Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Review: "Genealogy at a Glance: Polish Genealogy Research," by Rosemary A. Dembinski Chorzempa

The Genealogical Publishing Company in Baltimore has published another in its series of "Genealogy at a Glance" laminated research guides - this time for Polish Genealogy Research, Updated Edition by Rosemary A. Dembinski Chorzempa.

 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 description of the updated Polish  Genealogy Research  booklet includes:
Poland is far away and the language is difficult to read, but this updated edition of Polish Genealogy Research will help you overcome these obstacles as quickly and easily as possible. In just four pages, Rosemary Chorzempa, author of the outstanding guidebook Polish Roots, lays out the basic elements of Polish genealogical research, allowing you to grasp the fundamentals of Polish research “at a glance.” The four specially laminated pages of this work are designed to give you as much useful information in the space allotted as you’ll need to move forward with your Polish genealogy research.
Starting with a discussion of names, the guide–which has been revised to include updated URLs, the latest statistics, and most important online databases and resources–focuses on the basic elements of Polish research. These include history and emigration, locating the hometown, maps and gazetteers, geographical areas, and online databases. With a look back at the history of Polish emigration, Chorzempa explains the importance of locating a town of origin in the various countries that make up modern Poland. From there, with the use of online maps and gazetteers, it is a quick jump to locating the civil records and parish records that are key to finding your ancestors. Like other publications in the Genealogy at a Glance series, this guide contains a list of the most helpful online sources and the best reference books in the field. In addition, it provides information on surname maps and genealogical societies, and even guides you to an animated video on the history of Poland.
Finally, with historical Poland divided among so many countries, language itself is a serious problem in Polish research. To overcome this problem, Mrs. Chorzempa provides a chart giving the English, Latin, Polish, and German names of important places in Polish lands. This is especially useful when looking at documents that mention birthplaces or hometown origins, and it is an important tool for the millions of Americans who are of Polish descent.
The booklet has these sections:
  • Contents
  • Quick Facts and Important Dates
  • Polish Names
  • Polish History and Emigration
  • Finding the Hometown
  • Maps
  • Online Databases From Poland
  • Other Resources
  • Areas in Polish Lands

This booklet is designed primarily for the person who has little experience and understanding of Polish Genealogy Research and provides an overview of the basics of finding Polish genealogy resources.

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" booklets 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 $9.95,  plus postage and handling. You can order it through the Genealogical Store, or use the link for the Polish Genealogy Research 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.
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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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Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2020.

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