I was writing up everything I know about IGI and Ancestral File for a woman on one of the lists I subscribe to and decided that I may as well share it with everyone. This is information that I was given by the director of the FHC in Hemit, CA when I took a class from him and some of what I have learned along the way.It may not be completely accurate, but may be of interest to those of you who know little or nothing about these two tools. The IGI is extracted information. It can be good information extracted from original vital records, church records, etc. or it could be extracted from a family group sheet submitted to the church, which may or may not be accurate. The source codes give you some indication. If it is a number only it is extracted from a family group sheet. The first two numbers tell you what year it was submitted, thereby giving you an idea whether or not the submitter is still living. You can order the family group sheet at the FHC. When it comes it will include the submitter's address and MIGHT include sources. However, remember this is submitted by someone like you or I. Often there are mistakes. If the code has a letter in front of it like M or C, this indicates it is extracted from a collection of Marriage records or Christening records, etc. These vary in reliability, but you can also track down the source of these at the FHC if you find someone who knows how to decipher the code. They should have a book at the FHC telling how to do it, but someone who knows how would be better. If it has a Film #, this is a film that you can order at the FHC. You should check the title on the computer at your FHC to see if it appears to be something of interest to you. Sometimes they are films of Mormon Church records, but often they are films of vital records. You need to check before ordering. I BELIEVE that if there is a film number and then it says "Relatives:" and names the relatives that this is probably a church record submitted by that relative, such as "Baptisms of the Dead" and is only as reliable as the submitter. I ordered one of those by mistake and will try not to make that mistake again. There is nothing more disheartening than to wait for two weeks for a film only to find that it is useless. Ancestral File is similar to Family Tree Maker pedigrees. They are only as good as the submitter's research, but at least they are a starting place, information to prove or disprove. The codes included in these records are simply an Ancestrile File number that has been assigned to each person. You can search on the computers at the FHC using that number. For those of you who may not know about the LDS site yet, here is the URL: http://www.familysearch.org/ I hope this helps! Christine Pettit California http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/p/e/t/Christine-M-Pettit/