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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1997-01 > 0852320223


From: "David L. Hintz" <>
Subject: Re: LDS Accuracy
Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1997 13:37:03 CST


Karen Courtenay wrote:

>I would not trust the information in the IGI at all without checking
>everything.Much of it was submitted by amateur genealogists with no checking
>by others.

I believe Karen is referring to the LDS Ancestral File (AF), not the IGI.
I'm no expert, but I believe only members of the LDS church submit entries
to the IGI or International Genealogical Index. As the name implies, the
IGI is simply an index of actual church and civil records that LDS members
have filmed as part of their religious practices. Since actual humans
create the index, certainly errors occur from time to time. But the point
of an index is to use it to obtain a photocopy or the microfilm of the
orginal document. Using the IGI as factual data is like using the index at
the back of a book without going to the actual page containing the data.
So, the IGI guides you to the information that is about as accurate as you
can get -- the original documents for a birth, marriage, and christening
(typically).

Now the Ancestral File, on the other hand, is submitted by genealogists --
amatuer and otherwise. There is little attempt made to verify the data and
as such should be used with extreme caution. But, the AF is extremely
useful -- you simply have to verify the information yourself before
accepting it as "truth".

Hope the clarifies things a little.

Dave Hintz

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