Genealogy Software Books

While reading "A Needle in the Right Hand of God" I got frustrated by the size of the plates and the lack of clear references to the various scenes. Then, I bought this...Voila! This incredible piece of work is so illuminating, amazing in its details and versatility. It is filled with surprises and knowledge. I thought it was a bit pricey, but now I would have paid even more for it!

Being a Hood (and a student of Dr. Foys), I found this CD to be extremely informational and easy to use for background information regarding assignments. Pop the CD and you're on your way towards a whole bank of knowledge.

This CD proves to be handy to the novice who wishes to know more about the Bayeux Tapestry or the time period, to professors and students alike. One piece of advice: TAKE IT SLOW--regardless of your level of knowledge. This CD is filled with information, as well as detailed maps, photographs and clips.

I recommend this CD to all people alike interested in this particular field.

This amazing CD offers not only incredible visual detail of the tapestry, but also a treasure of historical, literary and topographical information related to the battle. A panoramic photograph of the battle site and an interactive map are just two examples of the many wonderful features of this CD. Anyone interested in the Middle Ages, the tapestry, the battle, or the era of the Norman Conquest must own this invaluable resource. (I have very little savvy when it comes to computers; but I had no trouble at all running this on Windows--very user friendly.)

This CD-ROM edition of the Bayeux Tapestry is a great program for students, teachers or people just interested in learning about this famous piece of history. An amazing amount of detail is included, from a basic introduction, to scholarly arguments about how to interpret a single inscription or figure in the border. The videos and colour maps are helpful, as is the ability to search through the entire program by keyword. As a Mac user, I was also grateful to find that it runs on both PCs and Macs.

I've been using Family Tree Maker for years, and haven't really ever tried using the book making feature. Now that the older generation is passing away, I decided it's time to make a book for the younger members in my family.

This book is helpful and easy to use and walks you through all of the important steps of making your genealogy book. I plan on making books for all three of the lines I have found. Good stuff!

What a great resource this book is for anyone who's using (or considering using) Family Tree Maker. The instructions are clear and precise, and the author's suggestions for making the software package easier to use are both helpful and illuminating. Thanks to this book, I'm exploring dozens and dozens of things I never knew the software could do. Easily a must-have.

immigrants to new england 1620-1633 has plenty of information & more that is related to my own research. will purchase next immigrants disk.

Searchable by any keyword including date and name, this CD-ROM version of the 3-volume "The Great Migration Begins" is extremely convenient for genealogists to use. It contains information on over 900 early New England families and represents the first phase of the Great Migration Study Project - an effort to identify all those Europeans who settled in New England before 1633.

Public record but was easier and quicker to order. Arrived very soon after ordered.

Contains 15 genealogy resources on CD-ROM:

* The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy * The Library: A Guide to the LDS Family History Library * The Library of Congress: A Guide to Genealogical & Historical Research * Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County, & Town Sources * The Archives: A Guide to the National Archives Field Branches * US Military Records: A Guide to Federal & State Sources * Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives * The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans * Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the 19th Century * Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army * Biographical Directory of the American Congress: 1774-1949 * Daughters of America, or Women of the Century * The Biographical Cyclopaedia of American Women * Plymouth Colony: Its History and People 1620-1691 * American Biographical Notes

An excellent buy, easily accessed on my pc and consequently saved me hours of travelling time to local reference libraries. Traced ancestors whom I never knew existed and of course their details.

I had Family Tree Maker 6.0 software and just upgraded to 8.0. I bought the Family Tree Maker 8.0 Basic kit for my sister. Ok, before I mailed off her Christmas present I took a look at this book, which was included as part of the Basic kit.

I ended up reading it cover to cover before I packed it up and mailed it off to my sister! Very easy to understand. This is a great reference book to go back to time after time to figure out how to do some of the tricky stuff like referencing sources, putting your Family tree on a WEB site etc.

Some things in FTM software you learn to do and do so often you have it memorized. But, there are lots of things that you only need to do occasionally and it takes two or three hours of playing with the program to remember how you did it last time. This book is great to look up how to do a particular task. The instructions show examples that are easy to follow and understand.

I liked it enough to decide that I need to go out and buy my own copy. I would recommend it to anyone who is upgrading to the 8.0 version. If you are just thinking about buying the FTM software for the first time I would recommend you buy the FTM Software 8.0 Basic kit which includes this book and also an instructional video.

All genealogy researchers using Family Tree Maker will definately benefit from using Prima's Official Companion to Family Tree Maker Version 7. It contains precise how-to's that are easily understood by those new to their research or those wishing to brush up on skills. The helpful tips can save you from many frustrated dead-ends. It is written in easily understood terminology with consice directions to guide you on your quest for finding, detailing, and reporting on ancestors. A must have addition to the manual included with your original purchase.

This book is very helpful and easy to understand and use. I recommend it to anyone.Family Tree Maker for Dummies

I needed this because I am just starting out. Great for reference and LOTS of tips and examples. Get it.

This is an excellent read, and the book arrived in just a couple of days.

Done very well. Even I understood it. Could be a lot more concise.

Out of date and does not match the program I bought it with. The program was the newest version and the book was way out of sinc. Waste of money.

Pros: Covers lots of topics and is a very valuable source for beginners with great, well written, summaries of many skills and sources needed for doing family history
Cons:

No real cons. I was a bit surprised, however, not to read more about the incredible land patent database of the former General Land Office offered through the Bureau of Land Management's Eastern State Office. There is no mention that people can actually download from the office's site copies of early land patents of ancestors after discovering how and where they received federal land. Yet, this only points out that one book, though great, cannot cover everything.

