Select Records to Search

Previous page

Step 3: Select records to search.

Selecting a record to search is the most complex part of the research process. You will need to—


 * Identify a category of sources.
 * Choose a record type.
 * Select specific records.
 * Describe the record on a research log.

This is called a record selection strategy—an orderly approach for identifying the records most helpful for your research objective.

At the end of this step you will have a research log with descriptions of records you will search to meet your objective.

= Identify a Category of Sources =

There is no substitute for learning about records in order to select the best records to search. The more you understand about the records used for genealogical research, the more effectively you will be able to select and use them. The first step to understanding the records used in research is to learn the genealogical classification of records You can then use that classification to help you select appropriate records. You cannot select an appropriate records unless your objective is clearly defined.

You cannot select an appropriate record unless your objective is clearly defined.

Genealogical sources can be grouped into two divisions, each with two categories. The following chart illustrates the relationship of these four categories. Review your objective. If you have a genealogical objective you will be selecting genealogical records. For reference objectives, you will want to select reference tools. When you know which kind of source you want, the following guidelines will help you choose from these categories of records: (1) compiled records, (2) original records, (3) background information, or (4) finding aids.

Genealogical Records
Genealogical records proved vital and biographical information on individuals and families (see Types of Genealogical Information). This includes information about— Vital events. This information goes on your family group records and pedigree charts:


 * Names and relationships
 * Gender
 * Births, marriages, and deaths

Other events, such as:


 * Military service
 * Buying and selling land
 * Paying taxes
 * Migrating from one place to another

Personal characteristics:


 * Age, physical appearance
 * Philosophy of life
 * Social and economic status, etc.

Latter-day Saint Ordinances Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will also want to learn if temple ordinances have been performed for their ancestors.

The two categories of genealogical records are: (1) compiled records, and (2) original records.

Compiled Records
Compiled records are collections of information about a person, group or family. Researchers and authors gathered information from original and other compiled records. Therefore, compiled records represent one or more researcher’s opinion of what the records say about an individual or family. A published family history, for example, is often compiled from vital records, census records, family papers, and local histories. Whenever you begin research on a new family, search compiled records before original records. This will help you learn what has already been researched.

Compiled records are arranged in two groups:

International sources may include persons and families from anywhere in the world. They include two record types, collections (including databases such as Ancestral File) and family histories.

Local sources are compiled records of persons or families of a specific place. The various record types include history, periodicals, genealogy, biography, societies, nobility, and heraldic visitations.

Compiled records can—


 * Save research time. Someone may already have extracted, compiled, indexed, or documented information you seek.
 * Provide family links not easily found in original documents.
 * Give you the names of others researching your family to help you share information and coordinate your work.
 * Provide family history information.

Caution: Information in compiled records is considered secondary (not recorded near the time of the event.) The information is only as accurate as its researcher. Carefully evaluate the information or verify it by sample testing.

Original Records
Original records provide information about events in a person’s life. This includes birth, marriage, immigration, military service, land purchases, and death. Most also document relationships. These records were usually created near the time such an event took place. Based on the information in them, they can be grouped as—

Vital events. Records of births, christenings, marriages, divorce, death and burial, created by families, governments, churches, or other institutions.

Residency. Records that show where people lived.

Helpful Guessing Skills
To find useful source documents, a researcher needs to be good at guessing information needed to find documents. Each of the following involves being able to guess some additional information based on what is already shown on a family group record:


 * Guessing a Name Variation for every name on that family group.
 * Guessing a Place for every event on that family group.
 * Guessing a Date for every event on that family group.
 * Guessing a Record Type to Use for finding information about any person’s event on that group record.

Next page