Mike Ashenfelder and Bill Lefurgy, from the Library of Congress, talk with Dr. Edward Papenfuse, State Archivist of Maryland. Dr. Papenfuse discusses his career, his early success with records databases, creating the first online U.S. state archives, the utility of GPS data, developing a financially self-sustaining repository, the value of folding publicly contributed data into online state records and making government information available online to its citizens.

Biography

Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse is the Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner  of Land Patents, positions he has held since 1975. He helped design the  Archives building, co-created the Maryland State Archives website, and  teaches courses at the University of Maryland College Park, the University  of Maryland Law School, and the Johns Hopkins University.  He is the  author of ”In Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of  the American Revolution” (1975), with Joseph M. Coale, ”The Hammond-  Harwood House Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland, 1608-1908” (1982) and  ”The Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland  1608-1908” (2003).