Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Encyclopedia of Genealogy

How many times have we all wished for one?

Ever been performing a search function, and just didn't quite understand what you were doing, and just wish there was a source you could go to, fast and easy, with simple directives to lead you through the process?

Well, thankfully, Dick Eastman, of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, perhaps THE best source for technical and genealogical advice, has given us just such an encyclopedia!

The site itself gives this definition of this marvellous tool:
"The Encyclopedia of Genealogy" serves as a compendium of genealogical tools and techniques. It provides reference information about everything in genealogy except people. Look to the Encyclopedia of Genealogy to provide explanations of how to look up your family tree, explanations of terms found in genealogy research, including obsolete medical and legal terms. It will describe locations where records may be found. It also will describe how to research Italian, German, Polish, French-Canadian, Jewish, Black, Indian and other ancestors. In short, the Encyclopedia of Genealogy will serve as your standard genealogy reference manual. "

Dick recently mentioned the system in his newsletter, and since I hadn't been to the encyclopedia in a while, decided to go back and take another look.

I was pleased to see the professionalism of the site maintains its integrity. [You can count on Dick Eastman to have a web site that looks as good as it functions!] And the ease with which you can request a lookup is as easy as it gets. Simply click on "Search", type in your request, and up pops [very fast I might add] the results.

A search for the simple "ahnentafel" gave me not one but four responses! All were excellent, and would definitely give the uninitiated a good understanding of the term by the time they had read even one of the responses. All four, and they can title themselves, "well-versed" in the subject.

I highly recommend that you bookmark this site, and pass it on to those individuals that you might mentor. "The Encyclopedia of Genealogy" is well worth having at arm's length.

Now... if only my car keys were as easy to locate, I'd have it made!

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