Using the IGI

GENUKI: Newbies Guide by Roy Stockdill
The vital thing to remember when using the IGI is that entries which are from the controlled extraction program can generally be regarded as accurate, whilst private patron submissions are to be treated with extreme caution! There seems to be a belief among some newcomers that the IGI is the be-all and end-all of ancestry research. IT ISN’T! It is precisely what it says – an index only and must only ever be used in conjunction with other research.

The vital column to look at is that headed “Batch”. If you know how to read the batch codes, you can tell whether the entries are from the controlled extraction program or from private submissions. Those codes beginning with C, K or J are taken from a christening (baptismal) register; those headed M or E are from a marriage register; and those headed P are from a printed copy or typed manuscript of a register. * NOTE that P does not mean “private” as many people seem to think. All-numerical codes and those beginning with A or F are church member submissions and should, therefore, be treated with some caution.

When reading the IGI on the FamilySearch website, you should always go to the “Source Call” link, click on it and you will be taken to another screen inside the Family History Library Catalogue. This will tell you the precise source of the entry, i.e. whether from a parish register or a “patron submission”. I have noted when going to the “Source Call” that many entries seem to have been filmed from the Bishop’s Transcripts rather than the registers (BTs were copies of the registers sent annually by the incumbent to the Bishop). This is because in the early days of the IGI when many parish registers were still in the hands of the incumbents, many clerics would not allow the Mormons to film their registers, so they had to go to the BTs which were usually in the County Record Office or Diocesan Record Office (which are often the same thing).

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