Compiled records —comprised of information gathered, assembled, and with a bit of luck, indexed from other sources— are usually an enormous time saver in genealogical research. They allow us to benefit and build from the work already done by others and save us countless hours pouring through original records. Typical examples include family genealogies, county histories, tombstone transcriptions, the SSDI, and immigration records. The clues provided by compiled records can range from a single date we've been seeking to several generations of a family's history.

Because of their accessibility and ease of use, many people start out in genealogy with compiled records. This is a smart strategy as there's nothing more frustrating than doing weeks, months or even years of original research, only to learn that you've duplicated the effort made by someone else who already sifted through and compiled many of the same records as you. As with any form of research, it's best to explore secondary sources before moving on to original or primary sources.

As finding aids, compiled records help focus our research and provide leads to other sources, but it's important to remember that they are not the final word. While it's often tempting to take the new information found in a compiled record and enter it into our own family records or databases, such information should always be verified first by comparing it against primary sources. In fact, a good test of a compiled record is whether it includes source citations, and if so, how accurate a sampling of these citations is revealed to be after examining the original sources. In some cases, the compiler may have had a motive (such as "proving" a link to royalty) for slightly distorting the data, but even with the best of intentions, simple human error could result in some misleading information and ultimately, false conclusions. For more on using compiled records effectively, look at the Smart Strategies extra.

Increasingly, people are sharing compiled records via the Internet, in printed form, or both. Individuals and groups are going beyond their own families and sharing information pertaining to a particular place, ethnic group, surname, military event, or other specialized area of interest. These generous people save the rest of us from starting from scratch. The best way to thank such avid compilers is to mimic them and do the same for another group of records.