Meyersdale, PA Public Library Donates 28,000 Obituary Records for Online Genealogy Research by Joe Patterson The Meyersdale Public Library graciously donated over 28,000 obituary records to the Somerset County, Pennsylvania, USGenWeb project, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasomers/ The obituary records were donated as part of an ongoing records transcription project initiated by the Meyersdale Public Library. "The library has been encouraged to place records online as part of its overall Internet database policy but was unable to perform such a task on its own. Their resources were limited, and they just didn't have enough manpower to transcribe the records for online storage," said Carol Hepburn. The project was initiated by Cynthia Mason, Research Librarian and resident Genealogist with the Meyersdale Public Library and began last August with an email asking for assistance. Miss Hepburn, USGenWeb Archives and Somerset County website co-coordinator, was contacted by the library staff and asked if there was any way the website project could handle transcribing and placing the obituary records online. Her reply was, "We have had great success getting other records transcribed, most notably, the U.S. Census Schedules. Our team coordinator, April Phillips, has done an outstanding job coordinating volunteers and overseeing the Census Project for several years now. I knew with her help we could recruit transcribers and get these obituaries placed online." The USGenWeb Archives was selected as the online storage location as its policy of free access was in keeping with the library's goals and not dependent on any one person maintaining this large collection. Placement in the Archives makes the data available to the USGenWeb Archives' county, state-wide and national search engine, as well. The collection, originally in tif format on CD-ROM, was converted to smaller gif files, and uploaded to a temporary directory, where transcribers and proofreaders could view them as they typed in Notepad, using Windows split screen, a system much faster and economical than sending out paper copies to transcribers. Over the course of the past eight months, 50 volunteers were involved in scanning, typing and proofing the 28,000 obituaries. Continued support from the Meyersdale Library was essential in resolving questions on obituaries which were partially unreadable or caused other questions. The Project is nearly complete, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the volunteers. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/somerset/mdale.html This Special Obituary Collection (primarily 1970-2004) contains not only Somerset residents but many from nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland counties and former residents who migrated. The obituary project management team members are dually county coordinators for PAGenWeb and file managers for the PAGenWeb Archives. Anyone interested in additional details for organizing a project of this scope, please contact Joe Patterson, File Manager for PAGenWeb Archives, at [email protected]

Sonny, Thanks for posting this. Glad to see that Carol Hepburn is still part of the Somerset County Genealogy functions. She's a wonderful lady. I wish more people would volunteer for projects like this. Connie Beachy - Volunteer at the Allegany County Genealogical Society > > Meyersdale, PA Public Library Donates 28,000 Obituary Records for Online > Genealogy Research by Joe Patterson > The Meyersdale Public Library graciously donated over 28,000 obituary > records to the Somerset County, Pennsylvania, USGenWeb project, see > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasomers/ > > The obituary records were donated as part of an ongoing records > transcription project initiated by the Meyersdale Public Library. "The > library has been encouraged to place records online as part of its overall > Internet database policy but was unable to perform such a task on its own. > Their resources were limited, and they just didn't have enough manpower to > transcribe the records for online storage," said Carol Hepburn. The project > was initiated by Cynthia Mason, Research Librarian and resident Genealogist > with the Meyersdale Public Library and began last August with an email > asking for assistance. Miss Hepburn, USGenWeb Archives and Somerset County > website co-coordinator, was contacted by the library staff and asked if > there was any way the website project could handle transcribing and placing > the obituary records online. Her reply was, "We have had great success > getting other records transcribed, most notably, the U.S. Census Schedules. > Our team coordinator, April Phillips, has done an outstanding job > coordinating volunteers and overseeing the Census Project for several years > now. I knew with her help we could recruit transcribers and get these > obituaries placed online." > > The USGenWeb Archives was selected as the online storage location as its > policy of free access was in keeping with the library's goals and not > dependent on any one person maintaining this large collection. Placement in > the Archives makes the data available to the USGenWeb Archives' county, > state-wide and national search engine, as well. The collection, originally > in tif format on CD-ROM, was converted to smaller gif files, and uploaded to > a temporary directory, where transcribers and proofreaders could view them > as they typed in Notepad, using Windows split screen, a system much faster > and economical than sending out paper copies to transcribers. > > Over the course of the past eight months, 50 volunteers were involved in > scanning, typing and proofing the 28,000 obituaries. Continued support from > the Meyersdale Library was essential in resolving questions on obituaries > which were partially unreadable or caused other questions. The Project is > nearly complete, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the volunteers. > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/somerset/mdale.html > This Special Obituary Collection (primarily 1970-2004) contains not only Somerset residents but many from nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland counties and former residents who migrated. The obituary project management team members are dually county coordinators for PAGenWeb and file managers for the PAGenWeb Archives. Anyone interested in additional details for organizing a project of this scope, please contact Joe Patterson, File Manager for PAGenWeb Archives, at [email protected] > > > ==== MDGARRET Mailing List ==== > If you need help with this list, make sure to email the list administrator, Sonny O'Haver, [email protected] > > >