‘Downloading from the IGI - What to do with those gedcoms’

Peter Beaven - 18 Jun 2008 - speaking at the BerksFHS Computer Branch, Woodley

The International Genealogical Index, always referred to as the IGI, was set up over 150 years ago by the Church of the Latter day Saints (LDS). It is a very valuable aid but like all transcribed data has its limitations.

A description of the IGI is on GenUKI at http://tinyurl.com/59nm34.

A new version of the LDS data is being developed and can be accessed from the new look FamilySearch site under ‘Search Records’ - ‘Record Search pilot’.

A simple search for Job Beaven in Wiltshire produced 36 results but there were many duplicates whereas there are only 5 events recorded. Only records with an absolute date should be considered; dates prefixed ‘about’ are usually derived and not reliable. The search did find alternative names Bevan & Baven.

With a more common name such as Smith it is necessary to limit the search to a range of years in a County but having found a record there are two approaches to locating the siblings. If both father and mother are named it is possible to search for baptisms of their children; the first two fields for the individual must be left blank but the search can be limited by date and County. The alternative method is to use the Batch number, if present, which can be loaded by clicking on the reference at the bottom of the page.

This will search a set of records, usually from one parish, and may be restricted by parents and date range. The Batches do not always cover all dates and a subsequent Batch may need to be searched.. Information on Batches is found on the Hugh Wallis site (use Google to find it) However this is not complete now as it is dated 2002. Where parents moved parish the first method is needed.

Having located a list of records it is possible to download them as a gedcom by selecting the required records and clicking on the link at the foot of the page and following subsequent instructions.

It is also possible to retrieve a list of surnames, which can be restricted by County and event but not by date. Records can be selected for download but for a one-name study they can all be collected. Each page holds 200 records but only 50 can be downloaded at a time. It is advisable to select 1-51, which should generate an error. If it does not do so, then a record has been missed and can be then added. The data is then downloaded as a series of gedcom files.

So what is a gedcom file?
The name is derived from GEnealogical Data COMmunication. It is a text file to a standard format which was originally devised for members of the LDS so that they could submit data. It has become the only common format for exchanging data between genealogical programs and some of them use it as the format to save data created by the program. There are many utilities which will view the gedcom, or convert it into web pages.

Three programs were shown importing a gedcom of 8 baptisms creating 24 individuals, 8 children and 8 sets of parents. Legacy7 and PAF are both well known programs which can be downloaded free. They can be used in a similar way to combine the records into a family using Merge tools from the menu. These involve identifying records with similar names in a table and confirming that they should be merged.

A graphical technique was also demonstrated with GenoPro. Each record appears as a small family tree that can be manipulated using standard Windows techniques. By selecting the duplicate sets of parents they can be deleted from the display which removes them from the underlying database. The horizontal family line between parents can then be extended and the children joined to it by selecting each in turn. A right click brings up a menu with an option ‘Link as Child’ which creates a line which can be attached to the horizontal family line. This automatically updates the underlying database

updated 3 Aug 2008