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Quillen's Essentials of Genealogy #1
Mastering Online Genealogy
The best introduction to using the Internet to search for your ancestors!
Quillen's Essentials of Genealogy series examines one topic per book so you can really go in-depth in the search for your ancestors. Mastering Online Genealogy covers the use of computers and the Internet to successfully do your own genealogical research. The book includes information genealogy databases—what they are, where they are, and how to use them; free genealogy who they are, strengths and weaknesses; subscription who they are, what they cost; pitfalls to watch out for, pratfalls to avoid the value of message boards, blogs, etc.; and what kind of computer and software to buy. The author also includes genealogy software reviews and a glossary of terms. Quillen's books have been praised by Family Chronicle magazine, Genealogy Today, BellaOnline, and many others.
Quillen's Essentials of Genealogy series examines one topic per book so you can really go in-depth in the search for your ancestors. Mastering Online Genealogy covers the use of computers and the Internet to successfully do your own genealogical research. The book includes information genealogy databases—what they are, where they are, and how to use them; free genealogy who they are, strengths and weaknesses; subscription who they are, what they cost; pitfalls to watch out for, pratfalls to avoid the value of message boards, blogs, etc.; and what kind of computer and software to buy. The author also includes genealogy software reviews and a glossary of terms. Quillen's books have been praised by Family Chronicle magazine, Genealogy Today, BellaOnline, and many others.
160 pages, Paperback
First published July 12, 2011
About the author
W. Daniel Quillen
11 books11 followersFor more than 20 years, W. Daniel Quillen has been a professional writer specializing in travel and technical subjects. He has taught beginning genealogy courses to university students and working adults, and is a frequent lecturer in beginning and intermediate genealogy classes in Colorado. He has compiled his years of genealogical training and research into a growing series of genealogy how-to books. He lives in Centennial, Colorado, with his wife and children.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 2, 2017
This is a good book if you are looking for very concise but helpful genealogy research tips.
I've been building my tree for quite some time now, but I seem to be stuck around 1820s. I just cannot get any further than that on any of the various great grandparents' lineage. This book has given me a lot of ideas, research tips, and websites to use to try to find more information.
The only downside is, it's such a rabbit hole! I found myself spend 3 whole hours today just on my grandmothers ancestry. But it's pretty amazing every time you find some good information like occupation, a grave stone, or an exact address from a grandparent 100 years ago! The added bonus of google street view makes finding addresses even more valuable.
Anyways, this is a nice brief how-to for beginners. Even though it is a few years old, all of the websites I bookmarked from it are still active.
I've been building my tree for quite some time now, but I seem to be stuck around 1820s. I just cannot get any further than that on any of the various great grandparents' lineage. This book has given me a lot of ideas, research tips, and websites to use to try to find more information.
The only downside is, it's such a rabbit hole! I found myself spend 3 whole hours today just on my grandmothers ancestry. But it's pretty amazing every time you find some good information like occupation, a grave stone, or an exact address from a grandparent 100 years ago! The added bonus of google street view makes finding addresses even more valuable.
Anyways, this is a nice brief how-to for beginners. Even though it is a few years old, all of the websites I bookmarked from it are still active.
June 24, 2018
I really liked this book and thought it had a lot to offer. I liked all the websites it listed and that it gave descriptions of each and what type of information you could get from them. There are some hints that the author gave me to help get past some roadblocks I have. I also liked how the author used personal touches from his own family searches to show you how things worked. I will be going back to this book many times to help me in my own search for my ancestors.
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August 15, 2016From Candice:
"I, like many people I work with and see here at the Library, am interested in genealogy. I’ve done a little bit of research here and there, mainly on my mother’s side of the family. Her maiden name is Klein, her father’s first name was Henderikus, and this ended up being a good name to start with. Aside from the fact that it was often misspelled, it is a somewhat unique name which made it a little easier to trace, and I was able to find him in the census records, as well as documentation of his family’s immigration from the Netherlands. Working backwards, I eventually hit a genealogy jackpot, when I found someone from the Netherlands who had done the research for the same relatives I was looking at, all the way back to the 1600s.
My father’s last name is Smith. I have resisted doing any research on that side of the family out of fear that I would be lost in a morass of Smiths in the midwest, unable to go much further than a couple generations. However, I recently decided to give it a try. I started with my grandfather, Carl Smith (sidenote: for some reason, his nicknames were Bus and Buster. I was honestly surprised when, in my teens, I found out his name was Carl.) Using Ancestry, and searching his name with the city of Oelwein, Iowa, I find several people with that name. The first Carl Smith listed was born in 1897, and while I don’t know my grandfather’s exact birth date, I know it’s not that. There is a Carl listed born in 1923, and that looks more likely. The record is from a 1925 state census, and at first the names of the parents don’t ring a bell for me–Fred and Manna. However, I know from my grandfather’s obituary that his father was named Ferd, so an easy misspelling, and I also see a sister named Mardell on this record, whom I do recall. This is the right Carl Smith.
