Genealogy Lesson 20 - Genealogical Reading List

In this Halloween-edition lesson, I thought I would give you some future direction, a bit of homework if you will, a treat more-than a trick!  People often ask about my favorite books. I have to admit that I am not a big reader but I do try to stay up-to-date with my genealogy education. I thought I would throw out a small list of books that I recommend when it comes to family history research.

I would suggest these books for both new and experienced genealogy hobbyists. You can click on the link for each book and it will bring up their listing at Amazon.com. There you can see reviews that others have made about the book and you can even get a copy if you are so inclined. Keep in mind that you can probably get most of these at your local library. If they do not have one at your library, you can always get it on ILL from another facility.

(The books are in no particular order).

1. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, Third Edition
2. Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian
3. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace
4. The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual
5. More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems
6. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
7. Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929
8. More Dating Old Photographs

If you cannot tell, I am fond of the Family Chronicle-produced books/booklets. They have the best photo-dating books around. They seem to contain mostly Canadian photos but the US and Canadian styles apparently did not vary too much.

The Greenwood book is a masterpiece when it comes to learning about American genealogy. If you have a friend or relative that wants to get into genealogy, this book would be a great gift. They will thank you for it later!

The first book listed here - "Evidence" - by Elizabeth Shown Mills is probably the best genealogy book ever written. It mostly lays out how to document your sources but it has become a staple in the genealogy world. Every genealogist should have a copy.

The last one I want to comment on is the "BCG Standards manual". This is the guidebook for getting certified as a genealogist by the Board for the Certification of Genealogists. Even if you are not interested in getting certified, it is a great book to have. It can answer a lot of style and format questions you may have about genealogy reports.

Genealogy Lesson 7 - Citing your Sources

By now you have realized that I am not exactly holding your hand and taking you step-by-step into genealogy.  I assume that you have at least some basic knowledge of what to do.  My objective is to get your research off to a sound start.  I want you to be thorough in what you do, focus on quality versus quantity and above all...cite your sources.

 

Citing your sources is the most tedious part of genealogy but it can be the most rewarding.  I will give you a real-life example of how citing sources can get you out of a bind...

 

I run the manufacturing center for a local robotics company.  We are putting out a new product line that currently takes over one hundred man hours to produce.  That is an astronomical amount of time, but it is what it is.  I keep meticulous records and can prove how long it took each worker to build each part of the finished unit. 

 

This afternoon a co-worker tried to call me out on how long it really takes to build a unit.  He made the statement that he could "build the same robot, with no experience, in less than fifty hours"...and said this in front of my boss!  I immediately pulled out a spreadsheet documenting all of the build times, along with the corresponding work tickets, and he immediately looked like an idiot.  He shut his mouth and went back to work.

 

I was not shaken by his comment in the least.  I had the documented proof and all he had was conjecture.  In the end, no one likes that a unit takes one hundred hours to build.  However, like I stated before, it is what it is.  I have the proof in black and white and no one can argue with that.

 

Now let's translate this example into genealogy terms.  If you find a fact, be it a birth date, marriage location or mother's maiden name, write down the exact place that you found it.  In short, if you cannot reproduce your results...they are worthless.  You have to keep track of everything that you locate.  This is where programs like Family Tree Maker come in handy.  This type of database program allows you to easily track your sources (and defend them later if needed).

 

Let me also clarify this...you do not need to photocopy everything!!!  I see people at the archives paying a dollar to photocopy the title page on a reel of microfilm.  It is totally acceptable to write the information on the copy of the document and not actually copy the title page.  Save yourself the money!  As long as you can reproduce the search, that is all you need. 

 

Write down the title, author, reel number...whatever...just enough so you could go back later and find the document again...just in case someone challenges your research in the future. 

 

As long as you can prove where you got your information, you will do a great job in this hobby.  If not, you come across as  unreliable when someone questions "where did you get great-great-grandma's date of birth?" and all you can come up with is "I do not remember."  With that in mind, I would strongly suggest that you get a copy of Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  It is the premier resource on source citation for genealogical purposes.  I should also mention that Ms. Mills has more recently put out a second version of the book, Evidence Explained:Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace 2nd Edition.

 

One other quick tip before I wrap up....always cite your sources on the front of a photocopy, not the back.  If you make a photocopy of that copy for someone else later on, you will save time and money by only needing to copy the fronts!

Genealogy Books - My Favorites

(This is an actual picture I just took of my desk and some of the books that I own).

People often ask about my favorite books. I have to admit that I am not a big reader but I do try to stay up-to-date with my genealogy education. I thought I would throw out a small list of books that I recommend when it comes to family history research. I am not going to point out books for individual counties or cities - I might start doing that in others posts in the near future. For now, I am going to point out a few items that have taught me a thing or two.

I would suggest these books for both new and experienced genealogy hobbyists. You can click on the link for each book and it will bring up their listing at Amazon.com. There you can see reviews that others have made about the book and you can even get a copy if you are so inclined. Keep in mind that you can probably get most of these at your local library. If they do not have one at your library, you can always get it on ILL from another facility.

