Category Archives: Resources

Title: Map Guide to Luxembourg Parish Registers Author: Kevan M. Hansen Format: Paperback Published: 2016 My Rating: The following review first appeared in the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine (Winter 2016); reprinted with permission. Kevan Hansen has a spectacular series of books, Map Guide to German Parish Registers, that to date has over 50 volumes covering various places in Germany (both present-day and historical). Earlier this year, Hansen released a similar book specific to Luxembourg, a small country surrounded by Germany, France, and Belgium.

Title: Trace Your German Roots Online: A Complete Guide to German Genealogy Websites Author: James M. Beidler Format: Paperback, Kindle Published: 2016 My Rating: The following review first appeared in the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine (Winter 2016); reprinted with permission. Trace Your German Roots Online: A Complete Guide to German Genealogy Websites by James M. Beidler can be considered a companion to Beidler’s earlier book The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide: How To Trace Your Germanic Ancestry in Europe (Family Tree Books, 2014). While there are a few […]

Title: New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer Edited by: Naomi Joshi, et al. Format: Paperback Published: 2015 My Rating: The following review first appeared in the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine (Fall 2016); reprinted with permission. Note: This review is based on the original edition. A revised edition was released in 2017. Those who have New York ancestors no doubt understand the challenges associated with researching them. While there are materials out there to assist genealogists with researching in New York, there wasn’t one resource to cover […]

One would think that the information contained on the original vital record certificate and in the vital record register book for the same person and event would be identical. But is that always the case? As genealogists we understand that getting as close to the original record as possible is a necessity, but not always a possibility. We know that mistakes can be made in “copying” information from an original to a derivative. It is my understanding that in most places, if there are certificates and register books available concurrently, […]

  Title: Luxembourg-America: 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries Edited by: Brain&More Format: Hardcover Published: 2015 My Rating: The following review first appeared in the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine (Summer 2016); reprinted with permission. Being a descendant of Luxembourg immigrants, I’m always on the lookout for resources to learn more about the history and culture of this small European country. I can tell from my genealogy research that my immigrant ancestors were very proud of their Luxembourg heritage; I guess they took the motto to heart: “Mir wëlle bleiwe […]

Title: Endogamy: One Family, One People Author: Israel Pickholtz Format: Paperback Published: 2015 My Rating: The following review first appeared in the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine (Fall 2015); reprinted with permission. The world of genetic genealogy has grown considerably over the last several years. The testing of one’s DNA and comparing the results to others has no doubt crumbled a few brick walls. As more and more people test their DNA, resources that help navigate the DNA pool are in high demand. Many of the top genetic genealogists […]

  Title: Elements of Genealogical Analysis: How to Maximize Your Research Using the Great Migration Study Project Method Author: Robert Charles Anderson Format: Paperback Published: 2014 My Rating: The following review first appeared in the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine (Summer 2015); reprinted with permission. There are plenty of how-to guides available for genealogy researchers, covering a variety of topics from record types to locations and everything in between. While some of the more general genealogy how-to books set forth a basic research process, oftentimes their main goal is […]

About two hours ago, I blogged about a change to the FamilySearch/FHL catalog that was a little disappointing. It had to do with a new option to filter results by choosing “Online” or “Family History Center” (which with “Family History Library selected shows you everything in the entire catalog, online and off). You can read about it here. My point was simple: I didn’t like the fact that “Online” was the default (meaning to see everything in the catalog, you’d have to change the filter every time—and if you weren’t […]