The USGenWeb Tombstone Project - Washington: Rules to Submit

Burial record transcriptions are made from either a physical survey of gravestones, a copy of the cemetery sexton records, or both. Transcribers should obtain permission to record gravestones or view sexton records if working with a privately owned (non-public) cemetery. Transcribers may not use the published work of others without the express permission of the copyright holder, except in comparison with the transcriber's original work. Please clearly state all permission received and sources used, with dates, and credit all those responsible.

Please include all known names of the cemetery, and complete location information including street address (or at least street name), driving directions, and legal description (if known). Include any dates of establishment and cemetery history that you may happen to find. The burial entries should contain an accurate and reasonably complete copy of the original source record. While any burial data may be added, the minimum acceptable information for a project file is the full name and complete birth and death dates found in the source record.

We require that all transcriptions be submitted in basic ASCII text. We strongly recommend that the text file be created in Notepad (for Windows) or other basic text editor, thereby requiring no text conversion or reformatting. We discourage the use of word processor, database, or spreadsheet programs. DO NOT USE TABS. If placing data into columns, use the spacebar to line the columns up. Limit the maximum width of the file to 76 characters if possible. If you still have questions about the technical requirements given in this paragraph, please ask your regional coordinator before proceeding. Transcribers are expected to work closely with the regional coordinator assigned to their part of the state. There is no time limit on your work, but please keep your regional coordinator apprised of your progress AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR. If you are unable to complete your assignment, please let your regional coordinator or the project director know. PLEASE ANWSER ALL EMAILS FROM THE PROJECT MANAGER. IF THE EMAILS ARE NOT ANSWERED THEN YOUR ADOPTION WILL BE REMOVED. YOU CAN STILL SEND IN THE TRANSCRIPTION BUT IT WILL ALSO BE OPEN TO OTHERS TO TRANSCRIBE.

All submissions become part of the permanent collection of the US GenWeb Archives. As author, you hold the copyright on your original work, and may publish, sell, or give it away outside the US GenWeb Archives as you wish.

We are a transcription project, NOT a lookup service. We prefer that you focus your time and energies on your transcription rather than performing lookups, which we have asked that people not request of you. The sooner your transcription is online, the sooner everyone will be able to do their own lookups. If you receive improper mail please trash it without answer. If the problem persists, contact the project manager.

Register a cemetery today!

To register a cemetery, just send me a message telling me the name of the cemetery, the precise location information of the cemetery and the name of the person who will be doing the transcribing. If you have already transcribed cemetery data and would like for your work to become part of this project, just let me know.

The USGenWeb Tombstone Project is a proud part of The USGenWeb Project

This page maintained by Carolyn Golowka,
The USGenWeb Tombstone Project Manager - Washington