What are Burial Niche Records and How Do You Recognize One?

A Burial Niche record refers to documentation related to the interment of human remains—typically cremated remains—in a niche, which is a small compartment within a columbarium, mausoleum, or wall specifically designed to hold urns. Such records are created by cemeteries, funeral homes, church/religious institutions, and municipalities.

Burial Niche Records will often include:

• A specific location within a columbarium or mausoleum (e.g., "Niche 12B, Wall 3")
• Names and dates (birth, death, inurnment)
• Cemetery or memorial park name
• Type of urn or urn number
• Inscription details for a niche plaque
• Sometimes a map or diagram of the columbarium layout.

Keywords

Here is a comprehensive list of common English terms and their equivalents in the languages wherein these records are written, using terminology typically found on historical or official documents. The languages were selected based on the entities in different countries that utilize cremation as a burial process.

Natural Group

Burial niche records may be stored at institutions such as cemeteries, churches, and municipal archives and could be organized in:

1. Ledger Books: All pages from one book, including the front, back, and inside covers, should be captured together in the same digital folder and share the same descriptive metadata.
2. Index Cards: These can be filed alphabetically or by plot depending on how the institution stores them. If filed alphabetically, the digital folder should include all cards corresponding to one letter. If filed by plot, the cards should be captured one plot per digital folder.
3. Plot Maps: A single plot map should be digitized in a single digital folder.
4. Certificates: All loose documents pertaining to a single niche should be captured together in a single digital folder.

Descriptive Metadata

The metadata describes all the images in the natural group. Check the natural group cover, then spine, then inner pages, including the title page, for the metadata:

1. Date: Enter the burial year
2. Locality: Enter the city wherein the cemetery is located
3. Creator: Using the language of the records, enter the name of the cemetery
4. Volume:
   
   • Ledger Books: Enter the volume designation code assigned to the book by the cemetery
   • Index Cards: Enter the plot number or the letter that corresponds to the alphabetical order
   • Plot Maps: Enter the map edition number
   • Certificates: Enter the plot, and any other file/record number range.
5. Title: Using the language of the records, enter the respective title for the ledger, map, certificate, or set of index cards, e.g., Inurnment Records
6. Custodian Reference ID: These records don’t typically have a custodian reference ID. Enter a single hyphen (-) to indicate no such ID exists.