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Welcome to the
J O H N S O N C O U N T Y, I O W A INTRODUCTION TO THE
Rich Lowe, creator of the GPP
Iowa City Genealogical Society 31 May 2008 by Harvey Henry Webmaster/Co Johnson County Coordinator
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Welcome to the
J O H N S O N C O U N T Y, I O W A INTRODUCTION TO THE
Rich Lowe, creator of the GPP
Iowa City Genealogical Society 31 May 2008 by Harvey Henry Webmaster/Co Johnson County Coordinator
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Iowa Gravestone Photo Project History The "Gravestone Photo Project" or "GPP" was first undertaken as a single county gravestone photo archive. Originating as an IAGenWeb Special Project in January 2003, it has grown to include separate repositories in over a dozen states -- and is now believed to be the largest gravestone photo repository in the world. See: http://gpp.jlconsulting.com/ for a list of States where gravestone photo projects have been established. Project Roots The project first began when Rich Lowe, an Iowa GenWeb Project county coordinator, wanted to store his Van Buren County Iowa GenWeb cemetery photos in a searchable database. Since there was no known existing software that allowed Rich to have the functionality needed. he contacted his son Jeff Lowe (a website programmer) to see what kind of effort would be needed to create a tool that would not only store the images but also be designed with an easy-to-use upload interface that site visitors could use to contribute gravestone photos of their ancestors. Before long a working model emerged. It soon became evident that the tool was capable of storing tens of thousands of records rather than the hundreds of records originally planned -- and that with further modification it could be useful to other county coordinators statewide with it's combined database being available for individual county or statewide searches. It was at this point that the project was proposed and quickly offered to and adopted by IowaGenWeb as a Special Project. Project Timeline · July 2002 - Van Buren Co. Iowa site is conceptualized and work commences on the GPP software.· January 2003 - IowaGravestones.org goes online· September 2003 - ArizonaGravestones.org goes online· April 2004 - ColoradoGravestones.org goes online· November 2004 to March 2005 - An additional eight states begin using the software· May 2005 - The "Gravestone Photo Project" software is established as an open-source project and the programming code is placed in the public domain.FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. What are the guidelines for photos? A. Gravestone photos should be of type JPEG format. The dimensions of the original photo do not matter, but the photo file size must be under 1024k. The smaller the file size the faster the file will upload will be. Ideally pictures are cropped to emphasize the stone and inscription prior to uploading. Uploaded photos are automatically resized to a standard height and width and optimized for storage space conservation. Use the "Browser" button to locate and select the photo on your computer. Be sure the file matches the person whose grave you are documenting. Once uploaded, you can, if desired crop or rotate the photo by clicking on "Adjust this Image" beneath the photo. Click "Submit" when all information is entered and your photo will be on its way. Q. What do I need before I start uploading? A. Photos - A scanned or digital gravestone photo of an
individual buried in Iowa. Q. What kind of comments are appropriate? A. Making entries in the comments field is not required but can be used to convey additional information about the stone. This might include a transcription of a hard-to-read stone, or the fact that an individual was a Revolutionary or Civil War Veteran, for example. Information about spouses and children would be appreciated by someone doing research on the family members. Q. Some stones have names but no death dates. What do we do? A. The inscriptions on gravestones in a public cemetery are, in effect, public record. Many individuals, while still living, have chosen to erect gravestone monuments with their names and birth dates inscribed as a part of advanced funeral planning. While we acknowledge that gravestone inscriptions are public information, it is our recommendation that searchable surname and given name entries be made for only those who are deceased as evidenced by a date on the grave marker or by personal knowledge. Q. Why to I keep getting errors when I try to upload? A. The main cause of errors during upload is large file sizes. The current limit for uploading photo files sizes is 1024K. If the file that you are attempting to upload is larger than this you will likely get an error message; a browser timeout, or a server error. Try reducing your photo file size. Q. When will my photo be displayed? A. Your photo will not be displayed immediately as all submissions are reviewed first by the local county administrator to ensure the photos, cemetery names, and other information are consistent with the mission of the project. I most cases, they will likely appear online within 24-48 hours. Please allow for special circumstances of illness or other situations that may result in a delay in approval. Please don’t submit duplicate photos if they don’t appear right away. If there is any question, feel free to drop the county administrator a note. Thanks for contributing to the IAGenWeb Gravestone Photo Project. Q. How do I input stones with multiple or maiden names? A. Quantity of Names - If more than one name is on the stone,
