Obituary Index

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Researching one’s family history can be tremendously challenging work when the available resources are limited. When a person is just beginning, they will discover how difficult it can be to identify the location of an obituary that could paint a better picture of their ancestor or person of interest. As part of its mission to provide high-quality resources, the Miami-Dade Public Library Systems’ Special Collections & Archives division holds one of the largest collections of Genealogy-related materials in the southern United States. To better serve the public for such requests, the Library launched an opensource newspaper index website called the Miami-Dade Obituary Index (www.obituaryindex.mdpls.org) that would allow one to find information on over 915,000 persons who died in the Miami-Dade county area from the Miami Herald newspaper and other local publications covering 1896 to 2008 in a fraction of the time that was required before its launch. Since its launch, the obituary index has provided over 1,895 unique results to over 1,119 users, with over 383 returning users. Patrons utilizing the index extend beyond Florida to include Georgia, New York, Iowa, and Virginia.