All, The most important tip to searching the LDS library, is NOT TO USE THE IGI. Sorry about the caps, but this is so important. The IGI is compiled by members of ther Morman church of their family tree, and submitted the the church for religious purposes, and can be very subjective. In the old addage of 'you can't get something for nothing', some people think they can find their family tree done by someone else using the IGI. The problem with that, is sometimes, 'undesirables' are left out, for many reasons, and incorrect information are submitted to the church. The LDS/FHL are very usefull for looking at and being able to source the the documents. A search done of the holdings of their archives, for Civil records, marriage and birth records, church and census records, is a more accurate way to get the information. The drawback is, you have to view the microfilm for your self, and though it can be dificult at times due to the quality of the film, I always remind myself that, 1. These documents could have been destroyed by a hurricane, earthquake or fire, 2. I don't have to take a trip to the island each time I need to do reasearch, and 3. I am looking at history as it was written. The bottom line is, if you find an ancestor in the IGI, that means one of two things, that ancestor was a Mormon, or someone has included their name in a tree, just ask the Pope. Ann "Sharing the information." _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

Sorry you are not completely correct here. Although there are a lot of names on the IGI, from the research of the LDS members, MOST of the names on the IGI are are from Parish Registers that have been filmed by the LDS Filming Team, & these have been viewed & Indexed by LDS members, as part of their service to their Church. As I said it the earlier message the IGI should be used as a finding aid only, & if you are lucky enough to find family names there, always check out the source of the information & if it was a film, order that film & check the details for yourself. Sometimes Indexes contain errors, so you should always go to the original document to prove the facts. As for the facts that are submitted by members of the LDS, if you find one of your family listed on the IGI from that source, you may be lucky as I was. By contacting the submitter of the information, he was able to put me in touch with one of our family members, previously unknown, that he had had corresponence with & this has opened a whole new world of family to us in the USA, several of whom are also researching the family, so our genealogy has grown beyond all imagination, all from that source 8 yrs ago. We have had several trips to the USA, during that time, one for a Family Reunion. So please keep an open mind when visiting the LDS, & remember although you may not find the answers you hope for, there may be ways to locate the information. Many times I have tried to imagine doing genealogy without the Mormon records, & that does not bear thinking about, especially when one lives on the other side of the world from where our ancestors lived. Cheers, Merril Bourne, New Zealand. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Whiting" <aqw8326@hotmail.com> To: <CARIBBEAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 4:47 AM Subject: Re: name question & Tips for making LDS Microfilm viewing easier All, The most important tip to searching the LDS library, is NOT TO USE THE IGI. Sorry about the caps, but this is so important. The IGI is compiled by members of ther Morman church of their family tree, and submitted the the church for religious purposes, and can be very subjective. In the old addage of 'you can't get something for nothing', some people think they can find their family tree done by someone else using the IGI. The problem with that, is sometimes, 'undesirables' are left out, for many reasons, and incorrect information are submitted to the church. The LDS/FHL are very usefull for looking at and being able to source the the documents. A search done of the holdings of their archives, for Civil records, marriage and birth records, church and census records, is a more accurate way to get the information. The drawback is, you have to view the microfilm for your self, and though it can be dificult at times due to the quality of the film, I always remind myself that, 1. These documents could have been destroyed by a hurricane, earthquake or fire, 2. I don't have to take a trip to the island each time I need to do reasearch, and 3. I am looking at history as it was written. The bottom line is, if you find an ancestor in the IGI, that means one of two things, that ancestor was a Mormon, or someone has included their name in a tree, just ask the Pope. Ann "Sharing the information." _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail ==== CARIBBEAN Mailing List ==== For information on individual islands, research aids, island bulletin boards or history please visit the CaribbeanGenWeb project at http://www.rootsweb.com/~caribgw/