Google Your Family Tree

Dan Lynch has written an excellent new book called, "Google Your Family Tree." I have now had a chance to read it twice and must say that I am even more impressed with the second reading than I was with the first. The reason is that Dan has added even more material.

Dan wrote the first draft of this book a few months ago and sent manuscript copies of it to a number of people for their input. The manuscript copies were sent before he submitted it to a publisher. I was fortunate enough to be one of those reviewers and I read the version that Dan had printed on his own computer. I offered a few suggestions and apparently his other reviewers offered many more. The final book that I read this week is much larger and contains even more material than the manuscript I read earlier this year. I was enthused with the original manuscript but must say that the final version improves the book still further.

Writing a complete reference for the use of Google would probably fill a thousand pages or more. Instead, Dan provides a good overview of Google's operation that will benefit any Internet user, then "dives deep" into those features of interest to genealogists. The resulting 340-pages of this book are crammed with useful hints that online genealogists should know.

The following is from the Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1 — Search Engine Basics
• Chapter 2 — Interpreting Web Search Results
• Chapter 3 — Advanced Search Techniques
• Chapter 4 — Language Tools
• Chapter 5 — Google Books
• Chapter 6 — Google News Archive
• Chapter 7 — Blog Search
• Chapter 8 — Images & Video
• Chapter 9 — Google Alerts
• Chapter 10 — Google Maps
• Chapter 11 — Google Earth
• Chapter 12 — Google Notebook
• Chapter 13 — The Google Toolbar & Google Chrome
• Chapter 14 — Other Tips & Tricks
• Appendix A — Getting Started in Genealogy
• Appendix B — Top Sites for Genealogists
• Appendix C — Other Internet Search Engines
• Appendix D — Web Search Engine Defined
• Appendix E — Syntax Summary & Quick Reference
• Index

The book also includes two "Quick Reference Cards." One lists the more common search terms and commands for Google while the second lists advanced terms that are especially useful for genealogy searches.

The book does omit any discussion of the Google tools that have no special use for genealogy, such as Google Documents.

Some of the topics that are described in detail include using Google's 160 international sites and also in using the capability to search web pages in languages other than English in order to find information in your ancestors' native tongues. I was especially pleased to see a detailed description of Google Books, one of the best-kept "secrets" of genealogy searches. The book also describes searching Google to find online videos, such as modern travelogues and videos of towns and villages back in "the old country."

Have you ever used Google Notebook? I bet most people have not and yet that is a great service for genealogists. This book describes the use of Google Notebook in detail.

Finally, Chapter 9 describes another great Google resource that is not well known: "Google Alerts: Search While You Sleep." While most Internet-savvy genealogists know how to conduct searches on Google, many are not familiar with the search engine's capabilities to periodically search for specific terms in an automated fashion and then send any new results to your e-mail address. Did a distant cousin recently post family information that you seek? The chapter on "Google Alerts: Search While You Sleep" will teach you how to put Google to work for you every day finding new material, even if you are not near a computer.

One criticism I have of other books is that they are frequently written from a Microsoft Windows viewpoint. Dan Lynch avoided that trap; "Google Your Family Tree" is equally useful for Windows, Macintosh and Linux users.

All in all, I was delighted with this book. I thought I was a Google expert, fully familiar with the search engine's operation. However, I learned a number of new tricks by reading Dan Lynch's book. I bet you will also. If you want to conduct more effective searches on Google, be it about genealogy or nearly any other topic, reading "Google Your Family Tree" will increase your expertise.

You can learn more about "Google Your Family Tree" at the book's web site at: http://www.googleyourfamilytree.com/contents.php.  You also might enjoy Mary Slawson's interview of Dan Lynch on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ot9T0dehGc as well as a FaceBook page devoted to the book at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Google-Your-Family-Tree/103259055513.

"Google Your Family Tree" is published by FamilyLink.com and sells for a retail price of $34.95. You can order it online from the book's home page which then points to WorldVitalRecords.com at  http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/google_your_family_tree/?cpn=gyftwebsite.

Dan Lynch went the 'extra mile' to create a valuable book for online genealogists. I hope he sells a million of these books; it's that good.

Comments

[Julia]

I appreciate this review. Your many reviews over the past has been one of my favorite parts but they seem to be lacking recently in the multitude of just getting out everyone's announcements about what they are doing and adding. So thanks for the review. Sounds like a great book.

[Beatrix Polman]

The way you tell it, there seems nothing new in there that I did not know already. Sounds like just another book about Google.

[Nancy]

Thanks for the review, sounds like just the book to aid me in sharpening my Googling skills. I think I do pretty well with Google, but I am always receptive to learning more. Got to find that ancestor that is there somewhere!

[Woody Hardman]

Dick: May I have your permission to include this article "Google your family tree" in a monthly newsletter for the Mountain Genealogy Society?

Woody Hardman

[Dick Eastman]

Yes. In fact, you always have permission to republish Standard Edition articles in non-profit publications and web sites. For details, look at the menus on the right side of this page and click on COPYRIGHTS.

Thanks.
- Dick Eastman

[Dan Lynch]

Dick - Thanks so much for the kind words. Last week, I was reviewing online sales data and noticed that the book had sold in 49 of the 50 states here in the U.S., every Canadian province, and more than a dozen countries outside North America. North Dakota was the only state without a sale - until yesterday that is! So, today I shipped a special signed copy to a young guy in Grand Forks ND.

Hope you and all your readers have a great holiday season!!

Regards,
Dan Lynch

[Joy Rich]

Other reviews of "Google Your Family Tree" are at

http://www.geneamusings.com/2008/11/book-review-google-your-family-tree.html

http://lists.friendsofallencounty.org/pipermail/genealogygems/msg00051.html (paragraph 3 under "Giving Gifts That Last")

and

http://www.avotaynu.com/nu/V09N27.htm (item 3).

[Geezer]

Well, Amazon and Borders didn't have it and the book's website WorldVitalRecords requires a username and password to order it! My password collection is already big enough. Maybe next Christmas. Or has anyone out there been able to find it at a retail outlet.

[Joy Rich]

Geezer, at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/google_your_family_tree/?cpn=gyftwebsite, it says you can order it by phone. 1-888-377-0588 (M-F, 8am-5pm MST)

[Carl Turner]

The only concern I would have over this type of reference is that tools such as Google change so rapidly and frequently. I'm not sure how long it will retain its value for anything beyond the base concepts as new capabilities emerge.

[Mary Anne Drobnak]

You can buy it on ellisisland.org. I ask my son to buy it for my birthday next month. Can hardly wait to read and use it!!!!
Thanks Dick for bringing it to your readers' attention.
Mary Anne

[Joy Rich]

Carl, on Dick Eastman's website at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/10/google-your-fam.html , Dan Lynch said in Comments

"As to the question about whether the book will be relevant 1 year from now - excellent question. For this very reason, I created a companion website at www.GoogleYourFamilyTree.com and in the coming weeks, will add a blog component. I won't blog in general - Dick and so many others have that covered so well - BUT, I will share via this site the updates, changes, and new features that are helpful to family historians."

[Donna]

I have never used google for genealogy, but I'll look to it now, thanks!