In Genealogy, Books Still Matter

 

How many times in the last month have you looked at a book about genealogy? Perhaps, the question should be extended to a year. I could extend this post to ask a question about the number of books you read last year of any kind. According to the Pew Research Center in a study done in 2019, about one-fourth of the people in the United States do not read at least one book in print or online in a year. See "Who doesn’t read books in America?" Of course, there are a huge number of "educational" classes, webinars, podcasts, and other venues for learning about genealogy. I usually teach, at least, one or two classes or webinars every week. See, for example, the Brigham Young University Family History Library YouTube Channel and the BYU Family History Library Website. 

Yes, there are a plethora of online resources to teach you about genealogy but to really begin to understand a subject, you need to have the ability to actually study. Here is an example of this process. 

Some time ago, I began volunteering to help patrons of the Salt Lake City, Utah Family History Library in conjunction with RootsTech Connect 2021. In part, because of the closure of the Library during the Pandemic, the Library was expanding its outreach program to provide one-on-one consultations. See Virtual Genealogy Consultations. It turned out that almost all of the people I helped and continue to help spoke Spanish and were trying to find ancestors in Italy. Although I had done considerable research in Italy previously, I felt like I needed to upgrade my Italian research skills. I tried watching some videos on YouTube and looking for some online classes. I soon realized that these venues would not provide the help I needed. In looking at the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki, I found a link that mentioned an in-depth book about Italian research. Here is the book mentioned. 

Cole, Trafford R. 1995. Italian genealogical records: how to use Italian civil, ecclesiastical, & other records in family history research. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry.

There is no way that all of the extensive information in this book could have been presented in a class or webinar. I could have looked for a digital version of the book, but usually, this type of reference book has too small a potential audience to have been digitized. The information in this book quickly gave me the additional background and especially historical context I needed to update and increase my Italian research skills. I bought the book online and had it within a few days. 

Now let's suppose you were trying to find an Italian ancestor. You could just sign up for an online consultation or watch a webinar but that would not give you the extensive information contained in the book cited above. No matter what you think, genealogy is a difficult and knowledge-intensive pursuit. You need to treat your genealogical research efforts like you would if you were taking an advanced college or university class. Read the book. Use all the available materials online or otherwise to learn what you need to know about doing research and how to do genealogy.