When you first start researching your family history, all you’re going to be thinking about is DNA tests and their results. But once you have the result in your hand, you’ll realize that they only point out raw facts with little or no context.
To begin making sense of things, you need to use traditional genealogical approaches. While DNA testing for ancestry will tell you where you’re from, genetic genealogy services will help you find deeper answers.
So, you can either hire a genetic genealogist or do a little reading.
Here are some must-read books for the genealogical enthusiast inside you.
1. Genealogy Basics in 30 Minutes—For A Crash Course
This simple yet phenomenal book is written by a professional genealogist Shannon Combs-Bennett. The book breaks down the basics of genealogy research into simple parts and aims to guide beginners.
It’s easy to read and shows how genealogical research can start with documents you’d find at home. The book is free of jargon and covers all essential facts, examples, cases, and common FAQs.
2. National Geographic Kids Guide to Genealogy—To Get the Kids on Board the Genealogy Bandwagon
This book is a great way to keep kids entertained during the holidays. It outlines the concepts of genealogy in very simple terms and is both informative and fun. There are also a lot of illustrations and activities that work as stellar learning tools for kids.
In fact, we’d say you can enjoy and learn from this book as much as your child!
3. Sustainable Genealogy—To Learn What to Leave Out of Your Tree
This book is an excellent resource that will help people with more accurate family history research. It essentially shows you what can or cannot be included in your genealogical research.
It basically points toward traditions and family stories that may be hard to prove or may even be proven untrue. The book’s author emphasizes the importance of focusing on facts that can be proven rather than legends and stories passed on by older family members.
4. The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide—To Trace Your German Ancestry
If you’ve got German heritage, this book is for you. While most white Americans are of European descent, tracking your family’s roots can be even trickier if your ancestors were German-speaking.
This book can help you figure out whether your ancestors came from modern-day Germany or other areas in Europe where German was spoken. And chances are they’ve been to a few places before setting the sail for America, so this book can help you retrace all their steps.
5. Organizing Your Genealogy—To Stay on Track
This book is a must-have for all genealogy researchers—beginners and pros. When trying to find your family tree, you’ll be handling many facts, records, and other information. It can get pretty overwhelming really fast.
This book can help you organize the research data and any findings, which in turn will help you work more efficiently.
You can find links to all of these books on our carefully curated genealogy bookshelf. We’re an online DNA analysis service provider offering expert DNA research assistance.
Get in touch with us to learn more about our services.
