Middlesex not only has the vital records from most towns on film, but they also have films of the majority of land records in the state, some probate records, etc. It is a good place to begin research because of its centralized archives. The negative side is that it is only as accurate as the hand-transcribed records it was given by towns many years ago. On a recent trip in Vermont I found several 'vital' records that were transcribed in the early 1900's from cemtery stones- there were significant inaccuracies that I confirmed by going to the cemetery and checking the stones. The most glaring error, for example, was the death of a woman who was listed as the wife of her father instead of being listed as his daughter. I had already viewed the 'vital' record both in Middlesex and in the town in which the event occured - I would never have discovered of this error and others without checking the cemetery. Another problem that I've run into in some towns is that many years ago some towns' records were starting to get in such poor condition that a town clerk transcribed the records to another book. These books sometimes may look 'old' and 'original' and could be mistaken for the original records. I have found errors in such books. For example, a recent book was published containing "all" the vital records for one New Hampshire town. Unfortunately the author of the book did not know that the local town clerk's office did not have all the original records. The office had a set of records transcribed in the late 1800's. A previous town clerk still had some of the orignal town vital records in her hom, and in some instances- my family, for example- the records were not the same; names and dates were not transcribed correctly- mainly due to the difficulty in deciphering the old penmanship.