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, and other online resources.