new family history book available

New Family History Book Available

Genealogy is history on the most personal level, a quest to discover

and share stories about one's forebears. First-time researchers wonder

where to find information and how to compile it. These are the same

questions asked by historical scholars seeking to tell community and

national stories. Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical

Research serves both audiences by providing an overview of research in

general while focusing on Indiana-specific sources.

The Indiana Historical Society began compiling this comprehensive

guide in 2000, contracting archivists, librarians, journalists,

genealogists, and historians in the state's major historical and

genealogical organizations to write about their areas of expertise.

The resulting essays appeared first in the Society's family history

journal, The Hoosier Genealogist (upgraded recently to THG:

CONNECTIONS). In this book, they come together to form a complete

guide for historical research in Indiana.

The book is divided into six parts. Parts 1-3 focus on getting

started, working with family stories and pictures, documenting sources

in libraries and archives, and understanding different record groups.

Parts 4 and 5 explain researching with maps and researching different

ethnic groups. Part 6 discusses manuscript and artifact research,

nineteenth-century medicinal and industrial history, and data

verification. A sample family group sheet and a sample pedigree chart

appear in appendixes. Six model chapters show how to turn data into

full-fledged stories.

Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research will help

students, scholars, and family history researchers delve deeply into

historical sources. Readers will learn where to go for the next piece

of information, how to interpret the data, and how to incorporate each

new fact into the stories of our ancestors--the people of Indiana.

The books costs $29.95 and is available from the Society's Basile

History Market. To order, call (800) 447-1830 or order online at the