IGI Marriage - where?

[jillruss]

Thanks, Mean_genie, that's helpful.

Well, at least I got a swift reply from LDS, but...I was sent what seems like a standard 4 page 'how to identify your batch no. and order your film' document, which is fine, except the batch no. I'm looking for doesn't have a film number so what was the point of that?

The covering email -

"The source for batch numbers that begin with a zero ("0") is a Temple Service Center entry, usually in the native language.

These entry forms sometimes show additional family information such as the parents' death dates, ages of spouses, or their parents' names. These forms may list the sources used to compile the data. They usually give the name and address of the submitter. You can use this address to try to contact the submitter. Most forms were contributed more than ten years ago, and the addresses may be obsolete.

This source is available on microfilm. For a small handling fee, the microfilm can be ordered and viewed at one of our Family History Centers near your home.

The "Source Call No." mentioned in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) is the microfilm number to order. You can find the submitted form on the source microfilm.

You will need the ordinance date, temple, batch, and serial number to find the entry form on the microfilm. This information is found on the Ordinance Index at most Family History Centers.

Each of our Centres are staffed by volunteers who are knowledgeable and happy to assist individuals. All have unique opening hours so do please be sure to telephone for their scheduled hours before you visit. Ask the staff about the services they have available for patron use. Resources at the Centre are free and for your information some also have equipment that can print a photocopy from a microfilm or fiche.
You can find the address of a family history centre near you on FamilySearch™ Internet:
1. Go to FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org).
2. Click the Library tab.
3. Click Family History Centers.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen.
If you are looking for a specific family history centre and do not find it online, please contact us.

We do hope this information is of help."


Well, er, no - not really!! There's no source number!!! 

Am I reading the first sentence 'Temple Service Centre entry' etc to mean that batch nos. starting with '0' are actually nothing more than  entries submitted by an LDS member? Or have I got that wrong? I know it's supposed to be in English, but it's gobbledegook to me!! 

Jill

[Mean_genie]

Jill

I'm not really surprised at the answer you got, I'm afraid!

I first noticed this problem in connection with some of the batches I have just listed (the ones beginning with 'I') where there is no Source Information apart from the batch number itself.

I have been told by two fairly senior LDS people that many of the most recent additions to the IGI are being entered like this (in the interests of speed, I guess). One of them works in the library at Salt Lake City and was able to confirm that the first batch I found was from the Fleet Registers only by ringing someone in the Library and getting them to look it up in an index that is only accessible to the staff there - and he knew exactly where to tell them to look, otherwise I doubt I would even have got that far.

Most of the other prefixes I have found are described in LDS guides, but there is nothing about 'I' batches. The most common are C and M, for baptisms and marriages, and I have listed a few M batches from the Fleet. These do have reasonable descriptions in the Source Information, but it is not immediately obvious that they are TNA references so I included them anyway.

Altogether there are more than 80,000 Fleet marriages in the IGI that I have identified so far, but there is no way of knowing how many of these are duplicates. My gut reaction and some unscientific research suggests that quite a lot of them are.

Mean_genie

[jillruss]

If the LDS have the infomation in their own indexes, why don't they include it on the IGI? Of course, I'm forgetting that their primary raison d'etre isn't family history but to 'save' us all.

I'm just hoping that the BMD Registers site will be able to make sense of the Fleet entries - from what you say it sounds like a mammoth task. No wonder it and the Quakers are still 'coming soon'!! 

Jill