The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy

You're no idiot, of course. You know your grandmother's maiden name and the story of how your great uncle decided to settle in Oklahoma. But when it comes fo digging up the rest of the facts and growing a family tree, you feel like you're looking at an impossible job. Stop trying to dig with your bare hands! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genalogy provides you with the tools you need, from tracking down family records to locating long-lost relatives. Feel confident about interviewing family members, organizing photos, visiting courthouses to find information, and more! In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

If you want to learn more about your family, now's the time to start. With the advent of the Internet, there's more information available than ever before, and it's easier to access now than in the good old days of musty libraries and records halls. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy by Rhonda McClure will have you wired and digging up dirt (or gold) in just an hour or two. Even the most ardent computer-hater will have to admit that the search is simpler, and McClure makes the case clearly. Her charming prose is well complemented by online images and hint boxes scattered liberally on each page. Specific sites are mentioned as well as general means of searching for family data, so even if one site disappears you can still get what you need. The book covers the basics of both gathering family data and online searches, so if you're not quite up to speed on one or the other, you can quickly figure it out. After you've browsed a bit and started collecting information, the later chapters help you to communicate with other researchers, mining government records, and even publishing your own results online. It's not hard to learn plenty about your family's history; whether you want to get in touch with your roots, glean medical information to improve your own health, or give your kids something to think about, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy is for you. --Rob Lightner