In the May/June 2010 issue of "Family Chronicle" magazine, page 52, Lisa A. Alzo wrote about the availability of the Allegheny County Coroner Case Files. In that issue she wrote "The database holds approximately 206,000 individual names, dates and docket numbers associated with the case file. Within seconds, it can be searched to determine if a file exists. The only information needed to search the database is first and last name." In addition she provided the following two links: http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/archives/archives.html and http://coronercasefile.pbworks.com/w/page/16512016/FrontPage Unfortunately, I could find no online index of these 206,000 individual names, so I posted this question on the list a few days ago and while some folks tried to help, they too, seemed unable to find such an online index. This prompted me to pose my question on the "Ask a Librarian" link found on one of Pitt's pages. In short, there is NO ONLINE INDEX available, [please see the response that I just received, pasted at the bottom of this message.] It seems a shame that there is no online index available. While I certainly have no objections to the $12.00 process and copying fee charged for a Coroner's Case File, it does seem a bit steep to pay out, just to learn that there is no Coroner's Case File, for a particular person, when the "article" said that the search could be done in a matter of seconds. ---------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pflug, Wendy M" <wendyp@pitt.edu> To: "Withers, Clare Anne" <cwithers@pitt.edu>; <MickeyC@consolidated.net> Cc: "ULS - Ask a Librarian" <uls-askalibrarian@mail.pitt.edu>; "ULS - Archives Service Center Reference" <archives-ref@mail.pitt.edu> Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 11:48 AM Subject: RE: Ask A Librarian Coroner's Files Index Dear Mickey Cendrowski, This message is in response to your question about the Coroner Case Files. The Archives Service Center does not have an online index for you to search for a file. However, we do have a request service where we can search for a Coroner Case Files for you. Here is the link to that service: http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/archives/documents/ASC_Coroner_Case_File_Request.pdf Please fill it out and mail to the Archives Service Center using the address on the form. If you are in the area, you may also come to archives to search the files. If you are interested in this option, please let us know and we can provide further information on our location and hours. Thank you for your interest in our collections here at the Archives Service Center. Please contact us again if you have any further questions. Sincerely, Graduate Student Reference Assistants Emily Hikes and Jennifer Needham and Wendy Pflug Reference and Access Archivist ULS-Archives Service Center