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(April, 2004) |
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| This handbook is divided into two sections. The first deals with acquiring and labeling the obituaries, death notices or short stories that you will be submitting for S-Credits. The second details how to submit your S-Credits to Old Obits. | ||
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PART I: “ACQUIRING AND LABELING THE SUBMISSIONS” |
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The assumption is that most of you will be obtaining your submissions by using a microfilm reader at a library in your own community. The following are some suggestions and rules that are important to making your time and effort worthwhile. 1. Getting prepared. The first thing you will need to do is print out some labels. The labels will be affixed in the upper right hand corner on the FRONT SIDE of each copy you make. The labels should have dimensions of 1” X 2 5/8”. Avery brand “Address” labels are exactly that size and come 30 to the page. Any of the Avery brand label products of that size will work, however we recommend that you use the type that is appropriate for your printer, i.e. laser or inkjet. The labels should have the following three lines of text printed on them. Doc #: _________________ Date: __________________ Pub: ___________________ 2. Grab you’re reading glasses, a couple of pens with black ink, the labels you printed, a roll of dimes and head for the library, university or other location where you will be doing your copying. 3. When selecting which films to view on the microfilm reader, please keep in mind that at this time we are only interested in material for the time period between January 1, 1890 and December 31, 1920. 4. You are looking for obituaries, death notices or short stories about someone’s death. Do not copy funeral notices, memorials, cards of thanks or other stories. Occasionally however, you may find a funeral notice or memorial listed in the Deaths or Obituary columns that are particularly informative. Use your judgment as to whether or not to include them. All of the items you do copy should be of a type that would have been of local interest to the county you are researching. (We don’t want a story about the death of a state senator unless he happens to be from the community you are researching, but rather a story about the local butcher who was killed by a bull, that kind of thing.) The items you are looking for must be reasonably legible in their entirety. 5. When you have found an item of interest try to frame it slightly left of center on the screen. It is just fine if other stories, ads or what ever are visible. It is also important to remember that you will be placing a label in the upper right hand corner, so make sure none of the significant information is located in that area. Set the zoom so that the text easily readable. If the item is rather lengthy, copy it using the largest text size possible, still allowing you to get it on one page if possible. If there are multiple obituaries on the page, include as many as possible on each 8 ½” X 11” copy that you print. If some did not fit on the first copy, scan down and print the rest. In some instances it may be necessary to make two copies of an item to get it all. In a case where a story or obituary starts near the bottom of one column and finishes near the top in the adjoining column, copy each portion as a separate document. The same is true with any item that is too lengthy to copy on one page. Once you have made your selection, adjust the focus for the best clarity and then hit the print button. 6. As soon as a copy is printed, and before you print any others, affix one of the labels you have prepared in the UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER of the document. Try to place it approximately 1/2-inch from the top and right edge of the paper, then fill it out as described below. 7. Leave the DOC # line blank. It is for use by Old Obits staff. Write in the publication date on the DATE line and the name of the publication on the PUB line. VERY IMPORTANT - The publication date should be written as June 12, 1890 not 6/12/1890. Some countries invert the month and day, so although you may have meant June 12th by writing 6/12, they read it as December 6th. It is not necessary to use the word “The” in the publication name. To view a properly filled out label, go to the “Tools” section and look under “Label Sample”. |
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| HERE ARE SOME TIPS: | ||
| Not all microfilm readers perform the same. Ease of operation and the quality of the copies they make can vary greatly. If the institution where you are doing your research has a number of machines, take a little time to pick the one that produces the most readable copies. When setting the light/dark setting, use one that offers the best contrast between the text and the background. The quality of the copies is most important so take a few minutes to experiment. Most institutions have a per copy charge, although we have been to some where there is no charge at all. If there is a charge, it is most often 10-cents. We have found that if you approach the reference desk and explain that you will be making lots of copies they may let you use a key for the machine that allows you to make copies without having to drop in a dime in each time. Ask if your pages can be counted at the end of the day and be paid for at the reference desk. Do not wait to enter the publication date. The date should be entered while at the microfilm reader so that you can verify that the date is correct. Watch for name changes in the publication you are researching. We want to use the correct title. Some newspapers changed their names a number of times over the years. |
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PART II: “SUBMITTING YOUR S-CREDITS” |
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1. We would like the original copies, the copies that came from the microfilm reader. You can make copies for yourself, but we would like the originals. The reason is simply one of quality. On the other hand, we understand that if your submissions are coming from your own personal collection you will want to retain the original. In that case, a high quality photocopy will be acceptable. 2. Put the documents and your order form in a padded envelope or sturdy box and mail it to: |
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Curtin & Associates LLC |
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Copyright 2004 Curtin & Associates LLC |
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