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Who doesn't love used books stores? Do you like looking through the stacks for the genealogy-type books that are rare or that were a part of a "short run" that a genealogy or historical society published? They are out there.
Forget books from Amazon. There is an on-line resource that is my favorite and will soon be one of your top resources for hard to find genealogy books.
Funny thing is, I used it for years before it hit me. My realization went something like this... "Duh, Robert. Think you should use this to look for some books to help with your GENEALOGY, you knucklehead?"
Okay, Let's Discover by Doing.
Look
at the Search Box(es) Above
There are four types of searches you can do: ISBN number, Author, Title and Keyword.
You will have the best luck doing searches in the KEYWORD box.
Keep in mind that this search set-up is part the site of this resource, and not powered by one of the popular search engines like Google or Yahoo. They even have an advanced search feature, but the way I'm going to show you has worked best for me.
What if I told you that you are about to search through over 80 million books from over 13,500 booksellers? You will zip through their books, rare, used and new, in mere seconds!
Many of these booksellers are used book stores. This is a little-known source that most people outside the book world aren't aware of. I learned about it from the owner of a used book store.
Who knew? Amazon and other big booksellers are on-line so that's what you see most often. But this is a tool for independent book store owners--AND a dream for family history researchers.
Three Easy Steps to Go with Me Step-by-Step
- Follow along with me in the examples below and type the keywords into the Keyword box.
- Then, click the "Find Book" button and examine the results.
- Finally, click the "Back" button on your
Web browser to come back to the search box and the tutorial
on the Treasure Map's site and move on to the next example.
Let's start looking together. Naturally, we want to see
what kind of used books on genealogy (general reference) we can
find:
-Type in Keyword: genealogy
-What are the Results? Hmm, there are several books on
baby names and even pet names. There is even a mystery novel
titled "Genealogy of Murder." But look at these goodies--and
look at the PRICES!
NOTE: When you go over the lesson with me, these results
may not show up...BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE WHO READ THIS
LESSON GOT THEM!!!
*"Tracing Your Ancestry: A Step-By-Step Guide to Researching
Your Family History" Cost - $1.00
*"Finding Your Roots" Cost - $1.00
*"Your Official America Online Guide to Genealogy" 2nd
Edition by Matthew L. Helm April Leigh Helm April Helm Cost -
$1.00
*"The Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook (Genealogist's
Companion & Sourcebook)" by Emily Anne Croom Cost - $1.00
*"Genealogy Online, Millennium Edition" by Elizabeth
Powell Crowe Cost - $1.00
So, there are some very good "general" genealogy books,
all for one dollar U.S. Not bad.
Now let's look up the keyword with a SURNAME
-Type in Keywords: ragan genealogy
-What are the Results? There are a mixed variety of books, some of them are promising:
*"Cornerstone Clues" Cost- $5.00
Here is a description of the book: The bookseller is in St. Augustine, FL (near me) Waynesburg, PA Cornerstone Genealogical Soc Feb 1993., 1993. VG; lt soil; mailing label. 11" wraps; Vol XVIII, #1; 30 p; index; articles include Weaver Funeral Home Records, "Buried Treasure", "Faces from the Past", Deed - John Six to John Minor 1793, Bible Records of Robert Adams, Green County Wills 1839-184 0, Waynesburg College Catalogue 1865, and Family of Zachariah Ragan.
*"RAGANS AND RAGANS" Cost - $45.00 by Ragan, Jack. Book Description: 1991 self published genealogy with considerable Georgia content. 82p. Quarto. Signed.
NOTE: This is important to me and my personal research. It is written about Ragans with lots of Georgia information and the author is a Ragan. This is a self published book, so it will be hard to find. For me, this would be worth the higher price.
Let's try with the surname HILLHOUSE:
-Type in the keyword phrase: hillhouse genealogy
-What are the Results? There are some interesting results. Let me point out that you will often see the same book listed at different prices. Why? It depends on what the bookseller wants for it. In this case, there is another reason. See if you can tell at first glance...
