International Genealogical Index - Advice

[haddockinthekitchen]

Hi - I have stumbled into the realms of the IGI/ Family Search and am reading around it, as I am very new to it.
I have a few queries - can anyone help?

I notice that each person on Family Search has a unique reference number next to their name.
I also notice that when sources are cited, there is a series of references which is sometime prefixed by "ark" that appear at the end of the source citation.
Are any of these numbers related to batch or film numbers that you can input when doing a search on the IGI database? If not, how does one know what these batch / film numbers are>
Finally, does anyone have any tips or guidance on how to use the IGI, and/ or have any opinions about it?
The Wiki on it says to always check the original source, but to a newbie like me, it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation - I am working off information given to me by a third party and trying to check it out as I go, and I am in the early 1500's now.
If any of this makes sense, I would appreciate any pointers at all on using this search facility .
Thanks in advance.

[aghadowey]

Can you give us an example of what you found so that we can try to explain it to you.

[haddockinthekitchen]

I will - I will look up one example and paste it here shortly.

[rosie99]

Wiki is right about always checking the original source. 

The IGI a few years ago consisted of extracted records from parish registers and Bishops transcripts, a lot of these have now been removed and the site appears to have been merged with their patron submitted family trees.  These trees were always to be treated with caution as they contained lots of 'about' dates and were mainly done for the purpose of baptising their dead relatives.

Personally I would treat them with caution and would be looking at the original records or online copies of them (not transcripts) 

[haddockinthekitchen]

I too feel a bit sceptical about them, which is why I was asking the questions.

[Gadget]

This link might help:

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/igi?collectionNameFilter=true

Make sure that you tick on the Community Indexed IGI (Vital and church records from the early 1500s to 1885) only and you will be able to search on the old IGI which Rosie refers to.

The IGI a few years ago consisted of extracted records from parish registers and Bishops transcripts, a lot of these have now been removed and the site appears to have been merged with their patron submitted family trees.  These trees were always to be treated with caution as they contained lots of 'about' dates and were mainly done for the purpose of baptising their dead relatives.

[haddockinthekitchen]

Thanks - So what is the difference between the community and indexed collections?

[rosie99]

Thanks - So what is the difference between the community and indexed collections?

International Genealogical Index (IGI)
The International Genealogical Index was a family history database that listed several hundred million names of deceased persons from throughout the world.
Names in the IGI came from two sources.
Community Contributed IGI (Personal family information submitted to the LDS Church)
Community Indexed IGI (Vital and church records from the early 1500s to 1885)

[stanmapstone]

See https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/International_Genealogical_Index

Stan