Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My initial impression based on thumbing through this book is fhat it is nearly impossible to read. For starters: the text type face is deep gray instead of black - a problem in itself for many readers especially we older folk. The second (most aggravating) issue is that ALL Ancestry website screen shots appear in gray-scale with poor contrast. Honestly, I have never seen such poor screen shot reproductuon in a professionally printed book. Maps are particularly bad. Most screen shot illustrations remind me of those grayed-out ineligible choices we encounter on the web. On websites dimmed matter clue us to move on. But in this book - we can't get the point the author makes without studying these hard to read dim gray examples. How can I learn from her if I can not read the screenshot illustration provided? This is the first book ever I've purchased where I believe the publisher made a mess of an author's good manuscript. Family Tree Books (I believe) is the publisher of Family Tree Magazine. If so, I bet they have equipment able to enhance the quality of any image in terms of contrast, brilliance, shadow, exposure, black point and then print them at a suitable resolution for excellent reproduction. I can not rationalize any excuse for the poor illustrations in this book. Now that I've posted warning regarding print quality here is my take on the book's content. Ms. Hendricksen's topic coverage is quite good. She explains early on the two modes of Ancestry Search She explains when she uses Ancestry's General Search but that Ancestry's Card Catalog can generally be more effective. I take exception to her General Search Form example on page 12, Item 1. Gee, I cant fathom why she states contacting the Ancestey tree owner would be a first step. Reviewing the user's tree for relevance and quality would be the researchers logical first step in my mind. Afterall, the tree was not marked private. It would have been a good thing if she included an emphatic warning to new researchers about the dangers of taking other's trees as gospel at this point. Family trees on Ancestry vary greatly in accuracy, most contain errors and are best used as research hints rather than facts. I enjoy the conversational step by step tutoring Ms. Hendrickson employs. This and its forms are precisely why the book is worthwhile reading for new or old genealogists learning Ancestry for the first time. The Research Strategies at each chapter's end summarize the points in the chapter's narrative and online exercises succinctly and well. Most of her worksheets and checklists are valuable for researchers of any experience level as reminders of stones that should be upturned and examined. A few, such as found between pages 157 to 162, are so inclusive as to make the book worth buying. In fairness I must say that all her forms are well presented, well printed and easy to read. Many are available for download from her publisher. Comments regarding the DNA Chaptee: The Relationship Chart on page page 143 in the Ancestry DNA is beneficial but should have been paired with an ISOOG DNA percentage and relationship possibility chart. Ms. Hendrickson should have suggested readers start researching their "closest DNA matches first" rather than suggsst they start with 2nd to 3rd cousins. Many dna testers are surprised to learn of unknown and unexpected siblings and first cousins. Fewer yet but even more dramatic are parent/child dna match surprises. Are these closest matches to be ignored? Heck No! My hope is that this book sells enough to go into a second printing whereby the print deficiencies of the first may be remedied. For new Ancestry users this book could save valuable time lost in early aimless newbie dinking, trial, error and climbing the wrong trees. This workbook falls a little textually in places, is brilliant in others but fails miserably as to illustration print quality. At 74, too much of this book is simply too hard for me to read and work through. My rating reflects my disappointment.