The following material has been abbreviated and edited from the original posting on Lisa Lisson’s blog ‘Are You My Cousin?’ Michael Dindinger thought people might benefit from another perspective and added detail to our original Genealogy Research Using Google Books.
Genealogy researchers love books. Lisa is no different, but know what she (and many others of us) love more? Free Books! It's time to start exploring Google Books!
What is Google Books?
Google Books is a service of Google. It is essentially a very large digital public library of books, magazines, and newspapers. Just image browsing the bookshelves of your favorite genealogy library – only digitally. Best of all, you as a genealogy researcher can potentially find thousands of family histories and other genealogy related books to read for free. Most books published before about 1920 have at least one free edition. A few recent books are also available for free or offer snippets. In these cases, the authors have graciously elected to no charge for the use of their copyrights.
Types of Genealogy Books on Google Books
The genealogy researcher will find a variety of genealogy and history books to use in the search for the ancestors. Here a just a few types a genealogy researcher will want to explore.
How To Find Google Books To Use In Your Genealogy Research
Go to the Google Books Homepage and type in search terms.
In this example, Lisa looks to see if any family histories have been published on the Guild family of Massachusetts. While she doesn't say so, it is often wise to also search for particular names of interest. In addition, if the name is fairly common, a location can help reduce the number of "hits" to a manageable number.
Notice the word “Read” in that first listing. That indicates this book is available to read in its entirety online – for FREE! Under the tab on top, you can pick "Any Books" all the way down to "Free Googl eBooks." If the search starts out with "Any" and comes up with huge numbers of results, try switching to "Free." In any event, it is good to go back and forth since paid books can also be located in libraries starting from Google Books.
Recently, I was asked "how do you print something you find on Google Books?" Printing secrets from Google Books is next.
Back to Online Google Books Introduction
Back to Part 1 - Genealogy Research Using Google Books
Lisa Lisson discusses Google Books in Part 2 - Online Google Books for Genealogy - this post
An embedded Video about Using Google for Genealogy is here
Genealogy researchers love books. Lisa is no different, but know what she (and many others of us) love more? Free Books! It's time to start exploring Google Books!
What is Google Books?
Google Books is a service of Google. It is essentially a very large digital public library of books, magazines, and newspapers. Just image browsing the bookshelves of your favorite genealogy library – only digitally. Best of all, you as a genealogy researcher can potentially find thousands of family histories and other genealogy related books to read for free. Most books published before about 1920 have at least one free edition. A few recent books are also available for free or offer snippets. In these cases, the authors have graciously elected to no charge for the use of their copyrights.
Types of Genealogy Books on Google Books
The genealogy researcher will find a variety of genealogy and history books to use in the search for the ancestors. Here a just a few types a genealogy researcher will want to explore.
- Family Histories are some of the most common books genealogy researchers search for on Google Books. Genealogy Tip: From experience, not all of the family histories you find will be well sourced. Use those as clues to direct research and confirm the information. Closely related to Family Histories are County and Regional Histories. Many of these relate the family history of particular individuals and, while they should also be used with caution, they are great to confirm other sources.
- City and Church Directories are another valuable genealogical resource sometimes found on Google Books. It is certainly worth a look, even though these are more comprehensive on Ancestry or HeritageQuest.
- Statute Books will help you understand the law for a place and specific time where your ancestor lived. Admittedly, statutes can be intimidating to read, but also, critical in your interpretation of the legal documents our ancestors created.
- Vintage cookbooks, trade journals and such can also be found.
How To Find Google Books To Use In Your Genealogy Research
Go to the Google Books Homepage and type in search terms.
In this example, Lisa looks to see if any family histories have been published on the Guild family of Massachusetts. While she doesn't say so, it is often wise to also search for particular names of interest. In addition, if the name is fairly common, a location can help reduce the number of "hits" to a manageable number.
The first result returned was The Genealogy and History of the Guild, Guile, and Gile Family by Charles Burleigh. The book was published in 1887 and is in the public domain.
Notice the word “Read” in that first listing. That indicates this book is available to read in its entirety online – for FREE! Under the tab on top, you can pick "Any Books" all the way down to "Free Googl eBooks." If the search starts out with "Any" and comes up with huge numbers of results, try switching to "Free." In any event, it is good to go back and forth since paid books can also be located in libraries starting from Google Books.
Click Through to Access the Book
Click on the selection to access the book and you are ready to start reading and researching.
Lisa also includes a video on this, which may be seen below:
Lisa also includes a video on this, which may be seen below:
Back to Online Google Books Introduction
Back to Part 1 - Genealogy Research Using Google Books
Lisa Lisson discusses Google Books in Part 2 - Online Google Books for Genealogy - this post
On to Part 3 - Printing from Google Books - Not as simple as you might think!
