This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/mEB.2ACI/455 Message Board Post: I want to call your attention to a new free (no advertising) volunteer-based resource for on-line genealogy. The US GeoGen Project combines the use of geographic information systems (hand-held GIS locator devices) and genealogy to assist researchers to find site of interest. The first places to be added to the on-line database are cemeteries. I volunteered to coordinate the process of establishing sites for Louisiana parishes. (I grew up in Acadia Parish and much of my research is done in Southwest Louisiana.) http://www.geogen-LA.com I have recently updated the Winn Parish cemetery page and would like your help to assure its accuracy and completeness. I would like your help to gather the names and locations of the cemeteries that aren't listed and to gather the latitude and longitude of the cemeteries that are listed but are missing GIS coordinates. Even if you can't provide the location, it would be very helpful if you could provide me with the names of cemeteries that are not on my list. I'm involved in this project because of a frustrating experience I had several years ago. I spent several days on two separate trips to Louisiana trying to find an old cemetery. No one I asked had ever heard about it. Although I eventually found it (known by a different name) and found a grave marker for my ancestor, I've never forgotten the frustration at knowing the general vicinity but not the exact place to look. With the low cost of GIS devices it is possible to directly go anywhere if there is proper information posted about location. (Wal-Mart sells very good ones for less than $125 -- I recommend the Garmin brand models because of their ease of use, reliability, accuracy, and ability to give the exact same reading if you go back to the exact same spot the next day.) It is even possible to provide the exact location of a grave within a cemetery to an accuracy of 15 to 20 feet. Please look at what I've done with Acadia Parish to see what is possible. I have the exact locations of some cemeteries and I'll have the locations of the other Acadia Parish sites listed soon. From each cemetery with a known exact location you may click on the blue icon to get a map showing the exact spot. Also, I have links to a page by the local genealogy society to get more information or to order books of grave marker transcriptions. There are other possibilities for linking to local groups. Let me know what you think, David Lawrence