Pat Allan, MANI Volunteer
Member no. 2513
What is MANI?
If you’re new to MGS, the MANI (Manitoba Name Index) is our online search tool, which gives members quick online access to a range of records of named individuals. The Index is an ongoing project that relies on volunteers to transcribe names from:
- cemetery headstones and indexing records;
- obituaries from both rural and Winnipeg newspapers;
- BMDs (births, marriages, deaths) from publications and newspapers;
- local history books, and more.
Become a member to access MANI >>
Latest updates
This month, we’re continuing to delete duplicates from the Winnipeg obituaries table, which has resulted in around 45,000 deletions so far. These duplicates refer to names such as maiden names being repeated in multiple columns, which is unnecessary for how the search engine works.
We have also made some updates to the cemeteries. The process includes photographing a headstone and noting row/plot locations before this information is later transcribed for MANI. As you can imagine, MGS is amassing a sizeable collection of gravestone photographs!
Additionally, volunteers are continuing to index books, which will then be processed and uploaded to the database. So far, 121 local history books have now been completed along with 22 other books and files!
Many of our volunteers can work from home because many local history books are available online from the University of Manitoba.
Call for volunteers
The Manitoba Genealogical Society is run completely by volunteers who want to support others’ family history research. The deletions, transcribing and photographing mentioned above could not happen without our supporters lending a hand.
So, if you would like to get involved, please contact us at volunteer@mbgenealogy.com or learn more about our opportunities here.