At 02:49 PM 08/13/2002 -0700, you wrote: > > >Charlene Turner Smith wrote: >> All we need >> now is an explanation of how to de-code the source information and how >> to access such sources short of a trip to Salt Lake City. I know, I >> know... visit the local LDS Family History Center and order the info on >> microfilm from them. If any one has other suggestions, I'm willing to >> listen. > Yes, a visit to the FHC would probably be the best solution but... See >if your local public library has a copy of the "The Library" ed. by >Johni Cerny and Wendy Elliott, published by Ancestry Publishing. It has >a section on the IGI and gives an overview of what the codes mean. > Also, you might want to contact the FHL by mail and see if you can't >order a copy of their research guide to the IGI. I thought that I had >one here at home but right now I'm not finding it so I can't double >check to see if it has the code information in it or not. The Family >Search site may have a listing for contact information. This guide >should also be available at least for using at the local FHC. > >> Suggestions on digging out those sources, anyone??? > I think that once you have learned what the source was, the only place >that you may be able to find it will by through a FHC unless it >extracted from a federal or state census which might be available >through the public library. Even if the source is just a more recent >FGS and you want to contact the submitter, you are still going to have >to get the film... > As for accuracy...I don't expect the publishers and distributers to be >responsible for the content. I do expect that the submitter should be >responsible for accuracy. However, I would fault them for not demanding >and including documentation....but then...that is just what the IGI >is...an index to documentation. Some of it by today's standards is not >sufficient but some of the sources will be or will lead you to sources >which are. > >Renee L. Dauven > > Charlene, e-mail me (PRIVATELY!) your snail-mail and I'll send you a copy of the IGI guides. The important things to remember when using the IGI: 1) what it is: an INDEX to the names that have passed thru an LDS Temple. It is analogous to an office log -- when you give your name to the secretary she doesn't demand proof, she simply writes your name in the log. If you tell her you're Frieda Frye, she'll write it down. She might misspell it, though. 1a) There are about 8 different ways to spell Cheryl; someone who doesn't know me rarely chooses the right one. (g) In a very well researched book I've found cases where (she) was spelt one way when listed as a child, a second way when listed as a wife, and a third way when listed as a mother. 2) Much of the information in the IGI got in there from the days before Xerox machines (If the LDS dates give anything before 1957, it was hand-copied at least twice before it was computerized). Hand copies of old, bad, crabbed handwriting are error-prone. and finally, most importantly, 3) it's a place to start, not the finish line, unless you're LDS and using for LDS purposes. I've got my differences with it, but if all you've got is "Germany" and the IGI shows the surname confined to Baden, you've made progress, and the two Badens are somewhat smaller than all of Germany. Cheryl *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Cheryl Singhal ([email protected]) http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cpafug/ http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvhampsh/ http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/blyton/772/ (Bottony Cross DAR) http://www.rootsweb.com/~cresap/ http://members.fortunecity.com/csinghal1/ (Joanna Waddill UDC)