(The books in my list are in no particular order).

1. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, Third Edition
2. Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian
3. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace
4. The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual
5. More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems
6. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
7. Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929
8. More Dating Old Photographs

If you cannot tell, I am fond of the Family Chronicle-produced books/booklets. They have the best photo-dating books around. They seem to contain mostly Canadian photos but the US and Canadian styles apparently did not vary too much.

The Greenwood book is a masterpiece when it comes to learning about American genealogy. If you have a friend or relative that wants to get into genealogy, this book would be a great gift. They will thank you for it later!

The first book listed here - Evidence - by Elizabeth Shown Mills is probably the best genealogy book ever written. It mostly lays out how to document your sources but it has become a staple in the genealogy world. Every genealogist should have a copy.

The last one I want to comment on is the BCG Standards manual. This is the guidebook for getting certified as a genealogist by the Board for the Certification of Genealogists. Even if you are not interested in getting certified, it is a great book to have. It can answer a lot of style and format questions you may have about genealogy reports.

If you want to suggest some books for myself and our readers, add them to the comments section under this post.

______

I got the following not from a reader:

I would add Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: a Cultural History) by David Hackett Fisher to the book list. And if you haven't read it, run right out and get a copy. It's what I call a "dip & sip"... read the parts you need, it's to much for cover-to-cover. Connie Moretti, in CA

Family Tree Maker 2009 Platinum, Deluxe & Essentials plus Ancestry.com

I finally remembered what I wanted to write about yesterday...Family Tree Maker 2009. I was in Staples the other day and noticed that they had Family Tree Maker 2009 for sale. As a matter of fact, it was on sale. I do not remember the specifics but I think it was like $30 off or something for the Platinum edition.

The thing that caught my eye was the free, 6-month membership to Ancestry.com. In my book, that makes it a pretty good deal, especially with the rebate/discount that the store offered. Again, do not quote me on the exact price, but I think it was about $60 for the program and the six-month membership...a pretty good value after the money off.

I started checking around online and found that there are at least three versions of FTM 2009. They are Platinum, Deluxe and Essentials. There are several difference between the three packages and I will go ahead and list them below. I am taking this part from the product descriptions at Amazon.com:

• Platinum - Includes a six-month subscription to Ancestry.com, interactive training tutorial, The Family Tree Maker Little Book of Answers, a 25% off coupon for Ancestry DNA and a 15% discount on a professionally printed family history book or poster
• Deluxe - Includes three-month subscription to Ancestry.com, interactive training tutorial, The Family Tree Maker Little Book of Answers, a 25% off coupon for Ancestry DNA and a 10% discount on a professionally printed family history book or poster
• Essentials - Includes one-month subscription to Ancestry.com, interactive training tutorial and The Family Tree Maker Little Book of Answers

That seems like a pretty sweet deal in the long run. Family Tree Maker 2009 is sorta pointless if you do not have a membership to Ancestry.com in my view. Maybe that is a bit of an overstatement. You can use FTM 2009 without an Ancestry membership but you would loose a lot of the bells and whistles. It would be like driving a convertible that you could not put the top down.

If you were thinking about buying FTM 2009, now seems to be a good time. I would try going to Staples first and checking to see if the still have the rebate. If not, click the link below and buy it from the Ancestry Store.

Get paid for your genealogy research? (part II)

Google is not the only form of advertising revenue. You can pitch products or sign up as an affiliate with Amazon or eBay but you have to get a lot of traffic to your site to make any money. You do not get paid for viewers clicking on their ads; people actually have to buy something for you to get commission. You might get one commission off of a thousand clicks on their ad. In short, you might as well forget it. Genealogy is not that popular in the big picture and it is losing momentum as a hobby. Fewer people search for genealogy sites each month - check the Google trends if you do not believe me.

The biggest problem with a genealogy web site is that genealogy hobbyists hate advertising! People think that all genealogy should be free for everyone and that making money off genealogy is evil! Rootsweb is in turmoil right now because Ancestry is adding their banners to all sites hosted on Rootsweb. Forget that Ancestry has given them free server space for years; Ancestry is now evil for wanting a little something in return. People focus too much on keeping genealogy “free.” If no one got paid for their work, there would be no genealogy books, microfilm or records. Even the county clerk gets paid to record the deeds and wills.

I am getting a little off track here but look at the big picture. Even if you get $100 per hour or $5.00 per click, you have to pay taxes and insurance. By the time you pay Uncle Sam and Blue Cross, what will you have left to eat? What about gas? How are you going to pay for $5.00 per gallon gasoline when you are driving to and from all of those courthouses and libraries? Don't forget about the kids needing braces, your adjustable rate mortgage, your car note and that momma needs a new pair of shoes.

Anyway you slice it, unless you are the CEO of the Generations Network or you invented DNA testing for genealogy purposes, you are probably out of luck. If anyone knows how to make money in genealogy, please let me know. I have been trying for years and just cannot figure it out. I love this hobby and would like to do it fulltime. I doubt I will quit my day job anytime soon, unless you can give me the answer. I am waiting for your response…