Over the past ten years there has been
increasing doubt over the policy of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons)
on future updates of the International
Genealogical Index (IGI). This analysis attempts
to clarify some of the issues.
A computerised index of information received
from members of the Church began in 1973. These
original entries were known as 'patron
submissions' and consisted of each individual's
name, place of event (birth, baptism or marriage)
and the name of the parents or spouse. Only those
ancestors who had been born at least a hundred
years earlier could be included. Against each
entry was added the date and place when the
Mormon Temple Ordinances of Baptism, Enrolment
and Sealing had been performed.
Later to this original index were added
details of births, baptisms and marriages
transcribed from filmed copies of church
registers as part of a controlled extraction
programme. The index, the first issued in 1978,
was on microfiche and known as the Computer File
Index (CFI). Subsequent editions in 1982 and 1988
contained an increasing number of parish and
other register entries as well as further patron
submissions received for Temple Ordinances.
Sometime between 1988 and 1992, a decision was
made to revert to the original purpose of the IGI
which was to create an index to patron
submissions and subsequent Temple Ordinances. As
a result, entries on the 1988 microfiche edition
that had not been through the Ordinances of
Sealing, Baptism and Enrolment were deleted from
the 1992 fiche edition and were not reinstated.
This means, therefore, that many entries are
unique to the 1988 edition. Information in the
1992 edition on fiche of the IGI and the
subsequent editions on CD-ROM and the Internet (www.familysearch.org)
now contain an increasing number of pre-1970
patron submissions, as well as those received
more recently. Some of these early submissions
date back to the nineteenth century and may
contain unreliable information. Much of it did
not come from the extraction programme and cannot
be relied upon for its accuracy.
In effect, the extraction of births, baptisms
and marriages from parish and other registers
ceased to be added to the IGI from about 1990. To
remedy this situation, the Church introduced the
Vital Records Index (VRI) on CD-ROM. This
includes references from the ongoing abstraction
from parish and other registers. The first
edition of the VRI for the British Isles consists
of five CDROMs and contains about five million
entries of births, christenings and marriages. It
includes entries from England and Wales, Scotland
and Ireland. Some counties have good coverage
while others have very few references. The Irish
abstracts include the Civil Registration Indexes
1847-1874. Further editions of the VRI will be
issued as part of a worldwide programme. The
CDROM for Western Europe was published towards
the end of last year and contains 19.5 million
entries (see information elsewhere in this issue).
So, in order to make a thorough search of all
entries abstracted by the LDS Church you must
look in all of the following:
* The 1988 edition of the IGI on
microfiche
* The latest CD-ROM version and updates
* 'FamilySearch' on the Internet which
includes a different editon of the CD-ROM
* The Vital Records Index (VRI) on CD-ROM
Family data submitted to the Church by non-patrons
(i.e. people like you and me) is made available
on Ancestral File. Entries are not submitted for
Temple Ordinances - unless, of course, a Church
member finds a reference to his own family and
incorporates it into his research - as all of us
do from information found in the IGI and
elsewhere.
This article was sent to LDS Family History
Support, for their comments and Paul Nauta made
the following points. Many of the extraction
records that were removed in between the 1988 and
1992 fiche editions have been added back into the
IGI after the records were sent to the Temples.
Entries on the 1988 microfiche edition not
appearing in the Ordinance Index are gradually
being made available in Vital Record Index
releases and their respective updates over time.
Ancestral File and the Pedigree Resource File:
The Church will combine the two in an attempt to
implement the best features of both databases. We
would be pleased to hear from anyone who has
found entries on the 1988 IGI on microfiche and
missing from the subsequent editions - and also
whether or not they have found them reinstated on
the VRI.
