[Cz-L] update on Czernowitz cemetery database

Dear Friends:

Some of you have been asking for an update on the project to create a
database of burials in the Czernowitz Jewish cemetery, with links to
images of each tombstone. For those new to the list, background on
this project, sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa,
Canada, with cooperation from the Canadian National Archives, can be
found on our group web site http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/ . In the
left column, click on the link to "Czernowitz Cemetery Projects".

In 2003 and 2004, a team of multilingual transcribers entered data
from the handwritten pre-1948 burial registers into an electronic
database. I collated all submitted data into a single database that
could be sorted by location and by name. A set of post 1948 burial
registers was received from Rabbi Kofmanski of Czernowitz. These had
already been entered into an electronic database . . . in Russian.
Hymie Reichstein, President of JGS Ottawa, arranged for the
transliteration of this database into Latin characters.

I received the Kofmanski file from Hymie on July 12 this year. Our
plan is to use these listings (both the pre and post 1948 electronic
registers) to help decipher names/dates on some of the very hard to
read stones. It took some time to understand the contents of the
Kofmanski file, since the columns weren't labeled. But it appears to
contain many pre-war listings (using the old parcel system and
therefore duplicating entries in the 2003/04 burial register project)
and many post war listings as well. It may also be the case that all
the post war entries include the patronymic and the birth year, as
well as location according to the newer Area system in use today.

I've prepared so far five CDs of about 2000 images each. I've also
ascertained language abilities among a group of transcribers. I'll
start off with one transcriber who knows all the languages needed and
see how things go before sending out the other CDs to the team. I've
also prepared an instruction sheet for transcribers, along with two
other helpful files that will be emailed to them. The first
transcriber will help me tweak the information being sent out so it
might go more smoothly with the rest.

I've been in touch with both Nolan Altman (of JOWBR) and Lawrence
Tapper (of the National Archives of Canada and JGS Ottawa) during the
summer. They've been of great help in planning how to accomplish
this project smoothly and accurately. We'll do this one "Area" at a
time. As each area is databased, it will be sent (with images) to
JOWBR < http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/cemetery/ > for posting,
rather than waiting for the entire database to be completed before
posting.

As this database will include links to images of about 30,000
tombstones, it is a very large undertaking. But our plan to submit
data "area by area" will help get data online and accessible to all
as each section is completed, rather than having to wait months or
years for completion of the entire database. I'm sorry it has taken
so long, but things are progressing and I look forward to making all
the data freely available.

All the best,

Bruce
Received on 2005-09-07 13:56:28