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Archiver > RHEA > 2002-02 > 1012698972


From: Norma Lewis <>
Subject: [RHEA] Re: RHEA-D Digest V02 #20
Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2002 17:17:31 -0800
References: <200202021801.g12I1DX20915@lists5.rootsweb.com>


In defense of book authors and sellers (notice I deleted the "tail" in
this digest message) there are all kinds of books and all kinds of
authors. We can tell from the info we get from these Rhea and Ray family
authors that they have done good research and their books are worth
spending some money on ~ if your family lineage is included, or it
covers an area of history you need data on ~ I have always been
impressed with authors who will look up your family data in their own
books for you. They don't have to do that, they could just say your
family is in the book, buy the book. It is very costly to publish books
privately and the only way they can get their initial investment back is
to sell the books themselves. Most of these authors don't make a profit
on their books
and the time they have put into the research. They do it for the pure
love of genealogy research. A book should be the end result of a
lifetime of family research.

Some of these books can be obtained through interlibrary loan if a copy
has been offered to libraries. Many privately printed books don't get
that far. This would be a good solution if you know your family may not
be mentioned, or is only mentioned briefly. These books are wonderful
family heirlooms.

I work with a researcher who has published several books, hardbound, at
$15,000 a crack ~ soft bound is less expensive. I've never bought one of
her books because I know they have lots of errors. She is jumping the
gun, she should wait until her research is at a more complete point, and
she is holding back on one book we are still researching since we havn't
found the progenitor of the family.

I've always planned to do a book too, but I have a different idea. I'm
going to put my data on the net and offer it free ~ with the suggestion
that the data can be inserted into a three-ring binder. This way
researchers can print off only their own branch of the family if that is
all they are interested in, along with the early research. They can add
plastic inserts for photos and clippings, add their own family sheets in
the future, and they will have a complete book of their own family
history. This family history was published in 1892 and is full of
errors, it is available at LDS with the errors. Many researchers have
copied it over the years and claim it as a bible, but these people
probably havn't read the whole book anyway. This isn't genealogy.
Finding the true history is real genealogy and the "meat" of this hobby.
A book is somebody's research and the data should be checked against
primary sources. This is the rule taught by expert researchers. It has
been a hard lesson for me to learn over the years. But, another good
rule is to become familiar with the author, as we have done on this
list, to learn which authors can be trusted for their research.

Sorry, I'll climb off my soapbox now ~ couldn't resist, this has been
such a large part of my own family research, and I'm really sympathetic
with people who publish books and try to get their money back. And when
they do sell them all, people continue to ask for copies, not realizing
that to reprint the author must order a certain number from the
printer, and they may get stuck with those copies if they don't sell.
So, we should really appreciate these guys who publish books and support
their efforts.
Norma




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