This state census recorded other data, as well. When using Ancestry and viewing the images, you sometimes need to be sure to use the arrow buttons to page back and forth, to see if information for the same family is continued on the previous or next page(s). In this case, the second page of information tells me that Ferd, and my grandfather, were born in Missouri–this is something I did not know! For each person in the census, it also lists their parents names, places of birth, and the state that they were married in. A little goldmine of information, all in one census. I now have my great-great grandfather’s name, along with his wife’s, to look for in older records.
Looking through these records is so interesting, for many reasons. You find out things about your family that you didn’t know, you find specific details about them that lets you know a little more about them; Ferd Smith was in the Army during World War I, he completed grade 6 and his wife completed grade 9, he was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, she with a Christian one. These small details let me know a little bit more about the family my own grandfather grew up in, they let me know more about him.
Next up: looking for John and Effie Smith."
"I, like many people I work with and see here at the Library, am interested in genealogy. I’ve done a little bit of research here and there, mainly on my mother’s side of the family. Her maiden name is Klein, her father’s first name was Henderikus, and this ended up being a good name to start with. Aside from the fact that it was often misspelled, it is a somewhat unique name which made it a little easier to trace, and I was able to find him in the census records, as well as documentation of his family’s immigration from the Netherlands. Working backwards, I eventually hit a genealogy jackpot, when I found someone from the Netherlands who had done the research for the same relatives I was looking at, all the way back to the 1600s.
My father’s last name is Smith. I have resisted doing any research on that side of the family out of fear that I would be lost in a morass of Smiths in the midwest, unable to go much further than a couple generations. However, I recently decided to give it a try. I started with my grandfather, Carl Smith (sidenote: for some reason, his nicknames were Bus and Buster. I was honestly surprised when, in my teens, I found out his name was Carl.) Using Ancestry, and searching his name with the city of Oelwein, Iowa, I find several people with that name. The first Carl Smith listed was born in 1897, and while I don’t know my grandfather’s exact birth date, I know it’s not that. There is a Carl listed born in 1923, and that looks more likely. The record is from a 1925 state census, and at first the names of the parents don’t ring a bell for me–Fred and Manna. However, I know from my grandfather’s obituary that his father was named Ferd, so an easy misspelling, and I also see a sister named Mardell on this record, whom I do recall. This is the right Carl Smith.
This state census recorded other data, as well. When using Ancestry and viewing the images, you sometimes need to be sure to use the arrow buttons to page back and forth, to see if information for the same family is continued on the previous or next page(s). In this case, the second page of information tells me that Ferd, and my grandfather, were born in Missouri–this is something I did not know! For each person in the census, it also lists their parents names, places of birth, and the state that they were married in. A little goldmine of information, all in one census. I now have my great-great grandfather’s name, along with his wife’s, to look for in older records.
Looking through these records is so interesting, for many reasons. You find out things about your family that you didn’t know, you find specific details about them that lets you know a little more about them; Ferd Smith was in the Army during World War I, he completed grade 6 and his wife completed grade 9, he was affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, she with a Christian one. These small details let me know a little bit more about the family my own grandfather grew up in, they let me know more about him.
Next up: looking for John and Effie Smith."
February 1, 2017
It was very long winded - clearly he's very proud of his search for ancestors. I found myself scanning through and skipping over entire pages because there was no helpful information contained in them. Also, though this is the 4th edition (published in 2012), it wasn't edited very well, as it talks about things to come - in 2010!
There is some moderately helpful info in the book (maybe 4-5 things I found useful), but I'm not sure it was worth reading the entire thing to source it out. Just my .02.
There is some moderately helpful info in the book (maybe 4-5 things I found useful), but I'm not sure it was worth reading the entire thing to source it out. Just my .02.
March 5, 2018
Very helpful, although a bit dated.
April 9, 2018
This is the second book on genealogy by Quillen that I have read. Once again, I found it an excellent introduction to how to get started in genealogy - relatively simple explanations with some concrete examples. While this is somewhat dated (the internet has continued to increase its offerings even in the last couple of years), it was still a good introduction to at least some of what is out there and available to the budding genealogist.
May 29, 2017
Very helpful in explaining how to refine your searches.
December 26, 2017
Not a bad beginner book, just very very basic.
August 18, 2020
A bit dated but still useful especially if you are new to genealogy. I am not new but still found some useful info in there.
July 12, 2021
Helpful book. I found some new stuff from the tips.
February 23, 2013
I just borrowed, Mastering Genealogy Online (2nd Edition) by Daniel Quillen from my local library. It has a copyright date of 2012. I have read some several genealogy how-to books in the past, but it has truly been a few years. I have my own methods for online genealogy searches that work for me (I am a librarian), but it seemed like a good idea to see what Mr. Quillen had to say.
