Compiled Sources & Where to Find Them: Difference between revisions

This article contains references to many compiled sources. The term "compiled sources" refers to collections of user submitted family records, usually in the form of family trees but also including surname books, extracted records and other sources. These user submitted records may or may not be verified or contain original source references for the information submitted or collected. Collectively, these websites and other publications represent family history 'silos' containing billions of ancestral names with some already compiled data. The searches in these sources should supplement, but not replace, your genealogical researching in original record sources.  

Regardless of your experience as a family history researcher in using primary and original records, and no matter how many years of experience in researching family trees, this important checklist of compiled sources will help you more comprehensively search for data already submitted on your family lines. Family history seekers are guaranteed a pleasant surprise as they strike ‘gold’ by discovering already completed research on at least one or some in-common ancestral family lineages. This list helps you to more meticulously search in secondary or what genealogists call compiled or user submitted sources. It’s to help you identify, then search as many of today’s offerings for completed family genealogical (research) work which in today’s world has become a much more complex and unwieldy task than ever, from library and archival catalogs and published inventories of collections, to online databases, family websites and surname-specialty sources.  

So, how does one keep current on all the repositories, web sites, and other places holding "compiled (or survey) sources" in order to implement this fundamental step in the research process?