Monday 9 September 2013

Book ~ "Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques" (2013) George G. Morgan and Drew Smith

From Goodreads ~ A professional genealogist reveals how to get past brick walls in research and unearth hard-to-find ancestors.

"Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques" uses up-to-date and highly organized methods and techniques to show you how to find the elusive details to round out your genealogy research.  You'll get past the brick walls that have stumped you and see how to move beyond basic types of genealogy resources. 

This practical, in-depth guide provides the next level of detail for anyone who wants to expand beyond the beginner tactics and techniques.

I've been interested in genealogy for about 20 years and have been using Ancestry.ca for about three years ... so that's why this book caught my eye.  I've been finding it interesting to know where I come from.

The authors use the metaphor of a brick wall when you are digging for information.  Here are the chapters:
  1. Examine the brick wall in detail - reexamining in detail the evidence you already have discovered
  2. Use brute force - indexes, abstracts, extracts, etc.
  3. Go around the wall - looking at information pertaining to spouses, children, neighbours, etc.
  4. Talk to a friend - other genealogists
  5. Use crowd sourcing - forums, societies, etc.
  6. Apply technological solutions - DNA testing and genealogical software
  7. Hire a demolition expert - a professional researcher
  8. Rest up and attack the brick wall another time - read magazines, blogs, etc.
  9. Put the techniques to work

I liked the writing style.  I found it flowed well and was easy to understand.  I especially liked that there were detailed examples of how the authors got around the brick wall and found information about their ancestors ... digging through records, accounting for misspellings of last names, etc.

If you are into genealogy, I would recommend this book as a good reminder not to take the information you come across for granted.

I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.

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