PHILADELPHIA - The latest in digital technology is coming to the aid of New Orleans' Creole cemeteries.

Faculty and students from the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania and the School of Architecture/Preservation Studies at Tulane University are developing a conservation plan using digital technology, such as Geographic Information Systems, to map and create a survey of the cemeteries and their neighborhoods. The group also seeks to develop and implement practical solutions for site managers and tomb owners to help prevent tomb and landscape erosion.

Under the direction of Frank Matero and Dana Tomlin from Penn, the group focused on St. Louis I Cemetery, New Orleans' oldest extant cemetery, founded in 1789. This site, along with neighboring St. Louis II Cemetery, has fascinated visitors to the city since the early 19th Century. After years of abandonment, they are experiencing a renewed popularity through heritage tourism. Yet despite this revived interest, they still face neglect, theft and vandalism.

By incorporating cross-disciplinary study, the group has also studied the physical changes and cultural meanings of the site throughout its history. Due to the popularity of St. Louis I Cemetery with tourists, the group focused on how the cemetery functions in relation to tourism and as a site where the primary function was the burial and honoring of the dead. This dual cultural function has been of interest to historians, anthropologists and sociologists for decades. It gives better understanding of the purpose and cultural role of the sites and how best to preserve them over a period of time.

A heritage educational program, a model for New Orleans schools, was also developed by Tulane with the neighborhood Joseph A. Craig Elementary School.

The results of this study are available at www.noladeadspace.org.