Most of you know that I work with obituaries on a daily basis but probably don't know exactly what my work entails. That is because I am sure I never gave you the details. It is really simple, interesting, and sometimes can be considered fun. I started in August, 2001 and have never regretted doing it. I found information about two relatives on my mother's side of the family and two on my fathers' side. I would not have known that they passed without the information entered by a volunteer in another state.I enter certain information from the obituaries published in my daily newspaper. These go to a Rootsweb site (The Obituary Daily Times). You can access the website at this URL; www.rootsweb.ancestry.com~obituary/. You can subscribe at the same URL to have access to the database without becoming a volunteer. This site is used by genealogists around the world looking for information about possible relatives. They are always looking for volunteers to "index" obituaries from local newspapers. If you have some spare time, consider becoming a volunteer. You can go to the website by clicking on the above link to find out what newspapers are available for adoption. If you decide to adopt a paper you will be assigned to a trainer who will email you instructions about downloading the obit filer program. You will also be able to download and print the training manual. I don't know if any changes have been made since I printed mine in 2001. It was seven pages long at that time. There is no time limit for doing this work. You do it at your leisure. You might have to leave the program in the middle of a day's entries but you will be able to go back and pick up where you left off. There are only eight fields for every obituary you index. I just looked at my manual and it says six fields but there are eight in the program I downloaded. These are: Surname; First Name w/middle name or initial; maiden name; other last names; nickname (if any); age; place of birth; place of death. Most of the time you will not make entries in all of these fields since you can only enter the information contained in the obituary. You just skip the fields that you have no info for. I have indexed obits that contain nothing but a name. I indexed one for a 90 year old woman who outlived six husbands. The surnames of all six were in the obit. One of them was the surname of her last husband, which was the surname shown in her obit. The other five were entered in the "other last name" field. I think the oddest one I ever had was for a female. The only name given was Dagmar. No other name. There was an age and a place of death. I had to email my trainer to find out how to handle this. From time to time you might get requests for copies of obituaries. The training manual tells you how to respond. I have one man who is researching a certain surname and anytime I have an obit with that surname or that name as a middle name I can count on getting an email from him asking for a copy of the obit. I have met some very interesting people this way. You could too. This will give you a very good idea how I spend my spare time. Gotta run now! I have to take my sister to an appointment with a retina specialist this afternoon and I haven't even showered yet. Robert E Paty, Scottsdale, AZ aka Mad Hatter

Obituary daily times is a great resource. I've been using it since it first came out. I didn't know you were a volunteer. Thanks! Lisa > -----Original Message----- > From: memory-lane-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:memory-lane- > bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of ROBERT E PATY > Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 2:04 PM > To: MEMORY-LANE > Cc: an-internet-family@googlegroups.com > Subject: [ML] Obituaries > > Most of you know that I work with obituaries on a daily basis but > probably don't know exactly what my work entails. That is because I am > sure I never gave you the details. It is really simple, interesting, > and sometimes can be considered fun. I started in August, 2001 and have > never regretted doing it. I found information about two relatives on my > mother's side of the family and two on my fathers' side. I would not > have known that they passed without the information entered by a > volunteer in another state.I enter certain information from the > obituaries published in my daily newspaper. These go to a Rootsweb > site (The Obituary Daily Times). You can access the website at this > URL; www.rootsweb.ancestry.com~obituary/. You can subscribe at the same > URL to have access to the database without becoming a volunteer. This > site is used by genealogists around the world looking for information > about possible relatives. They are always looking for volunteers to > "index" obituaries from l! > ocal newspapers. If you have some spare time, consider becoming a > volunteer. You can go to the website by clicking on the above link to > find out what newspapers are available for adoption. If you decide to > adopt a paper you will be assigned to a trainer who will email you > instructions about downloading the obit filer program. You will also be > able to download and print the training manual. I don't know if any > changes have been made since I printed mine in 2001. It was seven pages > long at that time. There is no time limit for doing this work. You do > it at your leisure. You might have to leave the program in the middle > of a day's entries but you will be able to go back and pick up where > you left off. There are only eight fields for every obituary you index. > I just looked at my manual and it says six fields but there are eight > in the program I downloaded. These are: Surname; First Name w/middle > name or initial; maiden name; other last names; nickname (if any); age; > place of bi! > rth; place of death. Most of the time you will not make entries in all > of these fields since you can only enter the information contained in > the obituary. You just skip the fields that you have no info for. I > have