The IGI Files

According to GENUKI

“The I. G. I. is apparently the most-used index for family history research. It is available at many family history libraries and each Family History Centre operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (hereafter referred to as: LDS). An online version can be found at: FamilySearch.org, the LDS Library web site.

However, there are several issues, pro and con, one should consider when using the I. G. I.:

Accuracy:

• The error rate has been estimated at around 10%. 
• Corrections to the I. G. I. cannot be submitted. It is, after all, 100% accurate for its intended purpose – the ordination of ancestors claimed by LDS church members. 
• Joan Van Daalen tells us that corrections to the I. G. I. can be made if they regard a personal entry. Her marriage was listed with the date off by 100 years, so she wrote and documented the correction. It was made within two months.

Content:

• The I. G. I. contains entries submitted by members of the LDS for ordinance of their ancestors in accordance with church beliefs. No verification of source information was required for the bulk of those entries. 
• The majority of the I. G. I. are entries submitted by volunteers working as part of the controlled extraction programme. The LDS church employed photographers to visit archives and other repositories to photograph various parish registers and other documents. Volunteers keyed these entries into the I.G.I. and they are identified in the last column by having the prefix of a letter before the numerical reference.
• The I. G. I. contains primarily baptism (often confused with “christening”) and marriage entries. 
• Marriages do not indicate if the bride or groom is single, a widow or a widower. Witnesses are not recorded. Marriages do not show name of the parish in which the bride or groom were living prior to the marriage, although a parish register normally records if either was from another parish.
• Few death or burial entries are recorded, and where they are, the age at death is not noted.
• Illegitimate births do not always show the name of the father, even if recorded in a parish register.