How-to Guides
How to Do Everything: Genealogy (Fourth Edition)
by George G. Morgan // Call number: T-R 929.1072 MOR
If you are looking for a one stop guide to teach you most of what you need to know about genealogy, look no further than George Morgan’s How to Do Everything: Genealogy. Living up to its title, this book includes tips on how to work with traditional, electronic, and genetic research, how to organize your genealogy for effectiveness, how to properly use social media and internet searching to maximize your results, the proper social etiquette when accessing libraries and archives, and much more. While the genealogy field (particularly the technological aspects) is expanding at an exponential rate, expect most of the tips in this book to be long standing, tried and true methods. The library also has a circulating copy in the general collection (see staff for details).
The Family Tree Irish Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Ancestors in Ireland
by Claire Santry // Call number: T-R 929.10720415
The Family Tree Irish Genealogy Guide provides a useful introduction to research for anyone who’s ancestors hailed form the Emerald Isle. Whether they were Irishman or Ulsterman, Catholic or Protestant, Green or Orange; you will find useful information and case studies to help you undertake your research. This guide provides insights to translating anglicized first and surnames (Ruadhán versus Rowan), understanding Irish history to contextualize their relation to Britain and the later American colonies, and keys to understanding the religious sectarianism that delineates north from south. It also provides clues and contact information for repositories in the old country to help you conduct primary research from afar. Not Irish or Ulster-Scots? The Tennessee Room also contains Family Tree genealogy guides for your Scottish, Italian, German, Polish, Czech and Slovak ancestors! These ethnic guides are useful for breaking down the genealogical brickwalls that inevitably arise when researching other nations.
The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy
by Val D. Greenwood // Call number: T-R 929.1072 GRE
Often lauded as THE go-to reference book on genealogy within the United States, there are few titles as jam packed with genealogical information as the Researcher's Guide. Within its 778 pages you will find information on understanding genealogical research, how to show standards of proof for genealogical societies (such as the Daughters of the American Revolution), how to maximize your time at archives and other repositories, how to correspond with municipal, state, and federal entities, the variety of records you can use to find your ancestors, and much more. This tome is not an easy read, but you would be hard pressed to find a more expansive or useful guide than this. The Johnson City Public Library also has a circulating copy in the general collection, perfect for travel (see staff for details).