Finding Your Roots Online

I had sent a copy of this wonderfully informative and well written book to 6 of my relatives and friends hot off the press. My sister, who has lived out of the country for some 35 years and having returned to her root country, wanted to learn more about our family. I encouraged her and was thrilled to be able to send her a copy of Nancy's book. This was back in October, 2003. Since that time, its been almost a miracle of sorts...following the information and suggestions in Nancy's book, my sister was able to get in touch with our father's cousin, a college professor, only to find out that he, too, had been trying to find our family! The two of them have been sending emails back and forth since October, exchanging and sharing information, checking out family burial locations, sharing pictures, and this has opened a "whole new world" for both families. We are even planning a reunion of sort as early as next summer. We have so much gratitude to Nancy Hendrickson for embarking on this endeavor of educating those of use who are not all that savvy with the internet but also showing us that searching for one's roots on or off the internet is not as complicated as one would believe and most of all, the rewards. My family and I recommend highly embarking on your own search for your roots starting with this book, almost a wisdom of pearls so to speak.

Finding Your Roots Online is a MUST read for anyone who wants to use the Internet to climb their family tree. The book begins with computer and Internet basics, then moves into a detailed explanation of the four most valuable search strategies. Each strategy section is accompanied by real-life searches, along with the best Web sites for specific types of research. My favorite chapter was the one that showed how to move easily back and forth between the strategies in order to tease every bit of genealogical information out of each site. If you follow along with each search, you're sure to find several of your own ancestors. Ms Hendrickson's great experience, practical approach, and deep interest in geneology and history shine through these pages, lighting the way for beginner and experienced searchers alike.

Finding Your Roots Online is a straightforward guide for the novice genealogist to utilizing the wealth of resources the internet has to offer those seeking to find out more about their family roots. From learning how to read pedigree charts; to conducting family interviews; to discerning which Internet resources are reliable; to guidelines for accessing military, marriage and land records, and much, much more, Finding Your Roots Online is a solid and highly recommended genealogical research resource for amateur and professional genealogists alike.

This is the premise of author, Nancy Hendrickson and she shows the genealogist how to take one small bite at a time and really learn the ropes of internet research. From the first three chapters in which she shows the correct way to use charts, what is available on the net and how to organize all those bits and pieces of info to the final chapters of doing a real search the book is full of marginal icons alerting the user to content. Each chapter concludes with a checklist and summary. As an educator I cannot recommend the format of this book enough. My copy is already highlighted and getting rat-earred from frequent use. Follow chapter by chapter and you, too, will have acquired expertise on the net and new ancestral information.

I've read just about every Internet genealogy book that's been published, but none even comes close to this one in giving the reader practical methods of doing online family tree research. The author used real-life examples to illustrate different search strategies--and they really work! If you want to find your ancestors on the Internet, this is the book you want to buy. I couldn't believe how easy it was to find my own ancestors using just one of the techniques. Two thumbs up!