Let's get straight to the point of this review: The author of this small volume shares my opinion that Ancestry (including the Library Edition) is a little difficult at times to work with because it returns thousands of hits, most which have nothing to do with your ancestor. In my experience, one of my 3rd great-grandfathers does not have much information available. I believe that I have all the information already available online for him. He is not even in the 1880 US Census when he should be. However, I have still looked on Ancestry Library Edition, just to verify that. When I look him up - the last name is actually quite unique - I get thousands of hits. Most the names that it "hits" upon have nothing to do with the actual gentleman for whom I am looking. Often they are women who are not related, or in some cases, are the grandchildren of his possible brother, if I'm lucky. I have been frustrated with Ancestry's nondiscrimination for a few years. (I much prefer familysearch in its hits and matches. And the information is free.)
Here is the quote from Mr. Quillen's book:
"The only complaint I have is that, for whatever reason, Ancestry seems compelled to provide me with about any hit that is even remotely similar to the information for which I am seeking. Even when I used their Advance Search capabilities, similar-but-clearly-different information is provided" (97).
He uses an example from his own family tree, and then says, also on the same page, "Okay - thank you. It was good to get that off my chest."
This is a very good little book on how to get started with online genealogy. Mr. Quillen discusses free and subscription databases, as well as other things like computer essentials and software.
As a note, I have been working online (and offline) on my family tree since 1999.
Let's get straight to the point of this review: The author of this small volume shares my opinion that Ancestry (including the Library Edition) is a little difficult at times to work with because it returns thousands of hits, most which have nothing to do with your ancestor. In my experience, one of my 3rd great-grandfathers does not have much information available. I believe that I have all the information already available online for him. He is not even in the 1880 US Census when he should be. However, I have still looked on Ancestry Library Edition, just to verify that. When I look him up - the last name is actually quite unique - I get thousands of hits. Most the names that it "hits" upon have nothing to do with the actual gentleman for whom I am looking. Often they are women who are not related, or in some cases, are the grandchildren of his possible brother, if I'm lucky. I have been frustrated with Ancestry's nondiscrimination for a few years. (I much prefer familysearch in its hits and matches. And the information is free.)
Here is the quote from Mr. Quillen's book:
"The only complaint I have is that, for whatever reason, Ancestry seems compelled to provide me with about any hit that is even remotely similar to the information for which I am seeking. Even when I used their Advance Search capabilities, similar-but-clearly-different information is provided" (97).
He uses an example from his own family tree, and then says, also on the same page, "Okay - thank you. It was good to get that off my chest."
This is a very good little book on how to get started with online genealogy. Mr. Quillen discusses free and subscription databases, as well as other things like computer essentials and software.
As a note, I have been working online (and offline) on my family tree since 1999.
September 10, 2012
This was kind of helpful, and it was interesting and funny. When I put my ancestors in google, though, it pulls up ancestry.com pages that you have to buy a subscription to get to, and no thank you - I'll be using the one at the library. So I didn't really get anywhere. Then my great grandpa is named Arthur Miller, so none of those 5 million google hits is relevant to me. Most of the success I've had with genealogy has been with the ancestry.com database at the library, and I wouldn't have found half what I did had some of my relatives not given me letters, pictures, a link to an awesome book about one branch of my family - John and Prudence (Emrey) Lloyd. This guy wrote what sounds like a dissertation on the family, researching it extensively and providing as many notes as there were pages of story. My second or third great grandma was the sister of his great grandpa. Very very interesting. But this is not a review of that book.
So yes, I am really getting into genealogy, and this book is interesting and somewhat helpful, but most of my ancestors are not notable or interestingly named, and so they don't show up in most of your web and database searches. Plus, most of the tips (Boolean searches, for example) were not news to me, as I am a librarian. If you don't know about Boolean searches, though, you should learn.
So yes, I am really getting into genealogy, and this book is interesting and somewhat helpful, but most of my ancestors are not notable or interestingly named, and so they don't show up in most of your web and database searches. Plus, most of the tips (Boolean searches, for example) were not news to me, as I am a librarian. If you don't know about Boolean searches, though, you should learn.
October 11, 2013
Good book for beginners and I am glad that I bought it. The only complaint that I had is that I read several genealogy blogs and All the information in the books has been in the blogs that I have read at one time or another, but it is good to have it as a resource book and I don't have to keep all the printed pages that I would have if I didn't own the book.
November 30, 2013
A little out of date in places, some recommendations aren't around any more and others now present aren't mentioned, but still an excellent book that shows you the incredible resources available online for all genealogists.
January 23, 2017
A quick refresher reference when picking back up on research after a hiatus. Since it is copyrighted 2012 some of the information is outdated but it does help get back into the mindset of the history hunter. I borrowed this from my local library.
January 3, 2013
A great book for the beginner researcher, especially those who are novice to online searching.
January 2, 2016
Quick read - and I have started a family tree research project and I am hoping this book will motivate me. Since it is a 2012 edition- I would imagine there are more recent tip books out there.
September 20, 2011
Useful info, especially websites both free and subscription.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews