Be Sure to Visit my new 1900 Galveston Storm Website at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootseb.com/~barnette 

PGCS UP FOR ADOPTION

  Ever since he created the Publishers Genealogical Coding System in 1994 David Dole has been looking for someone, preferably a genealogical or historical society with IRS approved 501(c)(3) status to take over the business.

 Dole feels PGCS has the potential to earn $500,000 or more in registration fees collected from newspapers which register with the coding program. He does not wish to sell PGCS. He wants to give it to a group that will take it over and promote the unique system that will identify obituaries until time immortal.

 On December 31, 2000, at 86 years of age, Dole will retire from the Publishers Genealogical Coding Service. He says he needs to spend more time with his wife and get back to work on his family history.

 In 1970 Dole created, developed and for almost twenty five years handled the Industry Standard Coding Identification System, known as ISCI (iss-key). ISCI is the "standard" identity coding for television commercials, programs and musical compositions.

 In 1991 Dole, a longtime family genealogist, and his wife helped the Norwegian American Historical Association of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota catalogue Norwegian newspaper obituaries on 3x5 cards. While working on this project he realized, unless someone added the information, none of the clipped obituaries were identified by date, city or newspaper. He recognized the need for an  identifying code inserted within newspaper obituaries similar to the ISCI coding system.

 PGCS CODE IDENTIFIES NEWSPAPER AND DATE

 Dole's PGCS coding system is simple. It consists of a seven character code which identifies the newspaper publishing an obituary. An additional eight character code would be added by the newspaper to identify the date of publication.

 As an example, assuming the Houston Chronicle registered and was issued a PGCS code, the code would appear in every obituary or death notice published. The code would look similar to the following: A12345T2000NV04.

 Translated,  the A means that the newspaper was published in the United States. Other letters in the same position would signify other continents of the world where the publishing newspaper was located. The five numbers, 12345,  would identify the name of the newspaper, the Houston Chronicle in this fictitious example.

 The letter T identifies the Chronicle as being a daily newspaper with over 500,000 circulation. Other letters of the alphabet identify newspapers or magazines by their circulation and frequency.

 The remaining characters identify the date of publication of the obituary. In this case, November 4, 2000.

 The PGCS code would appear anywhere in the obituary the newspaper would like to place it. It could be in the beginning or the end of the obituary. The point size of the characters in the code could be the same or different than the rest of the death notice.

OBTAINING PGCS CODES

 Newspapers or other publications wishing to obtain a PGCS code must register with PGCS to obtain their unique seven character identifying code. The one-time life-time registration fee ranges from $25 for circulation under 10,000 to $500 for circulation over 500,000.

 Once registered PGCS allows and encourages, at no additional charge,  the use of the PGCS codes in all types of notices including death, birth, social events, sports articles as well as general news and business reports.

 Anyone desiring more information on the PGCS coding should visit the PGCS website at: http://www.obituarycoding.com. Any nonprofit society or organization with 501(c)(3) approved IRS status interested in taking over PGCS should contact Dole as soon as possible by-mail at dwdole@fishnet.com, or, by telephone  at 952-830-9552.

NEWS FROM THE BOOK SHELF

 The Texas City Ancestry Searchers has published another excellent cemetery book,  Galveston County Tombstone Inscriptions, Volume IV: Galveston Memorial Park 1952-1962. It is available for $35 from Texas City Ancestry Searchers, P.O. Box 3301, Texas City, TX 77592-3301.

 The book chronicles burials which occurred in Galveston Memorial Park between 1952 and 1962. The book is arranged alphabetically which is usually considered a no-no in the genealogical community. After realizing the book consists of burials in a distinct time frame and reading the introduction explaining the manner in which the book was compiled the arrangement of the book is more understandable and totally acceptable.

 The compilers began their information gathering in the cemetery office using burial file cards which often included newspaper obituaries. After working in the office, the compilers visited the gravesites where information was added to the record from the tombstone and the physical condition of the grave. The book contains the name of the deceased, name of lot owner, date and place of death, date and place of birth, the grave location and other available information not normally a part of  most cemetery inscription surveys.