After 3 years of the Online Genealogical Index, a blog is finally available!
The OGI has been growing in leaps and bounds and is fast approaching a total of 370,000 data sets. A data set can include a small list of graves, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of names and events.
The OGI is the largest index of family history data for England, Wales and now the Isle of Man online! It is also the most complete index of the International Genealogical Index (IGI) anywhere (more complete than the Hugh Wallis index and the Archer Software version). The OGI also includes direct links to record collections on FamilySearch where only digital folder numbers are shown (making the OGI the ONLY place online revealing the real content of those collections)
The plan is to add new entries every time an update is made.
News for this week is the unfortunate taking down of Rootsweb sites. Hopefully, this is a temporary thing while they sort out some security concerns for sites involving accounts.
The 6000+ Rootsweb links in the OGI will not work but the majority are duplications of other records online for the same places. I hope that the Rootsweb issue will be fixed very soon and all the links will work as usual. For now, I have decided to leave them on the site trusting that Ancestry (who own Rootsweb) will get their issues resolved quickly. Updated info can be seen here: http://home.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Plans for 2018:
- Add filtering to the search of OGI allowing the user to select the type of results they wish to see, such as Baptism, Marriage, Burial, or a combination.
- Continue adding IGI data sets where the current description is unknown (listed as "Details to be Added" on the Archer Software page: http://www.archersoftware.co.uk/igi/fs-eng.htm)
- Add links to new record collections on FamilySearch.org where the individual links are just shown as digital folder numbers.
- Send out regular newletters or reminder emails when major updates are made. These may include the highlighting of new tools/sites available for improving your research.
- Improve online marketing of the site (word of mouth has only done so much in 3 years)
Thank you for your interest and use of the site. I hope it has improved your family history research and allowed you to find elusive ancestors quickly!
Have a great 2018 and I look forward to sharing with you all the latest updates and improvements to the website.
All the photos used on the site are from my own family. The group of school children includes my grandfather, Charles Herbert Booker. The wedding photo is my grandparents on my father's side, Ernest Walter Manners and Emily Nancy Beadle. There is a photo of my uncle Raymond's christening on the Donate page.
The Online Genealogical Index is my life's work and I want it to be as useful and effective as possible. Please share your feedback, comments, suggestions and requests by emailing me at admin@ogindex.org.
Thank you for your patronage and to those who have kindly donated in keeping the OGI online and running smoothly. There are regular costs to keep the domain name and for the hosting company so any help is appreciated. I hope to serve the genealogical community for many years to come with a site which is simple to use and helpful in finding records for your own families.
Best wishes and kind regards,
Tim Manners
