Friday, January 27, 2006

Obit Index Premieres in Pa.

To celebrate the launch of an online obituary index, the Butler Area Public Library in Butler, Pa., is throwing a Grim Reaper Party. Guests are invited to wear funeral attire and munch on coffin-shaped cakes.

The index, which contains 72,000 death records culled from Butler County newspapers from 1818 to 2000, was compiled by volunteers from Slippery Rock University's School of Computer Science. Once complete, patrons will be able to look up deceased people by first, middle or last name and retrieve records by newspaper or publication date.

To paraphrase one of my favorite catch phrases: "People may die, but their obituaries last forever."

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