Indiana Genealogical Society Provides More Resources
The Tribune-Star reported that many family researchers join their local genealogical society perhaps unaware that there is also a larger society. The Indiana Genealogical Society is located in Fort Wayne and is available for anyone with an interest in Hoosier genealogy to join.
Indiana Genealogical Society (IGS) was formed in 1989. It strives to help preserve and publish materials relating to the people who settled the state. IGS has been at the forefront of efforts to make Indiana’s historical records more accessible to the public by indexing and digitizing records.
IGS sends out a FREE monthly email alert, titled Indiana News, which is full of both time-sensitive information as well as research tips.
Members of the Indiana Genealogical Society have access to their growing collection of databases. They currently have 2,317 databases, covering all 92 Indiana counties. IGS adds new databases every month.
According to The Tribune-Star, Indiana Genealogical Society’s objective is to protect the records that pertain to the settlers of Indiana and to make records more accessible to the public through indexing and digitizing efforts.
Joining the IGS is $30 for everyone – there are no special categories of membership. Members also receive two IGS publications by electronic delivery. These are the IGS Newsletter and the Indiana Genealogist: “The IGS Newsletter contains news items from across the state, while the Indiana Genealogist contains record abstracts and helpful articles relating to Indiana genealogy research.” Members have access to back issues of these publications, going back to 2009 and 2010.
Indiana Genealogical Society is involved in a project with FamilySearch (representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The project is titled: “Indiana Marriage Indexing Project (1811-2007)”. The aim of the project is to create a statewide marriage index that begins with each Indiana county’s earlier surviving records. Currently, teams are at work in several counties digitizing marriage records and court records. If you are interested in helping index Indiana Marriage Records please visit FamilySearch for more information. The process is being done by volunteers.
FamilySearch has a page filled with information about how to get involved by helping to index records. To get started, click a box on that FamilySearch website in order to see opportunities for indexing (and more). One option is to Review Names by checking for mistakes and correcting them. Another option is transcription, where people transcribe information from historical documents so other people can read them. There is also an opportunity to improve place-names by putting the names of geographic locations into the proper format.
Another IGS project is called “Once a Hoosier”. It is described by IGS as “Once a Hoosier…Always a Hoosier”. It is an ongoing project of the Indiana Genealogical Society to record information on ancestors who lived in Indiana at any point during their life or who were buried in the state of Indiana. The index on “Once a Hoosier” is searchable by surname or county.
Related Articles On FamilyTree.com:
Additional New Databases – Indiana
Wayne County Genealogical Society Finds New Home
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