Family History Through the Alphabet – B is for …Billion Graves

B is for …Billion Graves or, for that matter, any other site that shares headstone photos and data about people's final resting places.

I am on a number of lists where people offer to take photos of headstones for others. These random acts of genealogical kindness (RAOGK) are commendable but the results of the efforts taken by the kind volunteer photographers usually only go to one family member. I just wish these volunteers were getting better value for their efforts.

If these volunteers were to contribute the images they take to a site like BillionGraves (my fave), FindaGrave, or The Australian Cemeteries Index then the photos they take and details they record would be available for posterity (hopefully) to anyone now or in the future. Some genealogists self-host sites where they share photos of cemeteries they visit, the sterling work of Carol of Carol's Headstone Photos comes to mind.

I like  BillionGraves  because it is an international site, one only needs to take pictures as other volunteers transcribe one's images, I can use my mobile phone for the task and best of all GPS co-ordinates are added to images so the graves and headstones are easy to locate. As one who has spent may hours in hot, dusty cemeteries trying to locate graves I appreciate this fab feature.

If you are feeling generous and offer to take some headstone photos for others please consider using a service like BillionGraves and making your images accessible to a wide audience.