Books provide tips on online genealogy, family photographs

SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE

By MYRA VANDERPOOL GORMLEY

Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Still looking for gift ideas for the genealogists on your list? Or are you the family historian and would like to slip Santa the word about what to bring you?

Two new books will solve these problems. Both are excellent additions to your personal library. They are: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy," by Rhonda R. McClure, and "Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs," by Maureen A. Taylor. These new books are available via the major online book vendors and bookstores throughout the country.

McClure, a professional genealogist, is also a well-known genealogical writer and speaker. She is a pioneer in online genealogy with more than a decade of experience. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy" is 352 pages of outstanding genealogical tips and how to get the most out of the online experience.

Chapters include:

- Surfing Genealogy Style

- Worldwide Pony Express at Mach 4

- Hunting Down Those Family Pages

- Off the Beaten Path

- Databases Galore

- Using History in Family History

- The Melting Pot (ethnic research)

- Around the World in 80 Seconds

- Rifling through Library Catalogs at 2 a.m.

- A Virtual Canvas (create your own family Web page)

- Privacy and Copyright

If you have been wondering what all the buzz about genealogy on the Net is, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Genealogy" has the answers. Published by Macmillan Publishing Company, it retails for about $16.95.

MAUREEN A. TAYLOR is a genealogist and photo-historian and lectures at conferences around the country. Her latest book, "Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs: How to Identify, Interpret and Preserve Your Family's Visual Heritage," can help you unlock the precious stories and ancestral information hidden within the details of your family photos.

Using the excellent tips in this book you can learn how to:

- Identify and verify the people in your photos, using details such as poses, props and print material to determine dates and places.

- Locate additional family photographs to build your own visual history collection.

- Create worksheets for every photo that confirm and validate your findings.

- Expand your genealogical skills to include a working knowledge of the resources related to photo research.

The chapter on identifying costumes is outstanding. Several pages are devoted to explaining both women's and men's fashions from about 1840 to 1900. Does that picture of your great-great-grandmother show her with hair parted in the center, covering most of her ears, plain, or braids around and short ringlets? If so, and the dress fits the time frame, it probably was taken between 1860 and 1865.

Published by Betterway Books (800-289-0963), "Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs," (224 pages) is available for $18.99.

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.