Birth, marriage and death records are an essential resource for family historians, and this handbook is an authoritative introduction to them. It explains the original motives for registering these milestones in individual lives, describes how these record-keeping systems evolved, and shows how they can be explored and interpreted.

In every field of study there is one book that rises above the rest in stature and authority and becomes the standard work in the field. In genealogy that book is The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. It instructs the researcher in the timeless principles of genealogical research, while identifying the most current classes of records and research tools. It is both a textbook and an all-purpose reference book, designed to help the present generation...

Genealogical evidence is the information that allows us to identify an individual, an event in his or her life, or the relationship between individuals. In such a process, we often hear or use words such as evidence, proof, or documentation. Brenda Dougall Merriman takes readers through the genealogical process of research and identification, along the way examining how the genealogical community has developed standards of evidence and documentation,...

A guide for family researchers of Italian descent points the way to resources in the United States as well as information available in the town halls, archives, churches, and libraries of Italy.