Read

One of the insights I happened upon while in college was that if a person reads five good sound books on the same specific topic, that person is an expert on that topic. Later on, a co-worker and I joked, while working over a weekend to get multiple computer systems connected, that we were the world's experts on this one --- because we knew more than anybody else. Well, there you have two definitions of expert. English is a wonderful language because our words almost always have more than one definition. In this case the two definitions do not collide. They intersect with reading. You should have seen the stack of IBM manuals Jerry and I had laying open beside the terminal.

More recently I have learned that it takes more than reading five books to be a decent genealogist. Of course there's the doing. Hands-on experience is the most excellent teacher, especially when coupled with reading good sound books. The "good sound" part I think will always be true.

In my efforts, three broad categories of books come into play: genealogy, history and local history.

For the most part, the genealogy books are of the how-to variety, but they can be philosophical, and, for me, they need to be inspirational. Those with case studies are especially readable as they seem to satisfy at several levels. A good how-to book can be read from cover to cover and also be a reference book later.

As anyone well grounded in written history knows, it can range from a very wide scope to extremely narrow. Across that spectrum, if one is reading about the times, places and events of their ancestors, any kind of history at all may be appropriate. Though I doubt I will ever be reading about Tutankhamen's era for genealogical reasons. On the other hand I also doubt that I will find the names of too many of my ancestors in the indices of history books.

History also tends to be either narrative or analytical where the narrative form has been in place for centuries and the analytical, a more scientific approach, is clearly of quite recent vintage. As is usually the case, both have there place. Also consider, definitive texts are generally recently published, so for the latest thought on a given topic, even if narrative is more fun, an analytical work may be an essential read.

In a local history is exactly where one wants to find their surnames listed in the index. Such a book will have a limited printing and it may well be another kind of challenge to obtain a copy. To me local history includes published genealogies, municipality and county centennial books, and the "mug" books of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Online Places to Find Genealogy Books

Amazon.com is an excellent site where new and out-of-print volumes may be found. It also provides two great ways to check out resources before you read or buy them: customer ratings and reviews.

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Another great resource for genealogists is AbeBooks. AbeBooks is an online marketplace for new, used, rare, out-of-print books and textbooks. It has over 100 million books listed by over 13,500 independent booksellers in 57 countries.

Here's one you may not know about called WorldCat.

Its roots are in a set of tools that have been used by libraries around the world for many years. OCLC, currently the Online Computer Library Center, formerly called the Ohio College Library Center, runs the WorldCat site. OCLC is a non-profit headquartered in Dublin, Ohio and has been a kind of Grand Central Station for libraries' card catalogs --- which of course used to be on paper and could take up many drawers. Card catalogs have gone the way of eight track tapes, cassette tapes, LP albums, beta and VHS videos, and so on.

I digress. WorldCat is a public access point - through the web - to the Center's 95 million records representing 1 billion library holdings. Type a title, subject or person in the search box to find books, music, videos, articles, etc. You will be presented with a list of hits. Select an item to get details. Tell WorldCat your zip code and it will display where that item is starting with the closest library and the distance!