User:PearlV/NAMES IN STONE

Names In Stone (www.namesinstone.com) is a website that serves as a repository of cemetery maps and burial records. It is an online research tool that shows the location of a grave, surrounding graves, and information about the occupants.

History
Names In Stone was developed by Gateway Mapping, Inc. of Orem, Utah. The company, a Geographic Information System (GIS) consulting firm, began mapping cemeteries in 1993. They digitize aging cemetery maps and records, provide technology to help cemeteries better manage their information, and publish burial information online at Names In Stone. The site was launched in 2008 and is available at no cost to the cemetery or the researcher.

Overview
Names In Stone is a growing collection of cemetery maps that allows visitors to search multiple cemeteries, view individual grave locations, and see the cemetery's record for each grave.

The website is populated in two ways. First, managed cemeteries routinely upload current maps and burial information. Second, volunteer organizations such as Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout Projects), church groups, families, genealogists, and cemetery enthusiasts preserve information from small, unmanaged, or family-owned cemeteries with the website's tools for drawing cemetery maps and recording headstone information.

Names In Stone is a free service to the public and the cemetery. There is no cost to search for burial records and view cemetery maps. The site offers a paid membership which provides notifications when names that match research interests are added to the database, favorite cemeteries are updated, or names of interest are updated.

Users
Cemeteries—Cemeteries of all sizes post their burial records and maps on Names In Stone. The website allows cemeteries to regularly upload their most current data. It can also field public inquiries about a grave and its location. Hosting is free to the cemetery.

Genealogists and Researchers—On Names In Stone, researchers visualize burial groupings, an aid in piecing together family relationships. They also build maps with the website’s online mapping tools and contribute additional information to the site’s Community Records.

Public—Names In Stone makes cemetery maps and records available to the public. Visitors search an alphabetical listing of multiple cemeteries and view the grave location on an interactive map.

Features

 * Search the multi-cemetery database.
 * See a grave location on a map, plus surrounding graves.
 * View a cemetery list of all cemeteries on the site, state by state.
 * Build a cemetery map with the website’s mapping tools and preserve records of smaller cemeteries.
 * Personalize burial records by adding digital images such as eulogies, headstone photos, obituaries, and death certificates.
 * Share information with other users through forum-style discussions about burial records.
 * Honor the dead by decorating a grave with virtual flowers.

Awards
2009: Named as one of the 101 Best Web Sites OF 2009 by Family Tree Magazine. The site was chosen as one of the 10 Best Web Sites to See Dead People.

2009: Chosen by OneGreatFamily.com to receive their "One Great Genealogy Site" award for the services the site provides to the genealogy community.