I was interested to review this book since I do a lot of genealogical research and wanted to see what more I could learn. I wasn't disappointed. There's plenty to be discovered through the great information supplied by this fine book. Though one of the "For Dummies" series for beginners, there is much here for people who aren't dummies but are advanced in their genealogical studies. The authors have their own website, "Helm's Genealogy Toolbox" at www.geneaologytoobox.com, and that is featured as well as other web sites and links.
The book also contains a CD with three items: 1) a trial version of "Family Tree Maker," a popular genealogy database, 2) an evaluation copy of "Homesite 5.5," a popular HTML editor, and 3) a gazetteer designed for genealogists,"World Place Finder." This CD runs on Mac OS system software 7.55 or later, which is useful if you haven't yet stepped up to OS X.
This book is indeed a fine source for all genealogists, covering not only what can be found on the web (an incredible amount), but also great tips for basic "how to do" skills. There is even information in one of three appendixes for the real beginner without many computer skills, such as getting set up with a service provider. The other appendixes include terms and more information on using the CD.
As to its organization, the book begins with the needed first steps about recording easily available information needed to "ground" what you later discover. Progressively you also learn about preserving notes and photos, organizing your records, and many other valuable tips to get started. Later chapters (a total of 16 in the book) continue with planning genealogical research trips and strategies, plus lots of great information about the almost countless sources that have developed on the Web to aid family history buffs. This includes some information even on foreign sources and archives.
The book also covers the increasing availability of various source records, such as census and vital statistics posted on the Web, plus the value of using comprehensive genealogical indexes, surname forums, and the incredible national GenWeb project which coordinates state and county records. And that's only a sample of what this useful book covers! The helpful index allows you to easy find the variety of specific topics in this great "how-to" book,.
Overall, its easy-to-follow style, like other "for Dummies" books, makes this a real winner for both the beginner and advanced genealogist. It is well worth the price.

This book is for the beginner genealogist. It tells you how to plan your research and what kind of computer equipment to have. It takes you step by step in certain websites. It is extremely boring, even for a genealogy book. I was hoping for more info on what is contained in individual websites, where to find certain types of documents and explantions of software available to the genealogist. It is great if you don't have a clue but if you can navigate the internet on your own, you don't need this book. I will use it occasionally but The Genealogy Sourcebook and The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy are much more in depth.

This is a very helpful book. I have been doing genealogy research for years, and found all of the tips I would give someone who has just started research within its pages. I also found things that I hadn't previously thought of that I was able to use and I accomplished a lot. This is a perfect handbook for those who are interested in using the internet to further their research.

I've been researching my genealogy on the web for about a year now, and I'd already found everything included in this book. If you're a basic web surfer, and can use a search engine, don't bother with this book. I also found that it was very difficult to reference, and jumbled together both the excellent resource sites, as well as the ones that are pretty much useless. Spend your money on "The Source" it will be worth the extra investment.

Genealogy Online for Dummies is a handy how-to, where-to, what-to, who-to, and why-to book. Matthew L. Helm, one of the authors, is executive vice president and chief technology officer of FamilyToolbox.net, Inc. With a bachelor's degree in history and a master's in library and information science, he created and he maintains the Helm's various genealogy websites. April Leigh Helm, the other author, is the company president. She has degrees in journalism and higher education administration. They are no dummies, and anyone who reads this book will be no dummy about genealogy online.

The book has 16 chapters organized in five major sections, also three appendices, an index, a genealogy Internet directory, and a tear-out "cheat sheet." The text covers in part one doing the groundwork, in part two focusing the online research effort, in part three expanding research online, and in part four using the computer and web to organize and share information. In summary, part five lists ten handy databases, ten things to remember when designing your genealogical website, ten sites that offer help, and ten tips for "smooth sailing."

Throughout the text are addresses of useful websites, research tips, definitions of genealogical terms, step-by-step instructions, and warnings. Examples of warnings are "don't violate any copyright laws by sending large portions of written works through email" (p. 215), and don't post on your website "any information that could land you in the doghouse with any of your relatives - close or distant" (p. 246). The text features sidebar discussions of issues like copyright (p. 250) and privacy (p. 248), and even a "mandatory lecture on privacy" (234). But the tone and message are generally positive: You can do genealogy online. The text explains not only the software, the search engines, the online resources (websites), but also the hardware appropriate for different tasks, and the basics of HyperText Markup Language (html) needed to create a website.

One appendix provides the basics of going online, for anyone not already connected to the Internet. A second appendix defines genealogical terms. The third appendix provides a long list of software available on the CD inserted in the back of the book, mostly demo software for Windows; but the CD itself contains only the demonstration software for Reunion 8, and a very useful list of genealogy-related urls. The index is detailed. At the center of the book is a 30-page genealogy Internet directory, organized into clear categories and fully annotated. The cheat sheet provides instructions for using the Helm's Genealogy Toolbox at www.genealogytoolbox.com/, as well as the addresses for 14 websites.

The final chapter's "ten tips for genealogical smooth sailing" take the reader back to the big picture: (1) start with what you know, (2) get organized, (3) always get proof, (4) always cite your sources, (5) focus, focus, focus; (6) share your information, (7) join a society or research group, (8) attend a conference or workshop, (9) attend a family reunion, and (10) don't give up. Before the reader gets here, the text has provided clear, detailed guidelines for thoroughly researching, organizing, and presenting genealogical information.

The organization and layout of this 332-page book are great. I found it easy to locate specific information, and I found the information clear enough for the beginner and yet substantive enough for the advanced genealogist. The graphics clearly illustrate the text, and the text is easy to read. The occasional 5th Wave cartoons are appropriate and humorous. I am adding this manual to my desktop reference collection of books that I want within arms reach.