Family and Local History Indexing Group

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Introduction
Scope	This page will give details of FLHIG Group projects which are designed to help genealogical indexers in their work either by reducing the need for duplication of effort or by promoting higher standards. Meanwhile those projects listed below were envisaged at the time of the formation of SIGG in 1993 or have evolved from projects started then and continued by SIGG over the decade of its existence. Many members of FLHIG are also engaged in one or more personal projects either individually or as part of a collaborative venture often with a genealogical or family history society. These are not described here.
Co-ordination	FLHIG is looking for a volunteer who would develop this important work. Would you like to help? Please contact us.

Subject headings project
Purpose	To provide a standard list of subject headings which can be used to facilitate the preparation of any index of genealogical books, family history journals or related material.
Background	Many specialist areas of study have a thesaurus devoted to that subject. The purpose of a specialist thesaurus is a to aid anyone in that field who is involved in the classification or indexing of information because suitable indexing terms, a hierarchy of terms, alternative and related terms have already been identified. The SIGG project was started by Gerry Allen who collected materials for a thesaurus. The project name was subsequently changed to List of Subject Headings for Indexes and Abstracts in Family History. Tony Rydings, Vivienne Dunstan and Margaret Shand have extended the work.
Potential users	People indexing books or periodicals on genealogy and family history
Status	Considerable progress has been made over the last few years and a draft list of headings now exists. Further details are provided in SIGGNL 25 in the article Genealogical Group Projects. The draft list of headings requires some extension and refinement before it can be published. The Group is still looking for someone to carry on this work. Ideally this should be someone with experience in library or information work who has knowledge of the subject area. Someone who has compiled an index on family or local history would be very suitable. Anyone who might be interested should make contact.

Standard place names project
Purpose	The main purpose of the Standard Place Names Project was to provide, as the title indicates, a standard and consistent way of referring to place names in Great Britain in order to ensure consistency whilst also providing a shortened code for each place in the manner of the Chapman codes for counties. This project was transferred from SIGG to the Federation of Family History Societies in 1996.

Dedications project
Purpose	The main purpose of the Dedications Project is to provide a shortened identification for each dedication, to be used in tables and lists of family records which include details of baptisms, marriages and burials. It is usual to show the place for these events, and it is often necessary to identify the church at which they occurred.
Background	As part of the work done by Dennis West on the Standard Place names Project (see above) he collected information on the dedications of churches. When the place name work was transferred to the FFHS the dedications aspect of the work was taken over by Tony Rydings.
Potential users	Anybody involved in local history or family history indexing who needs a standard list of church dedications with associated short codes.
Status	Tony Rydings extended Dennis West's original list for England to some 600 different dedications and added a further 70 for Wales. With help from Margaret Shand he identified another 140 dedications for Scotland. In addition some Irish dedications were provided by Sheila Scowcroft. Further information on this project has appeared regularly in SIGGNL. In particular two articles by Tony called: A Sample of the Dedications File and Dedications and Codes for Mary provide useful detail and are reproduced on this web site. FLHIG is still seeking an interested volunteer to complete and publish this project. Anyone who might be interested should make contact.

Other possible projects
Handbook of genealogical indexing	It was envisaged at the time when SIGG was formed that it would be useful to prepare a compendium of knowledge and practice on genealogical indexing into a single manual. By bringing SIGGNL articles together in one place, this web site itself is a move in that direction but no concrete steps have yet been taken to define or scope the handbook project.
List of genealogical indexing projects	It was also envisaged in SIGGNL 1 that it would be desirable to keep a record of current indexing projects and their leaders / co-ordinators. The reasons for this are multiple: reducing the risk of duplication opportunity for guidance and help to others similarly engaged spreading knowledge of what indexes are, or will become, available spreading good ideas for management and publication of projects The FLHIG Webmaster is prepared to develop this concept on our website and would welcome any suggestions of feedback from FLHIG members or others who read this page.



Updated 02 December 2004				Ç TOP