From: MaggieMole@aol.com > Can someone tell me something about the IGI batch number system > please? I am putting all the baptismal entries for my CROWTHER line > in Sowerby, Halifax, into a spreadsheet for easier pattern > identification. So far I have restricted > myself to IGI batches starting with C, J or K - the two latter > splitting > some sections into male and female. I have been told that batches > beginning with any other letter have been done by individuals and are > not too reliable. However, today I found a batch numbered 7813533, > which contains too many CROWTHER entries for me to ignore. Is it a > good idea to incorporate these into my sheet? I would still ID them > with the batch number. What is reliable in the IGI and what isn't? > > Sorry to be ignorant about this! > > Maggie Berry I have written an explanation of batch numbers in the IGI section of my Newbies' Guide which you may find useful. Basically, baptismal entries starting with C, J or K are official extractions from either the parish registers or bishop's transcripts and can usually be relied upon. However, it's always advisable, if possible, to look at the originals since they very often contain extra information. All-numerical batch numbers are private LDS member submissions and, whilst they quite often are accurate, there are an awful lot of dodgy ones in there as well - often just a wild guess or invention! Unfortunately, there is no way of telling which are which. I have asked the LDS why they could not state the source on these submissions, but I've never yet had a satisfactory explanation. The thing you have to remember always about the IGI is that, at root, it is not done for the benefit of non-member family historians but for their own religious purposes. For this reason, it seems to me they do not apply the same standards of evidence that we do. -- Roy Stockdill Editor, Journal of One-Name Studies Guild of One-Name Studies website: www.one-name.org Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE