Introduction

Introduction

The Cemetery DataSource software is designed to make 'reading' of a cemetery with tombstone photographs and obituaries as easy as possible. You can use the program to organize all of your information into one central place and avoid the use of spreadsheets. Some of the programs major features are:

Organize your information taken during a reading of the cemetery ( i.e. name, date of birth (DOB), date of death (DOD), date of burial, age, etc ).

Each record can contain multiple tombstone photographs.

Each record can contain either the obituary text or the scanned image of the obituary.

The data can be queried to search for individuals by last name, first name, year of death. You can also create your own custom queries and save them for later use.

You can create web pages in only a matter of minutes with links to the tombstone photograph(s) and obituary.

Creates an Adobe PDF file of any obituary for display on the web page.

This software has been developed and refined over the last 4 years while doing readings of multiple cemeteries. To see a sample websites created by this program go to:Cemeteries Of Howard County This website contains links to 10 cemeteries in Howard Co. Indiana all created using this software. The 10 cemeteries have full interred listings for over 50,000 names and links to over 40,000 tombstone photographs!

Over the course of the last 4 years, I've learned techniques that anyone can use to do such an undertaking. I'd like to share this software and my experience with other individuals or groups who would also like to do a reading of a cemetery in their area. My only condition for sharing this software is, if you use it to create your web site, please give credit on your web site.

Where do I begin?

If this is your first reading, start small. By that I mean, don't start with a cemetery that has 30,000 interred! A project of that size can become overwhelming.

My Techniques

Camera:

If you're going to take digital photographs, you'll need a camera capable of producing quality photographs. I usually take all photographs in a 1024 x 768 pixels format and reduce them in size before posting on the web site.   Remember, it takes no longer to take the photograph in high quality than it does low quality! If you're going to spend many hours doing a cemetery reading, do it the best you can. Remember, you may need to zoom in on the photograph to be able to read it! This requires a good photograph to start with.

Also, a camera that can cycle ( i.e. be ready for the next photo ) quickly is a definite plus! Carry multiple sets of camera batteries and storage cards with you. Plan on not taking more than 1000 photographs at a time. I have done as many as 2500+ photographs in 1 day, but I was exhausted! My back and legs will give out before my batteries!

Batteries:

My camera ( Nikon 990 ) uses 4 AA batteries. The best batteries I've found are Rayovac nickel metal hydride. Those rated at 2000 mah will give over 1200 photos before recharging. I always carry 3 sets with me. Always make sure your batteries are fully charged before driving to the cemetery ( dah! ).

Season, weather and time of day:

Spring and Fall are wonderful times for taking photographs. Avoid hot summer days! NEVER take photographs in the Winter. Why? I hate to see a photograph with dead brown grass in the background. Memorial time is always great! The tombstones are spiffed up and the flowers are in bloom!
When taking photographs, always watch for your shadow or reflection on the tombstone! ( Don't you hate those polished markers? ), I find it best to do picture taking between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. so the sun is above you, creating less shadows. Also, a cloudy day is always best and often times the writing on old tombstones is easier to read.

Find a listing of the cemetery!

If possible, obtain the list of names from previous readings. This only makes matching the tombstone photograph with the name easier. If you have a printed copy that contains the names, you can scan it into Excel to get the names. After cleaning up the data, export the data as a comma separated Variable ( CSV ) file for importing into your database. Remember to give credit to others who may have done earlier readings.

If you're REALLY lucky, the person responsible for the cemetery may have the names already on a computer!!!!! If they'll export their data, you're home free ( well almost )!

My Method:

This may not be the best, but it works for me.   The method I use is to take the photographs and then work from the photograph at home, matching the photographs to names ( if available ) to create my database. In cases where the tombstone is difficult to read from the photograph, I like to carry a notebook where I can record the information while standing at the headstone.

Warning!

And finally, the process of documenting a cemetery using this program is very addictive! By that I mean, it's hard to stop matching photographs to names, and before you know it, it's already 2 a.m. and you have to go to work the next day! Oh, and by the way, your spouse will never understand why you want to do this, unless you're really lucky, like Debby Beheler, she has her husband Ed doing cemeteries too ( Sunset Memory Gardens )!

Note: This software is copyrighted by the author and is being made available for your personal use only. In other words, don't try selling it!

It's my goal that others will use this software to gather and publish their cemetery information. If you're using the software and want to know about updates, send me an email and let me know you want to be kept updated.

Last, but not least, I'd like to thank Debby Beheler, Indiana GenWeb State Coordinator for her ideas and support and for being willing to assist users.

Enjoy,

John C. Anderson, Author
Email:jcanderson45@insightbb.com

Support Contact

Debby Beheler
Email:Mailto: debralee@insightbb.com

17 February 2006