The digitisation of cemeteries is a revolution for the future. Not only is this a way to preserve memories and history for future generations, but it also helps solve several problems, improving the services to the community. However, many small cemeteries are struggling to improve their services due to the tight budget, and this is a problem that should be addressed.
Ouyen Cemetery’s digitisation project
With only 2,000 plots, Ouyen Cemetery in Victoria, Australia needs a significant improvement for their records management system at a considerable cost. By collaborating with Chronicle, Ouyen Cemetery has realised its goal to work effectively with an easy-to-use cemetery software.
Dianne, the Secretary of Ouyen Cemetery, even added that “This software does everything we need and more. It is called Simple Cemetery Software for a reason and it really is simple to use, no training required.” Read the full review here.
With the features provided by Chronicle, Ouyen cemetery does not need to update its records manually to spreadsheet files any longer, not to mention writing by hand on paper. This new procedure unquestionably saves more time and energy.
Preserving the history of the community
On early October 2022, Ouyen Cemetery opened a History Talk and Open Day event, as featured in North West Express, inviting the local community to hear some interesting history talks about their community by the local guest speakers on various subjects related to their cemetery.
Besides, the visitors were also able to view the physical and digital improvements done to their local cemetery. Some physical improvements include renovating the cemetery’s layout and building some seating and shade structures.
Ouyen Cemetery also introduced the Chronicle cemetery software to the local community so that they can access the interred information from their mobile phones simply by scanning the cemetery’s QR sign provided by Chronicle. Moreover, they can also get a Self-Guided Historic Walking Tour from Chronicle’s mobile responsive feature.
Public-oriented features of Chronicle
With Chronicle’s sophisticated yet user-friendly features, Ouyen Cemetery can provide visitors with a new kind of experience engaging with the local histories. Visitors can also explore the deceased information through its advanced search records.
Chronicle offers high-definition digital plot mapping and walk-to-grave features where visitors can locate the location of their loved ones and see the photos of the headstones through their mobile phones.
Lastly, with the Life Chronicle feature, visitors can create life stories for their loved ones and share them online. More importantly, 40% of all the Life Chronicle submissions go to the cemetery, helping cemeteries maintain the resting places.
Ouyen Cemetery has proven that digitisation is essential for cemetery operators in managing their organisational system and for the local community to learn and engage more with their roots in a more meaningful way. Chronicle is dedicated to ensuring that many small cemeteries like Ouyen Cemetery deserve some improvements to manage records effectively and share them with the community.