The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.RootsForum.com. [This is for your information. It sounds like the plan is for an online service [provided that there are no budget cutbacks] but there will be NO service for awhile.] This week seems to be crowded with news about cutbacks in state archives staff and resources. However, the State of Maryland appears to actively be converting expensive, labor-intensive tasks to automated, self-serve formats. Specifically, the Maryland State Archives has announced that it is suspending its research for a fee related to birth and death records. The reference staff will continue to accept vital record orders only for legal purposes or for official business (estate settlement, social security, passports, citizenship). In place of filling these requests manually, the Maryland State Archives is developing Web access. Quoting from the Maryland State Archives Web site: Diminishing staff resources over the past few years and budget shortfalls compel us to look for ways to provide more efficient service. The suspension of vital records research will allow our reduced staff to focus on providing vital record indexes in a searchable, web-based environment while better preserving these permanent records. If you would like to support our efforts to make birth and death record indexes more broadly available via the internet, please consider donating to the Endowment Fund of the State Archives Fund. Your tax-deductible donation by check to that fund will be used to develop this invaluable resource. Please address any questions or concerns to vitalrec@mdarchives.state.md.us . We thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter. Sincerely, Edward C. Papenfuse, Ph.D. State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents The same Web site then states that over the next year, the Maryland State Archives intends to provide online access to death record index information to improve accessibility and to preserve the original records. Digital access will include: County Death Record Indexes, 1898-1944 - to be available in October, 2003 Baltimore City Death Record Indexes, 1875-1942 - to be available in December, 2003 Baltimore City Death Record Indexes, 1942-1972 - to be available in March, 2004 County Death Record Indexes, 1944-1951 - to be available in June, 2004 County Death Record Indexes, 1951-1968 - to be available in September, 2004 For county death records after 1968, and for Baltimore City death records after 1972 - to be available in by 2005 Birth record indexes - to be available after 2005 As the indexes become available, the Reference staff will reply to copy orders that provide exact citations from the online indexes.