From Amazon
Genealogy Online presents a lot of information, much (but not all) of it having to do with finding facts about family lineage on the Internet. Mostly, this is a directory of big genealogy Web sites, newsgroups, mailing lists, and commercial services. It's also an introduction to Web communities and the tools you need to participate in them. These are the things you'll need to understand in order to extract and contribute information about your heritage as part of the Internet community.
Elizabeth Powell Crowe covers RootsWeb, the ROOTS-L mailing list, AfriGeneas, and the remarkable online genealogy resources maintained by the Mormon Church. She also pays attention to the Golden Gate forum on America Online and some of CompuServe's genealogy forums. There's some coverage of standalone family-history software like Family Tree Maker and some useful information about genealogical concepts like Ahnentafels numbers.
Genealogy Online would be better if it included more information about obscure Internet resources sites having to do with particular families or small ethnic groups. There are enough of these to make an annotated directory worthwhile. The author also could dispense with most of the general Internet how-to information, which occupies a lot of this book. --David Wall
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
From School Library Journal
The increasing number of online genealogy sites and tools allows today's searchers to seek and locate thousands of pages of data in a way they could not have imagined some 20 years ago. Yet even computer-savvy genealogists may not be fully utilizing the many resources available to them. In the most recent edition of her best-selling guide, Crowe, a former contributing editor to Computer Currents, aims to instruct all levels of researchers on the joys and perils of online genealogy. Similar to Cyndi Howells's Netting Your Ancestors (LJ 3/1/98) in its introductory discussions of technical issues and online tools, Crowe's first three chapters cover what readers will need to know to begin online genealogy research selecting the necessary hardware and software; choosing an ISP; understanding browsers, e-mail, and spam; and learning to organize family data. Two very helpful chapters on Usenet newsgroups and genealogy mailing lists follow, with explanations of their workings and descriptions of the more popular lists to explore. Crowe then covers the major online resources that researchers would do well to investigate. A glossary of error messages, computer-related terms, and emoticons rounds out the book. With her thorough but not overwhelming descriptions, Crowe provides genealogists with a solid roadmap for successful searching. Libraries currently owning earlier editions will want to purchase this one for the updated information. Recommended for public and genealogy library collections. Elaine M. Kuhn, Allen Cty. P.L., Ft. Wayne, IN
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.