Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Review - Genealogy at a Glance: Italian Genealogy Research

The Genealogical Publishing Company in Baltimore has published another in its series of "Genealogy at a Glance" laminated research guides - this time for Italian Genealogy Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, CG, MFA. 




This "Genealogy at a Glance" booklet has four laminated pages on one 11" x 17" paper (folded). They are designed to give the user the basic elements of genealogy research in the allotted space. They provide an overview of the facts a researcher needs to know in order to begin and proceed successfully with research in the subject.

The   Italian Genealogy Research  folder has these subjects:

* Contents list
* Quick Facts and Important Dates 
* Italian Immigration and Social History -- Return Migration and Chain Migration; Ports of Departure and Arrival; Settlement Patterns; and Social Customs.
* Starting Your Search in America
*  Finding the Italian Town of Origin - Italian-American Neighborhoods and Little Italys; Death Matters; Patron Saints; and Food Preferences
*  Research in Italian civil Records - Using Civil Records
*  Online Sources 
*  Writing to Italy

This booklet is designed primarily for the person who is not an expert, or has no experience, in Italian research.  It provides a summary of the fundamentals of Italian research in both the USA and Italy.  Reference books, online databases and websites for each topic are cited in the text.  A researcher wanting additional expertise should rely on quality published books with in-depth knowledge about the resources available.  

For someone like me that teaches and talks about genealogy a bit, it is invaluable because I can pull it out and provide some guidance to my student or colleague interested in the subject.

The beauty of these "Genealogy at a Glance" folders is that they are very light and portable in a briefcase or laptop case. They are fixtures in my research case.

This four-page laminated booklet costs $8.95,  plus postage and handling (4th Class Mail $5.50; FedEx Ground Service in the USA, $7.50). You can order it through the Genealogical Store, or use the link for the Italian Genealogy Research  booklet and click on the "Add to Cart" link.

I reviewed several similar works in Book Review: Genealogy at a Glance: "How-To" Series (French-Canadian, Scottish and Irish), Book Review: "Genealogy at a Glance: German Genealogy Research," and Review: "Genealogy at a Glance: English Genealogy Research."

Disclosure: Genealogical.com contacted me recently and asked me to provide a review of this booklet. They mailed me a review copy for my personal use as remuneration for this review.

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