Johnson Co. KS Digital Cemetery Project
Cemetery Transcriptions
There are several differant activities involved in transcribing a cemetery for the Project, and your
assistance in any of these areas is welcomed! It is recommended, but not required, to work in pairs.
Photographing
Transcriptioning for this project begins with photographing the cemetery. This includes photographing the
stones, plots, family plots, and overall general photographs. This activity involves being on site at the
cemetery in good weather and working through the sections, rows, and plots row by row, and marking the end
of each row.
Requirments: Digital camera capable of 300 DPI resolution (print-quality).
Transcribing
All stones are transcribed from the digital photographs into an Excel template supplied by the Project. All
markers and obvious graves are accounted for. Where the stone is missing or completely illegible, question
marks are used for the name fields. Some stones do not photograph well, and sometimes we just get a bad
photo. These photos need to be tracked seperately for additional attention.
Requirments: PC with Microsoft Excel and a photo viewer.
Dealing with Illegible Stones
Additional visits to the cemetery are necessary to write down any stone that does not photograph well, or is
partially illegible. For stones that where the transcription is clear but does not show up well in the
photo, it is recommended to take several photos from differing angles. This can effectively cast enough
shadow on the inscription to pop it out. Mirrors may also be used to further brighten or cast shadows.
DO NOT USE SHAVING CREAM OR ANY PRODUCTS ON STONES! Shaving cream is damaging to the stone and
the effects are magified over time. Stones are porous, and therefore absorb a certain amount of the shaving
cream, which is greasy and contains emollients that remain behind forever, causing staining and accelerated
deterioration.
Requirments: Digital camera (see Photographing), mirrors, pens, paper.
Adding Retakes
As before, the retakes and the inscriptions on paper are added to the transcription.
Requirments: See Transcribing.
Editing and Validating
Finally, as a last step, it is highly recommended that the transcription be validated by comparing the
transcriptions to the photographs one last time. This does not have to be done by the transcriptioner, and
it is often helpful to get a fresh set of eyes to do this activity.
Requirments: See Transcribing.
Published: 02/21/2006
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