Genealogy Compilation in Practice · Updated 2026-09-22
Agree on the scope of the first version
For your first genealogy compilation, you can begin by completing three generations—your grandparents, parents, and yourself—without waiting for all research into more distant ancestors to be finished. Write down the editorial agreements on one page: which family members will be recorded, who will collect information, who will verify it, and which materials are for family use only. Defining the scope clearly makes the project easier to complete than collecting hundreds of names from the outset.
Create a people register, then a source directory
Assign each person a fixed ID, and retain the same ID even if their name changes or an alias is discovered. The people register should record each person's name, former names, relationship, birthplace, and information provider; the source directory should record the photo or genealogy-page ID, the holder of the original, the corresponding person, and the collection date. Example: Person P003's year of birth comes from Source D012. Do not write only a year with no source.
Build connections by relationship, not by matching surnames
Starting with yourself, ask about your parents, then separately ask about each parent's parents and siblings. When you encounter people with the same name, first compare their spouses, children, places of residence, and dates rather than merging them directly. Record stepparent, adoption, and marital relationships separately according to the actual circumstances confirmed by the family; leave the previous generation blank when it is uncertain.
Organize a family verification review
Send the people register to each family branch and confirm, item by item, name spellings, spousal relationships, and the identities of people in photographs. When two accounts differ, retain both statements in the providers' original words and add the issue to a list of questions requiring verification. Do not let the impressions of a majority override a record supported by an original document, and do not turn oral accounts directly into established historical facts.
Criteria for completing the first version
At a minimum, each person should have a unique ID, each relationship should indicate who confirmed it, each photograph should be linked to a person, and unresolved issues should be listed. Export a dated backup and have another family member keep it; update it according to the revision log in the future. The first version can be small, but it should enable anyone who takes over to understand where the materials came from.
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