Thursday, September 27, 2012

Book Review: Genealogy at a Glance - U.S. Federal Census Records


The Genealogical Publishing Company in Baltimore has published another in its series of "Genealogy at a Glance" laminated research guides - this time for U.S. Federal Census Records by Kory L. Meyerink.



This "Genealogy at a Glance" booklet has four laminated pages on one 11" x 17" paper (folded). It is 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 
  U.S. Federal Census Records  folder has these subjects:

* Contents list
* Quick Facts and Important Dates
* The Basics - Time Period, Content, Coverage, Access and Availability

*  Heads of Household Indexes (1790-1940)
*  Census Indexes
*  Soundex: Phonetic Searching
*  When Indexes Don't work
*  Census Search Strategies
*  Online Search Consideration
*  For Further Reference
*  Major Online Resources

This booklet is designed primarily for the person who is not an expert, or has no experience, in United States Census genealogical research.  It provides a summary of the fundamentals of pursuing research in and about U.S. Federal Census records. Reference books, online databases and websites for some of the topics 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 $4.50; FedEx Ground Service in the USA, $6.00). You can order it through the Genealogical Store, or use the link for the 
  U.S. Federal Census Records booklet and click on the "Add to Cart" link.  I recommend buying these at seminars and conferences where they are offered in order to avoid the shipping costs.

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," Review: "Genealogy at a Glance: English Genealogy Research," and Review - Genealogy at a Glance: French Genealogy Research.

The URL for this post is:  
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/09/book-review-genealogy-at-glance-us.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

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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