Mormon Genealogy
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) has probably had the single greatest influence on the growth of genealogy and family history as an amateur activity. They have their own special reasons connected with proxy baptism for ancestors, but they have made their staggeringly large databases open to the public through their Family History Centres, the central library at Salt Lake City , Utah and the FamilySearch website. Family History Centres are located in towns throughout the country and anyone can use them. LDS members have contributed a large part of the International Genealogical Index (IGI), a major surname index of parish records, accessible online as well as at Family History Centres.
FamilySearch.com is the website of the Mormons. Although biased to the needs of church members, the site offers lots of helpful information on tracing your ancestors, which you can use as you wish. In fact you may at first find the site too big and detailed, as it serves very dedicated researchers as well as church members and the general public.
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
FamilySearch's very large searchable databases include the International Genealogical Index (IGI) which includes basic information on baptisms and marriages largely drawn from parish registers. This is an index so should not be treated as a primary or even secondary source. It lets you know whether the record you are searching is included in the database and if so its primary source and reference.
The index is far from complete and at the same time there is lots of duplication. A 'person' may appear dozens of times because of tiny variances in the content of the record fields.
At the same time there are doubts about the authenticity of many of the early submissions of church members, and even more so about entries from the wider public. However, because of its sheer size, it is an obvious early port of call as an index.
