How should I index obituaries?

Article Id: 1322
February 11, 2022

Use the guidelines below to index obituaries and other documents that include death information.

  1. Read the project instructions, field helps, and other training materials.
  2. Read the entire obituary before indexing any names. Reading the entire obituary helps you know what information is available.
  3. Index all documents that give death information. Obituary collections can include a variety of death notices, such as traditional obituaries, estate sale notices, reports of unidentified bodies being found or car accidents, and various kinds of newspaper articles. If documents contain death information, please index them unless the project instructions say not to.
  4. Index the information about the deceased person first.
  5. Many obituaries do not include an exact death date. Do not try to determine the date meant by statements such as “He died last Wednesday.” If a death date is not stated, you typically should use the most recent date on the document other than a birth date.
  6. Index only place-names, such as towns, counties, states, or countries, that were mentioned in the document. Do not assume a place, and do not index locations such as “Galion Community Home” or assume that the community home is in a city called “Galion.”
  7. Index the names of all individuals, including nonrelatives, unless the project instructions say otherwise. If a name includes the name of a spouse or is given with the name of a spouse, index both names as separate entries in the data entry area. For example, if an obituary lists “Mrs. Ben (Mary) Wilson” as a surviving daughter, index an entry in the data entry area for “Mrs Mary Wilson” and then one for “Ben Wilson.” If the obituary instead uses “Mrs. Ben Wilson,” index an entry only for “Mrs Ben Wilson.”
  8. Add entries in the data entry area as needed to index all the names on the document. Index each name on the documents as an individual entry in the data entry area.
  9. Index the names of relatives and nonrelatives in the order the names appear.
  10. Select the closest relationship from the relationship list. For example, if a record identifies a relative as a stepson or adopted son, index him as a son. Consider how that individual would appear on a family tree, and index him or her in that way.
  11. See additional instruction for how to index information about multiple deceased individuals in a single death notice.
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