[Genealogy-SIG] GENEALOGY NEWS - 20080103

[jotaito]

 The January Meeting can now be announced.  Today I talked to the Dayton Daily News editor of the Obituary Announcements, Mrs. Nanette Meyer-Gibson.

She has agreed to meet with us and offered to host us in a room [B]at the new Dayton Daily News building on Thursday, January 24, 2008.  The address is 1611 South Main St.  This building is located on the old NCR grounds near UD and just south of the Montgomery County Fair Grounds.  It is just south of the intersection of Main St. and  Stewart St.  If you are heading south on Main St. and cross Stewart St., it will be hard to miss the white, 2 or 3 story building on the right with "Dayton Daily News" painted on the side in LARGE letters. 

It may be more direct for some of you who might be on the interstate (I-75) to head south on I-75 to the UD Basketball Complex.  Head east past the complex and turn east (right) onto Stewart St. at the bridge.  Go to Main St. (about 2 blocks) and turn south (right) and go about two more blocks.  You can't miss the white building on the right (if you are looking for it).   

She will meet us at the front doors at 7 PM.  There is parking in the front and on the side of the building. 

The topic of discussion will be obituaries and how they are handled, created, distributed and shared.    

I think that virtually all of us have had the experience of reading some obituary that was somewhat lacking in detail and left the genealogist hanging in the air after reading the announcement.  Many give the age but not the actual birth date.  Others fail to provide the place of birth; when they do give the place of birth, it is often not listed with the state -- leaving it open to interpretation as to whether it is local or a neighboring state.  What does "of Kettering" really mean?  That he/she was born there?  Currently lives there?  Died there?  Today's paper listed one as living at a street address only.  The funeral home is in Piqua (Miami County if you have to retrieve official records).    

Leading up to this meeting, I have explored obituaries in several non-local newspapers and found that each paper seems to have their own approach to publishing obituaries.  I have noticed that some provide about 5 free lines (in very small fonts) which list vital statistics for the person (name, date of birth, place of birth, date of death, and place of death).  This is then followed by the family-provided obituary with which we are more familiar.  I would like to see the Dayton Daily News (and other newspapers) follow in these steps.  At least, we would hopefully have those five items correctly presented and always in the same location relative to all the family information.

These, of course, are just my views on the subject.  

Hope to see you all at the January meeting.  Send me an email if you cannot make this meeting, please; this info is for room size.

Jay Finley
Chairman
DMA Genealogy SIG
 
--
jotaito