Genealogy Online by Elizabeth Crowe

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Been meaning to track down your family history? You probably know there’s an enormous amount of information available on the Internet. But how do you sort through it all? Where do you start? Try here. Genealogy Online, Seventh Edition guides you gently through the resources, the techniques, even the etiquette of online genealogy.

Elizabeth Powell Crowe shows how to begin a genealogical project, then ranges far and wide -- helping you choose software, use search engines effectively, and understand the privacy and ethical issues associated with genealogy. Especially helpful: her guide to the immense resources available through mailing lists, newsgroups, and genealogy database sites.

Next, Crowe turns to specific resources especially worth knowing about. You’ll learn which vital records are online at the Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Administration sites (both recently revamped); and at the Bureau of Land Management (a great source for original land grants, if your ancestors went west in the 1800s).

There’s a full chapter on the incredible online resources available through the Mormon church; plus a guided tour of Ellis Island Online (where you can search original passenger manifests to find your ancestors who emigrated by ship).

Once you get back to the boat, Crowe helps you track down international genealogy resources for “the old country” (whether that be Europe, the Caribbean, Creole/Cajun, even Gypsy or Irish Traveler). She also provides solid information and guidance on genealogical research for African Americans, including how to find information dating back to the era of slavery, and just afterwards. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

From the Publisher

Tracing your family history is now easier than ever with this completely revised and updated edition of Genealogy Online. Whether you are new or experienced at genealogical resources, this book gives you all the tools, techniques, and advice to quickly and effortlessly sort through all the information available on the Internet.. "In addition, you'll find a treasure trove of addresses for the best genealogy chat rooms available, where you can engage in live, online discussions with genealogists from around the world.

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Library Journal

Much has changed in the world of electronic genealogy since the last edition of Crowe's guide to genealogy in 2001, and this new edition aptly reflects that change. While still addressing the basics of beginning a genealogical project, selecting software, and connecting to the Internet, the book now includes robust discussions of online etiquette, spam and scams, and privacy and copyright. Readers will also find an informative chapter on genealogy education programs and courses, both online and offline. And since communicating with relatives and fellow genealogists is one of the driving forces behind the sea of researchers online, Crowe provides instructions for using chat, mailing lists, electronic newsletters, and newsgroups. The author then turns to the meat of the book, actual online resources, by highlighting major sites like the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, FamilySearch, Rootsweb, and MyFamily.com. She also devotes a very enlightening chapter to Ellis Island Online, the electronic database of people entering the United States through the port of New York from 1892 through 1924. Crowe speaks to the benefits of accessing online library catalogs from home-an extremely useful tool when preparing for a research trip-and the chapter titled "Around the Web in 80 (or so) Sites" lists web sites worth noting. The National Genealogical Society's Genealogical Standards, a description of the forms of electronic genealogical data, a glossary of online-related terms, and a list of emoticons conclude the book. With its updated information, current topic discussions, and concise instructions for online searching, Crowe's book remains an important how-to manual for genealogists. Recommended for both public and genealogical libraries.-Elaine M. Kuhn, Allen Cty. P.L., Ft. Wayne, IN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

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Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 4: Usenet

Usenet isn't an organization per se, nor is it in any one place. Lots of machines carry the messages, receiving them and sending them on down the line. In the end, your Usenet feed comes from your Internet service provider.

Note
Throughout this chapter you'll find references to mailing lists and Web sites; an example of just how interconnected genealogy resources on the Internet can be. Stay tuned. In later chapters, you'll learn everything you need to know about mail lists and Web sites to make your research efforts that much easier.

Like so many things concerning the online world, Usenet has its own Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file. It is updated about once a month, and thereafter posted to the newsgroups news. announce. newusers, news.admin.misc, and news.answers, as well as the Web site http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ (see Figure 4-1). Much of what those sites say is contained in this chapter, but reading them won't hurt!

Complicated, but Useful

One reason for the confusion is that Usenet is a part of the Internet, and for some people it's the only part they use. Yet it isn't the whole Internet, any more than Boston constitutes all of Massachusetts.

Usenet's Structure

A "moderated" newsgroup has a referee, who decides what messages get to go on that newsgroup. An "unmoderated" one (the most popular kind) isn't edited in any way, except that you'll get flamed (insulted) if you post a message off the proper topic.

There are eight major categories of newsgroups:

• COMP for computer-science-related topics
• HUMANITIES for the discussion of philosophy and the classics
• MISC for miscellaneous items
• NEWS for topics about Usenet itself
• REC for recreation, hobbies, and interests
• SCI for science not related to computers
• SOC for social interaction and hobbies. Most genealogy topics are in SOC
• TALK for general conversation

No person or group has control of Usenet as a whole. No one person authorizes who gets news feeds, which articles are propagated where, who can post articles, or anything else. These things are handled one newsgroup at a time. You won't find a Usenet Incorporated or even a Usenet User's Group. This means that, although the freedoms of expression and association are almost absolute, Usenet is not a democracy. It's anarchy, to put it frankly, something with little or no control placed on it except that exerted by the social pressures of those participating.

Therefore, sometimes Usenet is not fair-in part because it's hard to get everyone to agree to what is fair, and in part, because it's hard to stop people from proving themselves foolish....