Family History for the Older and Wiser: Find Your Roots with Online Tools

by Susan Fifer

Overview

Have you ever wanted to research your family history to discover your roots, but don’t know where to start? Family History for the Older and Wiser is an easy-to-follow guide which talks you through all the different stages of researching your family history online and how to record your findings.

Using a case study approach, the book takes a single source item - an 1890 marriage certificate purchased at an antiques event - and uses it to highlight the questions you should be asking yourself about your own family documentation and how this can be used as a basis for online research.

Learn how to:

• Access and investigate online records
• Use spreadsheets to record your findings and assess their validity and reliability
• Incorporate your family tree into online programs
• Share your research with friends and family and much more…

U3A is a self-help learning cooperative for those no longer in full-time gainful employment. Members come together to share their love of learning through educational, creative and leisure activities. U3A offer their members a wide choice of 300+ subjects in areas such as art, foreign languages, music, history, life sciences, lieterature, poetry, gardening, philosophy, crafts, field studies, archaeology, astronomy and computing. Currently there are over 230,000 members and more the 740 local U3A groups in the UK. Visit U3A online at u3a.org.uk

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470970171
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/30/2010
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	340
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Susan Fifer (Enfield, Middlesex, UK) has been a lifelong educator and leads an online Family History group at her local U3A chapter. She got her start in computers in 1983 when she fell in love with a Sinclair ZX81at the local library, and is the author of the Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Poland, published by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain.

Table of Contents

About the Author.

Acknowledgements.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements.

Icons Used in this Book.

PART I GETTING STARTED.

Chapter 1 Introduction.

How to Use This Book.

What, Why and How Much?

Case Study.

Chapter 2 What You Need to Begin.

Getting Information from Relatives.

Obtaining Certificates.

Gleaning Information from Photos.

Collecting Family Records.

Computing Requirements.

PART II BASIC GENEALOGY.

Chapter 3 The Facts of Life–Birth, Marriage and Death.

Vital Records in England and Wales.

Using Online Resources.

Obtaining Scottish Records.

Obtaining Irish Records.

Chapter 4 Counting the People–Census Records.

How the Census can Help Family Historians.

Searching Scottish Census Records.

Searching Irish Census Records.

Suggested Answers to the Census Research Task.

Reviewing the Evidence Collected So Far.

What Questions Do You Still Need to Ask?

PART III ONLINE SOURCES.

Chapter 5 Family Search.

Sources on the FamilySearch Website.

Searching the Site.

Understanding the Information Each Database Holds.

Using the Library Catalog.

Using Family Tree Software.

Research Guides.

Using the Tutorials.

Using Record Search.

Chapter 6 Using the Ancestry Website.

What's on the Ancestry Website?

Alternatives to Ancestry.

Research Task — Fischer/Smith.

Chapter 7 Using the National Archives.

What is TNA?

What is Available in TNA?

Searching the Catalogue.

Understanding the Difference Between the Catalogue and the Archives.

Using DocumentsOnline.

Access to Archives (A2A).

Finding Welsh Records.

Scotland–National Archives.

Ireland–National Archives.

Chapter 8 Accessing Information from Wills, Newspapers, Directories and Other Sources.

Wills.

Newspaper Archives.

Historical Directories, Maps and Gazetters.

GENUKI.

Family History Societies.

Mailing Lists.

Link Lists.

PART IV RECORDING YOUR RESEARCH.

Chapter 9 Using Spreadsheets.

Choosing Software.

Creating Data Lists from Research Findings.

Indexing Projects.

Printing Your Spreadsheets.

Being Kind to Your Eyes.

Chapter 10 Using Family History Software.

Benefits of Using a Family Tree Program.

Getting Started with Personal Ancestral File.

Viewing Data.

Creating Reports and Charts.

Saving Your Work.

Chapter 11 Working with Family Photos.

Sorting Your Family Photos.

Hosting a Picture-Tagging Party.

Handling and Preserving Photos.

Scanning Photos and Other Documents.

Using Software to Edit and Organize Photos.

PART V SHARING YOUR RESEARCH.

Chapter 12 Creating Presentations.

Understanding Your Audience.

Creating Slideshows.

Chapter 13 Publishing a Family Tree.

Creating a Family Tree Online.

Implementing Security and Data Protection Online.

The Fischer/Smith Family Online.

Publishing Your Work.

Glossary.

Index.