Lesson 8 Articles

Google Books and Your Family Tree

Google Books can be an amazing resource for beginning genealogists. Whether you are looking for information specific to your family tree, something related to a current research interest like military records or general information on genealogy; Google Books is a good place to start.

 

 

 

To Find Google Books:

• Go to Google.com and hit the little arrow at the top of the toolbar next to “more”
• In the drop down menu click on “Books”

You should now be on the Google Books, search page.

 

Search Google Books for Genealogy Treasures

It is easy to find books with Google Books; all you do is enter a keyword into the search box. For example:

When I enter “Military Records”, I get about 1,860,000 results, including:

·         Military records: Confederate soldiers, 1861-1865

·         U.S. military records: a guide to federal and state sources

·         Army Records: A Guide for Family Historians

A general search under “Genealogy” brings about 6,750,000 results, including:

·         Genealogy Online For Dummies

·         The Online Genealogy Handbook

·         Genealogy: a practical research guide

Of course, you can alter your search terms to be location specific or even surname specific.

 

Using Google Books to find a specific ancestor can really pay off as well. Using my ancestor “Marin Boucher”, I find the following:

The Boucher heritage

books.google.caLaurent Boucher – 1999 – 298 pages – Snippet view

This map also shows that Marin Boucher and two of his sons, Francois and Jean- Galleran, had settled near the present village of Chateau-Richer about seven miles from Quebec City: It is worthwhile noting that many of the colonists whose …

“200” family trees: from France to Canada to U.S.A.

books.google.ca – Snippet view

The above Jean Galeran Boucher was the son of Marin and Perinne Mallet who were married around 1628 at St-Langis-les-Mortagne,France. Marin Boucher’s parents were unknown but he came from Mortagne.He was the brother of Jeanne who was …

If you want to see information about a book listed just click on the title of the book.  By doing this, you may also find (if the author has given permission) “snippets”. Snippets are areas of the book specifically related to you search terms. Snippets will tell you how many pages in the book match your search terms.

When you find a book you are interested in you can select the “Buy this Book” option or “Find this book in a library” and be directed to a library where you may borrow it. Sometimes, if you are lucky the book you find may be out of copyright and available free online.

Another search option you can try with Google Books is “Full View Books”. Select this option when you only want to search for books you can fully view online.

Genealogy Beginner encourages you to try using Google Books for your family tree research. If you find any amazing books, please share your discoveries with other genealogy beginners on the Discovery Panel forum.

 

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Free Genealogy Software: Making Your Choice

Choosing a genealogy software program really boils down to choosing the right program for you. To know this you will have to try out a few for yourself. Adding up to three generations during your test trials is a minimum time investment that will:

• Reveal the program that is the best match for you
• Give you a good idea of what your chart and reports will look like

 

Using this approach helped me narrow it down to the following three excellent choices in free genealogy software.

Genealogy Research Software (Gramps 3.3)

Overall Gramps is a great program that has pretty much every feature chart and report option you could dream of. If you have great computer skills you are going to love it, if not this may not be a good program for you. Gramps also has a few extra features that are quite nice, like the Gramplets feature that helps you monitor your progress and analyze data.

For a more in depth review of Gramps3.3 including a link where you can download the software for free, join us on the Genealogy in General forums now.

RootsMagic 5

The free version of RootsMagic genealogy software is slick, good looking and starts off with an option to import data right at the opening screen. RootsMagic is also loaded with an impressive list of features and extras. The only drawback to this superb free version of the program is that it will not attach documents or allow you to publish your research. However that should not be a great deterrent as those features and many more are available on the full paid version should you choose RootsMagic as your long term genealogy software?

For a more in depth review of RootsMagic including the download links join us on the Genealogy in General forums now.

My Heritage Family Tree Builder

My Heritage open source family tree software has an incredible, easy to navigate layout in a gorgeous design. With fantastic easy access drop down menus and a convenient back button it makes entering data fast and efficient. The downside of this amazing free program is that there is a data entry limit of 250 individuals. I don’t really consider that a serious deal breaker for the beginning genealogist, as you can choose from a three tier upgrade adding as needed; or export to GedCom if you want to change programs.

For a more in depth review with download links of My Heritage join us on the Genealogy in General forums now.

Don’t be afraid to download a few programs and give them a try. I can assure you that removing the unwanted programs is as simple as the initial down loads. Please remember; before you start downloading to scan for viruses.

Don’t forget to join us on the forums for a breakdown of the key features in each of these exceptional free version genealogy software programs.

image credit: office.microsoft.com

 

Free Genealogy Software – 3 Things to Know

Eventually most genealogy beginners are going to start thinking about a genealogy software program to record their research. There certainly are a lot of wonderful jam packed programs on the market to choose from. However, during the early stages of an ancestor hunt there is really no need to spend a lot of money (before you even have a good idea of what you want) on a Family Tree software program full of bells and whistles.

 

 

All You Really Need

A simple nuts and bolts genealogy software program that allows you to carry forward with your research, while keeping your family tree organized, is all that is really needed. A practical solution to this is, open source or “free” family tree software, that you can download in 10 minutes or less.

Free Family Tree Software Essentials

1. A good open source program for a beginning genealogist is one that will:
• Easily record your data
• Compile your evidence
• Help you to analyze your findings

2. A better beginning program will be:
• Easy to navigate
• Catch errors
• Provide tutorials
• Offer tech support

3. The best program has all of the above and is:
• Upgradable – you will not have to re-enter your data
• GedCom compatible – you are free to choose whatever long term program you like.

Using open source genealogy software gets you started immediately. In addition, some of these free programs rival a lot of the paid programs available. I know this because I have spent the last few days testing out several of them and am in the process of testing several more.

At this point you may be saying “Gee thanks, but I still don’t know what one to choose”. Not to worry, over the next few days Genealogybeginner.com will have your choices narrowed down to a top three short list of open source programs; perfect for the beginning genealogists. Check back to see the final results.

On the Other Hand

You may have your heart set on purchasing your long term genealogy software program now. Or maybe you are thinking of purchasing one as a gift for someone special? Before you do, make certain you check out Genealogybeginner.com’s Lesson 8: A Look at Genealogy Software. A pivotal lesson that takes a long hard look at the enormous and baffling world of genealogy software, then demystifies it before your eyes.

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