Interment.net is a United States-based website containing a free
online database An online database is a database accessible from a local network or the Internet, as opposed to one that is stored locally on an individual computer or its attached storage (such as a CD). Online databases are hosted on websites, made available as s ...
of
transcription
Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including:
Genetics
* Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...
s from
headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
s, intended to be a research tool for use by genealogists and historians.
, the site was one of the top 15 free
genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
websites on the Internet.
Its cemetery database to date includes more than 6 million cemetery records from around the world.
The database is limited to information transcribed from grave markers at cemeteries and/or obtained from burial records from cemetery offices. The data includes surname, given name, birth date, birthplace, death date, death place, age, inscription (including symbols), notes, and sometimes the location of the grave marker.
The coverage of data addresses the problem for scholars and genealogists who cite the way cemetery records tend to be incomplete while some transcripts are inaccurate.
Many of the cemeteries transcribed on the site no longer exist, making the site one of the few sources for those inscriptions.
Online cemetery databases with similar features include
Findagrave.com and Billiongraves.com.
History
The site started in March 1997 as a personal web page called ''Cemetery Interment Lists on the Internet'' and was simply a list of links to websites with cemetery records. In 1998, the site started accepting cemetery transcriptions directly; to stop the personal website from being overwhelmed, the page author registered the domain name "interment.net" in December 1998 and moved to a separate web hosting service. By June 1999, the focus of the site had changed to hosting cemetery transcriptions, and the title was changed to ''Cemetery Records on the Internet'', then later, ''Cemetery Records Online''.
The site has had at least seven-page layouts since 1997. It has been supported by advertising revenue since July 1999, and in 2005, the personal site owner incorporated Clear Digital Media, Inc. to control the site.
The company has since expanded, starting several other websites and
weblogs.
Interment.net is a
volunteer website and is staffed by contributors and volunteers who go to cemeteries to take photographs for its digital repository and for transcription. Volunteers for these websites describe their labor as a "genealogical kindness," of particular service to those researching their
ancestry
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
.
See also
*
Canadian Headstones
Canadian Headstones is a project to capture digital images and the complete transcription of cemetery stones. It is a web-based Canadian non-profit corporation run completely by volunteers.
History
Jim McKane began his genealogical quest in th ...
*
Find a Grave
Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...
– an online database of cemetery records
*
National Cemetery Administration
The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemetery, cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. ...
's Nationwide Gravesite Locator
*
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) is a web-based genealogical research co-op that functions solely by the services of volunteers. Volunteers from any part of the world may offer services to any requester, such as research of birth, marria ...
– volunteers photograph graves on request (inactive)
*
Tombstone tourist
Tombstone tourist (otherwise known as a "cemetery enthusiast", "cemetery tourist", "grave hunter", "graver", or "taphophile") describes an individual who has a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries, epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, a ...
References
External links
Interment.net website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interment.Net
American genealogy websites
Internet properties established in 1997
Online person databases
Genealogy databases