Author Brenda Dougall Merriman takes readers through the genealogical process of research and identification, while examining how the genealogical community has developed standards of evidence and documentation, what those standards are, and how they can be applied.

Family historians depend upon thousands of people unknown to them. They exchange research with others; copy information from books and databases; and write libraries, societies, and government offices. At times they even hire professionals to do legwork in distant areas and trust strangers to solve important problems. But how can a researcher be assured that he or she is producing or receiving reliable results? This official manual from the Board of Certification for Genealogists provides a standard by which all genealogists can pattern their work.

REVISED AND UPDATED FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Family historians depend upon thousands of people unknown to them. They exchange research with others; copy information from books and databases; and write libraries, societies, and government offices. At times they even hire professionals to do legwork in distant areas and trust strangers to solve important problems. But how can a researcher be assured that he or she is producing or receiving reliable results? This new edition of the official manual from the Board of Certification for Genealogists provides a standard by which all genealogists can pattern their work. "Anyone who wants to become a certified genealogist will need to read this book." —Dick Eastman

How do family historians know they are producing or receiving trustworthy results? This official manual from the Board of Certification for Genealogists, essentially a users' guide for family historians, provides standards for genealogical researchers to assess their own and others' work. The revised second edition, published in 2019 with additional revisions in 2021, increases the clarity of DNA and privacy standards. Those standards are especially useful in the twenty-first century, when many genealogists use a complex new tool—DNA testing—and trace living people more often than they did in the past.

A manual for researchers writers, editors, lecturers, and Librarians.

The revised edition of The Lindgren/Tryon Genealogy is leap forward as a family history. It carefully documents the often fascinating lives of both ordinary and extra-ordinary ancestors. The scope and extent of newly discovered forbearers is breathtaking. Beside an exhaustive Bibliography and Name Index, it also includes a new chapter on genetic origins. The first four chapters explore family roots over a wide swath of Europe and the Middle East. The time horizon of this family's story spans a breathtaking three and a half millennia, back to about 1525 BCE when a man named Cenna and a woman named Neferu, both in ancient Egypt, married. They would become the parents of Queen Tetisheri and the grandparents of Pharoah Sequenenre Tao II, the 5th Pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Through the intervening 128 generations the reader meets people leading both ordinary and extra ordinary lives: From farmers, tradesmen, poets, and professionals to one of the murderers of Bishop Beckett and seven Christian saints; from slaves to Kings and Emperors. Most were Christian, but many were Jewish, some Zoroastrian and still others sun worshipers - a few were probably Druids. The final chapter sketches the genetic context of the family history. This sketch runs from the Rift Valley of Africa at about 50,000 years ago to Southern Europe about 20,000 years ago. The earliest individuals in these lines, known only as Mitochondrial Eve and Eurasian-Adam, serve to place this family in the vast context of our evolving species.

Commercials for the largest subscription database indicate that the process of genealogy is simple—you just “plug in” what you know, and the database does the rest! Those ads might sell subscriptions, but they are misleading. Getting beyond that “low-hanging fruit” is not so easy; collecting the records and data needed to delineate a family tree accurately requires time, organization, and informed searching. Records are available from many places, and finding them is never a “one-stop shopping” experience. So how does the new researcher identify which resources meet his or her specific research needs? And how can libraries and librarians best help this new generation of genealogists? Genealogy: A Practical Guide for Librarians offers help on several levels: First, librarians can use this book to learn what resources, both print and online, their library should offer their patron base. This means not only what monographs to purchase and subscription databases to maintain, but what websites to highlight at the library’s webpage, what to include in their online tutorials, what adult education programming is appropriate. Critical assessments of print and online resources are given, including the strengths and weaknesses that librarians need to help patrons understand them. Second, both librarians and researchers can find here an in-depth discussion of the research process itself, including the best steps for a beginning researcher and search strategies for the experienced one. And third, anyone can use this book to become better informed about the phenomenon of genealogy itself and about the latest standards for online searching and research. The book includes practical advice for every public-service librarian and offers all researchers, from novice level to experienced, a clearly delineated context for the popular subject of family history research.

Digital records and broad access to the Internet have made it easier for genealogists to gather relevant information from distant sources, but the law remains tied to particular geographic locations. This book discusses the specific laws access to information, protection of personal data, and copyright applicable to those working in Canada.

Covering trends, issues and case studies, this collection presents 34 new essays by library professionals actively engaged in helping patrons with genealogy research across the United States. Topics include strategies for finding military and court records, mapping family migration and settlement, creating and accessing local digital services, and developing materials and instruction for patrons. Forewordist D. Joshua Taylor, host of Genealogy Roadshow and president of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, notes: "The increasing popularity of the topic requires that any librarian who encounters genealogical customers remain on the forefront of new developments in the field."

The Micro-Historian’s Guide to Research, Evidence, & Conclusions imparts useful guidance to motivated historians, genealogists, special interest researchers, and local history enthusiasts. As long-buried sources become available via the internet, more regular folks without a Ph.D. in history are joining the fun of information-gathering and shining new light on under-explored history – yet often with no foundation of method. The author answers the call with this volume, “paying forward” the guidance received from long-ago mentors as well as from present-day historians and archivists. Topics include research planning & execution, evaluation of evidence, formulation of conclusions, and the crafting of a summary narrative. Each topic is enriched by practical examples from the author’s experience. The aim is to help the new practitioner build a foundation of research skills that leads to evidence-based conclusions. The author’s perspective of experience – as a disciplined researcher, but also with roots as a no-nonsense old-school newspaper reporter – occasionally prompts a mild tease of the buttoned-down genealogy proof standard, or conversely, a deflating poke at flabby interpretation … and moribund academic writing … wherever it may fester. The Micro-Historian’s Guide to Research, Evidence, & Conclusions draws theory from dozens of history, genealogy, historiography, and research giants through the ages. The book also pays tribute to that long-ago cigar-chomping newspaper editor who admonished a young reporter: “Yer mother sez she loves ya’? You still gotta check it out!”