[Genealib] Newspaper Indexing

[Sandy Day]

Jim
There are of course several ways to compile indexes of obituaries. 
Our library has had great success with 2 different concepts. 
We have available staff that works on this but if you don't have that you can perhaps get volunteers from the local community such as the local genealogy society.
We started several years ago preparing an index of obituaries beginning with the earliest date of our local paper which is 1806. We are now up to 1874. We list:
name of deceased
date death appeared in the paper
We also have our microfilm boxes numbered (i.e. A1, A2 etc) so we list those film box numbers on the record including page number of the paper.

For more recent obituary indexes, we have printed indexes of obits that cover 1997-current. Once our newspaper is on microfilm we retain the actual paper and I go thru each day's paper and extract any death that pertains to a resident of our county. Either they died here, previously lived here, were born here or are buried here. All others I do not collect so our obits are county specific. These indexes are invaluable.
If you want more specifics please contact me off list.
Sandy Day
Genealogy Librarian
Schiappa Library
Steubenville, OH
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jim Holland 
  To: genealib at mailman.acomp.usf.edu 
  Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 1:50 PM
  Subject: [Genealib] Newspaper Indexing


     No one in our county has ever indexed the newspapers before. Even the local paper office sends people here to look up obituaries. We do not have many resources for this job, and I may be the only person available to work on this. 

   

     What would you suggest as a way to begin? We would want to begin with the obituaries, later we might include marriages, etc. I get the opinion that beginning with the older issues would be the most helpful as they are the hardest to find. We can find death dates several way including tombstone information, but it would be most helpful to know if an obituary exists before we spend a lot of time searching for it.

   

  Thanks!

   

  Jim Holland

  Interlibrary Loans/Local History/Genealogy Cleveland County Memorial Library

  104 Howie Drive

  Shelby NC 28150

  Phone: 704-487-9069 ext 225 Fax: 704-487-4856

  Email: jholland at ccml.org

   

  Opinions expressed in this message may not represent the policy of  my agency.

   

   



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