Monday, July 12, 2010

IGI on FamilySearch beta/pilot Websites

Randy Seaver recently asked if records from the International Genealogical Index (IGI) are available on the beta FamilySearch.org website. The answer is: partly.

As Randy pointed out, two types of records are present in the IGI.

1. “Records submitted by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”1

These records have all been loaded into the New FamilySearch Tree. This tree will ultimately become part of the new beta FamilySearch.org website and will be available to the general public.

2. “Many names in the index come from vital records from the early 1500s to 1885.”2

These records are typically called “Extracted Records.” These records are being loaded onto the RecordSearch Pilot or the beta FamilySearch.org website or both, as processing is complete. Extracted records published as “Vital Record Indexes” CDs and on the current FamilySearch.org website are or will also be included.

These records are not being published as one conglomerate database called the IGI. Rather, they are being published by locality. Some examples are:

  • Canada Marriages, 1661-1949 (available on fsbeta)
    • “Name index to marriages from Canada.  Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers.  This set contains 268,014 records.  Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed.  The year range represents most of the records.  A few records may be earlier or later.”3
  • England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
    • “Index to selected England births and christenings.  Only a few localities are included and the time period varies by locality.  This collection contains 65,943,614 records.  Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed.  The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.”4
  • England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 (available on fsbeta)
    • “Index to selected England burials.  Only a few localities are included and the time period varies by locality.  This collection contains 16,560,984 records.  Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed.  The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.”5
  • England Marriages, 1538-1973
    • “Index to selected England marriages.  Only a few localities are included and the time period varies by locality.  This collection contains 18,173,712 records.  Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed.  The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.”6

Many (all?) of these collections can be recognized because they follow the naming scheme shown in the examples.

Be careful using these collections. As noted in some of the descriptions, extraction projects did not comprehensively cover the locality or date range.


Notes

     1.  Various authors, “International Genealogy Index (IGI),” FamilySearch Research Wiki (http://wiki.familysearch.org : accessed 12 July 2010).

     2.  Ibid.

     3.  “Canada Marriages, 1661-1949,” RecordSearch Pilot (http://pilot.familysearch.org : accessed 12 July 2010).

     4.  “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975,” RecordSearch Pilot (http://pilot.familysearch.org : accessed 12 July 2010).

     5.  “England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991,” RecordSearch Pilot (http://pilot.familysearch.org : accessed 12 July 2010).

     6.  “England Marriages, 1538-1973,” RecordSearch Pilot (http://pilot.familysearch.org : accessed 12 July 2010).

5 comments:

  1. I don't see any functionality allowing searches by batch, by film, etc. Are these coming, or is their value being ignored by the programmers?

    Also, where is the FHLC 2.0 we were told about several years ago which was to be overseen by Paul Allen? I don't see any evidence of superior FHLC functionality on beta familysearch.org?

    ReplyDelete
  2. How can a specific database (e.g., "Scandinavia Vital Records Index") be accessed directly without having a link like you have provided in the examples?

    ReplyDelete
  3. A user can search the beta.familysearch.org catalog for film number by going to http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/#form=catalog and choosing Film Number from the drop down menu. Additionally film and item numbers are shown on each catalog entry details page.

    A user can search a specific database by going to http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/s/collection/list. To find you collection of interest you have 3 options. 1) Scroll through the list, 2) Start typing the name of the collection on the top left, 3) filter using the selection on the left sidebar to reduce the collection set by any number of criteria.

    I hope that helps

    ReplyDelete
  4. The loss of searches by batch numbers, and of searches within batches, would be very hard on people doing work in England. Hugh Wallis's search engine on Roots Web is an extremely valuable tool, and it will make life much more difficult if it ceases to work.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree copmpletely. What this will also do is to make it even more difficult for novices / newbies to understand the value of what they find.

    ReplyDelete

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