*"History and genealogy collection related to the descendants of Reverend James Hillhouse." Cost - $69.50
Book Description: 1924, 1924. Recent reprint on acid-free paper, soft covered in grey with gold lettering on black spine.
*"HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL COLLECTIONS RELATING TO THE DESCENDANTS OF REV. JAMES HILLHOUSE" - Cost $250.00
Book Description: Tobias Wright, Printer, NY 1924, 1924. First Edition. 4to, 7" x 10 1/4". Bound in light green cloth, gilt tops & gilt spine lettering, a massive 694pp. Cover rubbed and a little worn on the edges, new end papers. Good tight copy of a rare first edition genealogy.
See? One is the first edition. If you want to be a book collector, fine. It will cost you. If you want the information for less, you can find reprints or used books in a lesser condition.
Now let's look for PLACES. I live in Duval County, Florida. Try these searches:
-Type in keyword phrase: duval county
-What are the Results? Not very good. There are political books, streets maps, and various non-genealogy stuff
-Type in keyword phrase: history of duval county
-What are the Results? MUCH better. Using 'history of' when searching for books on different places works well. You should see:
*"The Florida Genealogist" Cost- $7.00
*"Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc" (magazine) Cost - $8.00. I've taught at this group's meetings before. I didn't know they had a magazine.
Now, let's be even more specific:
-Type in keyword phrase: history of duval county fl
-What are the Results? There are 5 results.
Here's what is interesting...
-Type in keyword phrase: history of duval county florida
-What are the Results? Now there are 28 results and some of them are great. Including:
*"Duval County, Florida: 1850 Census" from the Southern Genealogist's Exchange Society Cost - $13.04
Another place that I often use in examples is Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Try these searches:
-Type in keyword phrase: oglethorpe county
-What are the Results? Oglethorpe is not the most common name around so there are some wonderful genealogy results. Including:
*"1840 Oglethorpe County Georgia Census Index" Cost - $4.50
*"Oglethorpe County, Georgia History and Biographies" Cost - $5.00
*"LAND LOTTERY LIST OF Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1804 and Hancock County, Georgia, 1806." Cost - $10.00
Not bad at all. Now try...
-Type in keyword phrase: history of oglethorpe county
-What are the Results? There are LESS results than before in this case, but they are very history specific. Includes:
*"Oglethorpe County Georgia Marriages 1795-1852" Cost - $21.00
*"Georgia Local Archives" Cost - $25.00
Book Description: GPO, Washington, 1905. Book Condition: VG. 8vo. pp555 - 596, disbound from the Annual Report Of The American Historical Association For The Year 1904. History and present state of the Georgia archives. Includes Oglethorpe County, Habersham County, Clarke County. Includes an inventory of items.
Now, carry it further:
-Type in keyword phrase: history of oglethorpe county ga
-What are the Results? There are 10 results, but they are great.
Again, use the full name of the state (Georgia) versus the abbreviation (ga).
-Type in keyword phrase: history of oglethorpe county georgia
-What are the Results? There are 20 great results. Some are what we've already looked at, but these are solid results.
But what if the county name is COMMON? After all, what state doesn't have a Green County?
-Type in the key words: green county
-What are the Results? You might get lucky but you need to be more specific.
-Type in keyword phrase: history of green county
-What are the Results? More goofy, non-genealogy results.
-Type in keyword phrase: history of green county ga
-What are the Results? Yes, there are 25 results. This is more like it. Results include:
*"1860 Greene County, Georgia Census Index" Cost - $5.00
*"Georgia Counties: Their Changing Boundaries" Cost - $14.99
-Type in keyword phrase: history of green county georgia
-What are the Results? There are 64 results. I've seen some of them from previous searches shown in this lesson, but there are new ones. Great results!
You get the idea, right?
Now go and do searches like these for YOUR surnames and places of interest. I'll bet you find some valuable treasures to help you in your research.
Of course, there are other keywords you can use including city names, townships, events, etc. Give it a try. I think that you will agree that this is a top notch resource that you will use again and again.