I am into genealogy and one of the rules in genealogical research is to document the sources of your research. One should make sure that you provide the correct information so that the next person trying to find the same information can easily find it by reading your original notes.

Everyone who helped to fill the NICMM database with the over 5000 memorials already listed gathered different information and provided different types of photographs. I would like to set a standard for capturing a site so that we have the same information for all memorials and especially so we have photographs that show all sides of a memorial in enough detail so we can read and transcribe the information engraved on the memorial. I am also making detailed notes and maps of where a memorial was found, so anyone can find it again. I have spent a lot of time trying to find a memorial that was listed on a street which turns out to be 15 kilometers long.

As I mentioned earlier, using a digital camera allows you to take as many photos as you want, and then just delete the unnecessary one. I often take extra pictures of text that is hard to read or street number signs to save me from making notes when I visit a site. If you are using regular film, we do not expect anyone to take this many photos.

Photographing a memorial site

·          Park View

a picture of the overall location of where the memorial is found so someone looking at a photograph can easily tell where it is within the area. Trying to find some of the memorials in Ottawa can be quite the hike without some references in a picture to guess where in a multi-acre park the memorial is located.

 

 

 

 

·          Front View

A picture of the front of the memorial, just showing the physical memorial itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Front View  Transcription Close Up

A close up of the wording on the memorial. This may require multiple pictures to properly capture the information. We need to be able to read the words on the pictures you take.

 

 

 

 

·          Right View

A picture of the right side of the memorial, even if there is no writing or specific detail. We can only know that is the case if we can see it in the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Right View Transcription Close Up

A close up of the wording on the right side of the memorial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Back View

A picture of the back side of the memorial.

 

 

·          Back View Transcription Close Up

A close up of the wording on the back side of the memorial. On this memorial, you can see that there is no wording on the back of it. If there is no wording on a face of the memorial, please try to make sure the picture can show that there is no wording.

 

 

 

 

·          Left View

A picture of the fright side of the memorial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Left View Transcription Close Up

A close up of the wording on the left side of the memorial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Artist or Builder Name

Please pay special attention for the name of the artist or company that designed or built the memorial. You can simple write down the name of the artist if you find it. The advantage of a digital camera is I can take pictures of everything and then delete the picture I get information from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Address

Try to get more than the street the memorial is located on. If it is in a park, get the name of the park and the nearest cross streets on either side. If it’s in front of a church or library, or city hall, use that building’s street address. Sometimes the memorial may be located in a small parkette between other buildings. Get the number of the buildings on either side, and pick a number in between. I have been giving numerous memorial a proper street number to make finding them again a little easier.

 

 

Standards for Cataloging a Memorial