Ink on Their Fingers
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- BobOhio
- aggie80
- Tina_Coruth
- jerrib
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» BobOhio - Newspapers..."Pay it Forward"
Older newspaper are great genealogy tools but current ones are paring down their obituaries and we need to keep on them for the future generations use. I recently "got on" the three main newspapers in my area because they weren't printing maiden names of parents of the deceased and birthplaces. I explained the importance of their product for future use and produced older obits from thirty and forty years ago to demonstrate. They all are now printing where the deceased was born and the full names of the deceased parents. This information combined with the survivors will aid future genealogist in their searches to complete and confirm their heritage. We need to be vigilant with todays genealogy tools for tomorrow's use.-- posted by BobOhio
» aggie80 - Re: Newspapers...Obituary Coding Project
In response to message posted by BobOhio:Thanks, cousin, excellent point! I congratulate you on your success in getting those other key details added to your local papers. Perhaps you could take it one step further?
There is a Obituary Coding Proposal that is starting to be accepted by some newspapers. The full details, and information can be found at http://www.obituarycoding.com/
[Note added 1/5/2001 - The PGCS coding site shut down and is no longer available. The originator of the code is 86 and has passed it on to a Genealogical society that hasn't gotten it registered with the web search engines yet. I don't remember what society, but when I went back to get it the URL above was no longer active. I'll keep checking until I find it again! MWS]
Quickly, it simply involves placing a code in the obituary that identifies where, when and in what paper it was published. This eliminates the frustration of finding a clipping in a family Bible and not having a clue about its origin. This would be a great tool for future genealogists and historians if it is implemented!
And thanks for reading my articles!
Mark W. Swarthout
-- posted by aggie80
» Tina_Coruth - Hello Mark,
Hello Mark,What an interesting article!
There was one small paper in my area that printed one article from 10, 25, 50, and 75 years prior in each issue. I never found any of my relatives, but I imagine many people did. On top of that, it was just plain interesting! Sad to say, I think it has gone out of business.
As you said, newspapers certainly are a gold mine of information. Great article -- thanks!
Tina
-- posted by Tina_Coruth
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