The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Generation by Generation
A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy
by Drew Smith. Published by Genealogical Publishing. 2023. 170 pages.

Years ago, (actually, it’s been decades ago, where has the time gone..) “computer genealogists” were relegated to the dark back corner of the genealogy conference exhibit hall, and researchers who published their genealogies citing computer records as their sources were roundly scorned, disdained, and fighting a battle for acceptance and approval within the authoritative community. Eventually, Cyndi with her personal charm and indispensable List, and Dick with his internet savvy and Newsletter popularity, and Family Tree Maker with software that made data input quick and easy, computers, technology, and the internet nudged genealogy into an emerging new world.

Generation to Generation is a how-to book for researching your family roots, books you don’t often see published nowadays. This book works by offering a look at resources via technology, that is, nearly all records that are online and in digital form. Records are discoverable as you’re just sitting at your desk, firing up a capable computer, connected to, most desirably, two full-sized monitors, with a number-pad keyboard at your fingertips and an ergonomic mouse that won’t maim your wrist.

The author begins with a chapter on Names, Places, and Dates. Overview descriptions and a plentitude of illustrations clarify the points. Every chapter is like that: an introduction describing the records, then information on where to find the relevant records via internet resources, then information on how to organize and present your genealogy via software.

Chapters that follow cover relationships, the genealogical research process, tools and methods for keeping organized, DNA testing, and how to look for previous research done on your family.

This is not to say that traditional methods of genealogy have been ignored. They have not. The author shares information about the time-honored process of finding repositories that hold your records, evaluating the records that you do find, and the many types of records to look for: newspapers, burial records, city directories; the gamut of records that are out there awaiting discovery.

This is an updated genealogy research how-to book, meeting technologically savvy researchers where they are today, and helping them move forward.

Generation by Generation may be purchased from Genealogical Publishing Company at: https://genealogical.com/store/generation-by-generation/ as well as from Amazon.