click on "[+] Show More Names" once for each additional entry you wish
to include. If you will be submitting multiple views of a stone with
different names on each side, list only those names applicable to this
view. Q. What about cemetery entrance photos? A. In Step 2, we've made provisions for this. From the "Record Type" drop down box, select "Cemetery Entrance" for this type of photo. Please do not include the word 'Cemetery' in the Cemetery Name box as it is automatically inserted. Please do include the name of the township in the "Township" field if known. Q. I made a mistake on one of my submissions-- how do I fix it? A. You will need to contact the coordinator for the county where
the cemetery is located. Be sure to reference the exact name of the stone on which you need changes made. Q. My Email address has changed for photos previously submitted. How do I update my address? A. Let us know the old address you wish to change and the new address that is to replace it by emailing the State Project Coordinator B. If it is only on one or a few photo entries, contact the County Coordinator (for Johnson County only) To Conduct a Gravestone Search
TIPS FOR TAKING GRAVESTONE PHOTOS WITH DIGITAL CAMERAS: SET THE CAMERA RESOLUTION AT 2048X1536 PIXELS SET THE COMPRESSION AT "NORMAL" THE FILE SIZE WILL BE 450 TO 500 KB DEPENDING
UPON THE CAMERA ANOTHER OPTION IS TO SET THE RESOLUTION AT 1024X768 PIXELS AND THE COMPRESSION AT SUPERFINE THIS WILL PROVIDE A FILE SIZE OF 591 KB The information shown below is for a Canon G1 PowerShot
camera.
Digital Photographs Use the LCD display when taking gravestone photos. This will allow you to properly compose the photo without showing excessive background. Take several photos of each gravestone--digital photos are low cost so you can select the best one. As an option to changing the resolution and compression in your camera, just be certain that the photo sizes are large. Then when downloaded to your computer the photos can be edited in a software program such as Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photo Shop. The photos can be cropped and resized to meet the requirements of the GPP. Contrast and brightness can be adjusted and blemishes removed. Scanning Gravestone Photographs Existing or new gravestone photographs taken with standard cameras can be scanned as a preliminary to posting on the Gravestone Photo Project website. It will be necessary to use photo editing software to crop, resize, and modify the photographs to meet the GPP requirements.
From The Hosta Journal 2003 Volume 34, No. 3. pages 92 and 93
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE USE OF THE IAGenWeb MESSAGE BOARDS Johnson Co. Queries Johnson Co. Obituaries: Place only obituaries associated with Johnson Co. on this board. Place only one obituary per message. Place name of deceased and birth death years, if known, in the subject section. Place all surnames associated with the Obituary in the surname section. Enter one surname per line. Do not request obituary lookups here. Johnson Co. Biographies: Place only biographies associated with a Johnson Co. family on this board. Place only one biography per message. Place name of subject with date of birth and death if known in the subject section. Place all surnames associated with the Biography in the surname section. Enter one surname per line. Place the full text of the biography in the message section. Include your source. Johnson Co Documents: Any of the following documents may be placed on the Document Board. Wills : Place only wills on this board associated with Johnson Co. Place only one will per message. Place name of deceased with date of will in the subject section. Place all surnames associated with the obituary in the surname section. Place all surnames associated with the message in the surname section. Enter one surname per line. Place the full text of the will in the message section.Bible Records: Place only Bible and Scrapbook records and on this board associated with Johnson Co. Place only one Bible record per message. Place principle name of Bible record in the subject section. Place all surnames associated with the message in the surname section. Enter one surname per line. Place the full text of the Bible record in the message section. Deeds: Place only land records on this board associated with Johnson Co. Place only one land record per message. Place principle name, location and date of land record in the subject section. Place all surnames associated with the message in the surname section. Enter one surname per line. Place the full text of the land record in the message section. Include your source Newspaper Clippings: These might include articles such as Births, Marriages, Wedding Anniversaries, etc. with a genealogical benefit. Place only Newspaper Clippings on this board associated with Johnson Co. Place only one Newspaper Clipping per message. Place principle name, location and date of Newspaper Clipping in the subject section. Place all surnames associated with the message in the surname section. Enter one surname per line. Place the full text of the Newspaper Clipping in the message section. Include source information.Other entries: You are not limited to the above type documents. Other types might include pensions, immigration, military, etc. If in doubt, feel free to ask.
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