Best Practices on Funeral Home Records

My institution has the records of several funeral homes -- including rosters, listing cause of death, burial location, cost of funeral, next of kin, etc.  We are in the process of acquiring more such records and would like to know what other institutions do regarding recent records. In our state, death records over 50 years old are publicly available; in the past, we have followed the census  -- keeping materials closed for 73 year except for some users like immediate family members needing legal information, etc.

Our donors would like to know what policies other institutions follow. We'd be obliged to hear your comments, either off or on the list.

Thanks you

Harlan Greene                 [log in to unmask]
Project Archivist
Avery Research Center
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC  29424-0001
Phone: 843-953-7613
Fax: 843-953-7607

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