About This Database

In 2000, Garrett Public Library received a federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant for a pilot digitization project. A major component of this project was the development of this database allowing full-text obituaries from the local newspaper.

In April 2014, the Garrett Public Library made the code available for other libraries in the state of Indiana to use, as well as allowing it to be updated with more current technologies and security standards. Their kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated.

In 2006, the Marion Public Library contracted Chester, Inc., Information Technologies Division to create an online historical database that had more capabilities than they had previously seen available. They wanted to be able to enter almost any type of information, whether it be an obituary, birth record, marriage, or anything that may come up in the future. They wanted it to associate multiple people to a record, and make it all very searchable. They also wanted to be able to update the information via the web, adding individual records, or in bulk, importing large quatities of data at once.

What you see here is a blending of those two projects. The best design features of each have been brought together to allow you easy access to more information, faster, to help you with your historical research.