Google is My Friend, Especially in a Pandemic!

By Jim Thornhill

Google Books

I have talked briefly about Google Books in previous articles, but let’s drill down on this marvelous website. During this time of restricted access to our libraries, Google Books can be even more useful for your genealogy research.

One of Google Books’ best features is the selection. The site offers over 10 million free books, and countless other books for sale. They have links to other booksellers’ sites, so that if they don’t have what you need, you can follow a link to other sites to find it.

Google offers many older books that are out of copyright. I like these sources because the authors often had the opportunity to witness, or to talk to people who witnessed, the events recorded in the book. To me, these sources are much more credible than a present day historian who is trying to interpret records or make sense out of some 200-year-old artifacts.
Google Books’ search options are another great feature. Many of the books have been scanned, which means you can search for almost any term and Google will scan not only the book titles, but also scan all the pages of these books for your search terms. Even if the book is about something completely different than your interest, Google will find if it contains the information you need.

You can use the search terms that we have covered in previous articles to narrow your results. Using the search terms ‘“Marion County, Mississippi” and “1800..1850” resulted in sixteen books, most directly referencing Marion County in the first half of the 19th century, but six of them were histories of families that had lived in Marion County at that time. Wouldn’t it be a nice surprise if one of them contained the surname that you are researching?

If your family history budget is as small as mine is, you will also find many books that you would love to own but just can’t afford. Don’t despair! Head on over to www.worldcat.org to see if it is in a nearby library. You would be surprised. I found the Journal of Mississippi History at the James Gee library in Commerce, Texas!

Whether you’re looking for a lost ancestor buried in the pages of a family history or researching your family’s community, Google Books can help. Use it today to reveal some of your family secrets!