

                  BRITISH COLUMBIA CEMETERY FINDING AID

                               VERSION ONE

                         Created & Compiled By

                              Ron Demaray


     Read Me First!
     --------------

          This file and the BCCFAREF file contain essential information
     regarding the use of this cemetery database.  You are well advised
     to read onward before attempting to unzip the surname data files.


     Copyright
     ---------

     Copyright (C), 1996, Ron Demaray.
     Free, non-commercial distribution of BCCFA is welcomed and
     encouraged provided the original format and all its component
     parts are retained.  Permission to copy all or part of this work
     is granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed
     for resale (except a nominal copying fee only to cover expenses
     may be charged), and provided that this readme.txt file, including
     the author-contact information and this copyright notice, are
     retained verbatim and are displayed conspicuously.  You may not
     include these files as part of any CD-ROM without the express
     written permission of the author.  Any other use of BCCFA, without
     prior written consent of the authors, is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.  If
     anyone requires other permissions that are not covered by the above,
     please contact the author.


     Introduction
     ------------

          This inaugural version of The British Columbia Cemetery Finding
     Aid, contains more than 100,000 entries and includes 141 British
     Columbia cemeteries and 1 Washington state cemetery.

          For those familiar with the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid (OCFA),
     you will notice many similarities.  Except for the difficulty in
     choosing an effective method to describe the location of each British
     Columbia cemetery, researchers will find that this database virtually
     mirrors the conventions and data fields of OCFA.

          I would like to extend my very sincere thanks to each and every
     volunteer whose name appears on the "BCCFA honour roll".  All of them
     have contributed to the growth of the BCCFA database.

          I would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts put
     forth by Lynda M. Cunningham and Lois Richardson.  Almost certainly
     without their assistance, BCCFA would not have come into being.


                 ****  THE BCCFA TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS  ****

                 Laurette Agnew, Sidney, British Columbia
                 Peg Briscoe, Sooke, British Columbia
                 Lynda M. Cunningham, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
                 Priscilla Davis, Duncan, British Columbia
                 Ron Demaray, Metchosin, British Columbia
                 Joanne Joyce Hughes, Victoria, British Columbia
                 Susan Hyde, Burnaby, British Columbia
                 John MacDowell, Colwood, British Columbia
                 Ian K. McKenzie, Langford, British Columbia
                 Jean F. Milne, Vancouver, British Columbia
                 Chuck Osborne, Surrey, British Columbia
                 Lois Richardson, Vancouver, British Columbia
                 Barbara Saur, Sooke, British Columbia
                 Jessica Veinot, Metchosin, British Columbia
                 Marie Williams, Maple Ridge, British Columbia


     Purpose
     -------

          This database is intended *only* as a "pointer" database. It
     consists of the surnames, cemetery name and location of more than
     100,000 entries collected from records and headstone inscriptions
     associated with 141 cemeteries situated in the province of British
     Columbia, Canada and one from the state of Washington, USA.  Please
     note that in some cases, the listed individuals may *not* be 
     interred in these cemeteries but were mentioned in the source 
     records or on the headstone.


     File Names
     ----------

          The following list comprises the complete BCCFA ONE set.
     The .ASC files contain the character separated ASCII data, where
     the letter(s) in the filename indicates the surnames contained in
     each file....


        BCCFA1AE.ZIP       BCCFA1AE.ASC  ("A" to "E" surnames)

        BCCFA1FL.ZIP       BCCFA1FL.ASC  ("F" to "L" surnames)

        BCCFA1MZ.ZIP       BCCFA1MZ.ASC  ("M" to "Z" surnames)

        BCCFACEM.ZIP       BCCFACEM.ASC   A mini datafile of the
                           cemeteries included in BCCFA to date; their
                           names, locations and reference sources in
                           ASCII delimited format.

                           BCCFAREF.TXT   Essential REFERENCE material,
                           and a plain text listing of all the BCCFA
                           cemeteries entered to date, sorted by region.

        README.TXT         The file you are reading.

        FILE_ID.DIZ        File description.



     Reading the Files
     -----------------

          The character separated ASCII format can be read with an
     ASCII viewer such as Vern Buergs popular LIST program, or by
     using the DOS `Type' command (type filename.ext |more), but
     greater viewing flexibility can be gained by importing these
     files into a Data Base program.


     Field Sizes
     -----------

          The following field sizes will allow you to safely import
     the data into a database program without losing any of the field
     contents:

                          Surname:  30
                            Given:  45
                         Cemetery:  50
                         Location:  50
                           Region:  20
                        Reference:  12
                          Soundex:   4


          The smaller BCCFACEM.ASC file is based on the following database
     fields and sizes:

                        Reference:  12
                         Cemetery:  50
                         Location:  50
                           Region:  20
                              Pub:  16
                              Vol:   5
                             Year:   5

     BCCFAREF.TXT
     ------------

          This file contains essential REFERENCE material, and a plain
     text list of all the cemeteries entered to date, sorted by region.
     You may wish to print this file for future reference.




     Can I Contribute to the next release of BCCFA?
     ---------------------------------------------

     Definitely!  If you have access to cemetery/church burial records,
     cemetery transcription indices, or have transcribed a cemetery or
     have collected cemetery data in the course of your pursuit of British
     Columbia ancestors and want to share your efforts, please contact me:

        Echo mail  -  We can be reached on just about any of the
                      FidoNet or IGA_Net genealogy echos.

        Net mail   -  1:340/85  or  440:123/85

        Internet   -  Email - bccfa@islandnet.com
                      Email - rsd@islandnet.com
                      URL - http://www.islandnet.com/bccfa/

        BBS        -  Metchosin Central BBS   1-604-478-7678
                      supporting speeds of 2400 to 28800 bps

        Snail mail -  Metchosin Central
                      Box 48058,
                      3575 Douglas St,
                      Victoria, BC, Canada, V8Z 7H5.



     The Final Word
     --------------

          Without doubt, the BCCFA database contains errors.  The data
     entry process from headstone to BCCFA includes many steps and comes
     from many sources.... inaccuracies are inevitable.  Please do not
     hesitate to point out any errors or omissions that you encounter.
     Such corrections will be incorporated in the next release of BCCFA.


          Good luck with your research.  I hope this first release of the
     British Columbia Cemetery Finding Aid is helpful in locating some of
     your ancestors.

                   Enjoy..........   Ron Demaray