indexed obits that contain nothing but a name. I indexed one for a > 90 year old woman who outlived six husbands. The surnames of all six > were in the obit. One of them was the surname of her last husband, > which was the surname shown in her obit. The other five were entered in > the "other last name" field. I think the oddest one I ever had was for > a female. The only name given was Dagmar. No other name. There was an > age and a place of death. I had to email my trainer to find out how to > handle this. From time to time you might get requests for copies of > obituaries. The training manual tells you how to respond. I have one > man who is researching a certain surname and anytime I have an obit > with that surname or that name as a middle name I can count on getting > an email from him asking for a copy of the obit. I have met some very > interesting ! > people this way. You could too. > > This will give you a very good idea how I spend my spare time. Gotta > run now! I have to take my sister to an appointment with a retina > specialist this afternoon and I haven't even showered yet. > > Robert E Paty, Scottsdale, AZ aka Mad Hatter > > > > > > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mbousman1/memory.htm > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MEMORY-LANE- > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message

Good to hear from you Mad Hatter. Just like the others said, it sounds very interesting. Thanks for letting us know. Barb On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 3:05 PM, Lisa Lepore <lisa.lepore2@gmail.com> wrote: > Obituary daily times is a great resource. I've been using it > since it first came out. > > I didn't know you were a volunteer. Thanks! > > Lisa > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: memory-lane-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:memory-lane- > > bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of ROBERT E PATY > > Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 2:04 PM > > To: MEMORY-LANE > > Cc: an-internet-family@googlegroups.com > > Subject: [ML] Obituaries > > > > Most of you know that I work with obituaries on a daily basis but > > probably don't know exactly what my work entails. That is because I am > > sure I never gave you the details. It is really simple, interesting, > > and sometimes can be considered fun. I started in August, 2001 and have > > never regretted doing it. I found information about two relatives on my > > mother's side of the family and two on my fathers' side. I would not > > have known that they passed without the information entered by a > > volunteer in another state.I enter certain information from the > > obituaries published in my daily newspaper. These go to a Rootsweb > > site (The Obituary Daily Times). You can access the website at this > > URL; www.rootsweb.ancestry.com~obituary/. You can subscribe at the same > > URL to have access to the database without becoming a volunteer. This > > site is used by genealogists around the world looking for information > > about possible relatives. They are always looking for volunteers to > > "index" obituaries from l! > > ocal newspapers. If you have some spare time, consider becoming a > > volunteer. You can go to the website by clicking on the above link to > > find out what newspapers are available for adoption. If you decide to > > adopt a paper you will be assigned to a trainer who will email you > > instructions about downloading the obit filer program. You will also be > > able to download and print the training manual. I don't know if any > > changes have been made since I printed mine in 2001. It was seven pages > > long at that time. There is no time limit for doing this work. You do > > it at your leisure. You might have to leave the program in the middle > > of a day's entries but you will be able to go back and pick up where > > you left off. There are only eight fields for every obituary you index. > > I just looked at my manual and it says six fields but there are eight > > in the program I downloaded. These are: Surname; First Name w/middle > > name or initial; maiden name; other last names; nickname (if any); age; > > place of bi! > > rth; place of death. Most of the time you will not make entries in all > > of these fields since you can only enter the information contained in > > the obituary. You just skip the fields that you have no info for. I > > have indexed obits that contain nothing but a name. I indexed one for a > > 90 year old woman who outlived six husbands. The surnames of all six > > were in the obit. One of them was the surname of her last husband, > > which was the surname shown in her obit. The other five were entered in > > the "other last name" field. I think the oddest one I ever had was for > > a female. The only name given was Dagmar. No other name. There was an > > age and a place of death. I had to email my trainer to find out how to > > handle this. From time to time you might get requests for copies of > > obituaries. The training manual tells you how to respond. I have one > > man who is researching a certain surname and anytime I have an obit > > with that surname or that name as a middle name I can count on getting > > an email from him asking for a copy of the obit. I have met some very > > interesting ! > > people this way. You could too. > > > > This will give you a very good idea how I spend my spare time. Gotta > > run now! I have to take my sister to an appointment with a retina > > specialist this afternoon and I haven't even showered yet. > > > > Robert E Paty, Scottsdale, AZ aka Mad Hatter > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mbousman1/memory.htm > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MEMORY-LANE- > > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > > the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mbousman1/memory.htm > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MEMORY-LANE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >