Just received my copy of "The Library: a Guide to the LDS Family
History Library" from Ancestry Publishing.

This is a massive reference book, and quite clearly a valuable
companion to "The Source."

It is divided into three major sections: a how-to-use description
of the LDS Church's Family History Library (FHL) and catalog
system (FHLC), U.S. Library files by geographic region & state,
and foreign Library files by geographic region & country.  The
two latter sections are essentially indexes to the FHLC; they
will provide the researcher a good head-start before he or she
plunges into the somewhat intimidating task of retrieving records
from the FHL.

As an example of what you can expect to find in the U.S. section,
here are the headings under New York:

      -- Historical background (state history chronology)
      -- Chronology of Ellis Island
      -- Settlement & Migration
      -- Atlases, Maps, & Gazateers
      -- Cemetery Records
      -- Census Records
      -- Church Records
      -- Court Records
      -- Directories
      -- Genealogy
      -- Immigration/Emigration Records
      -- Land & Property Records
      -- Military Records
      -- Native American Records
      -- Naturalization Records
      -- Newspapers
      -- Probate Records
      -- Tax Records
      -- Vital Records
      -- Voting Records

In addition, full-page matrices show which of these record
categories (and others) can be found in each state by
jurisdiction (county).  For New York, 62 jurisdictions are listed
opposite 43 record categories -- exhaustive indeed.

Foreign geographic regions covered are:

      -- Canada
      -- England & Wales
      -- Ireland
      -- Scotland
      -- Scandinavia
      -- Germany & Central Europe
      -- Eastern Europe
      -- Southern Europe
      -- Western Europe
      -- South America
      -- Central America & Mexico
      -- South Pacific
      -- Caribbean
      -- Africa
      -- (Medieval Families Identification Unit)

What makes all of this so useful is its inclusion of FHLC call
numbers.  Example: "Guide to Vital Statistics Records of Churches
in New York State (exclusive of NYC).  Albany: The Survey, 1942.
(FHL# 974.7/K23h or microfilm 908710)."

"The Library" is not a browser's book.  It's a working tool and a
new must-have for every genealogist's desk.  My own mini library
is now complete:

      -- The Source
      -- The Library
      -- Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives
      -- Where to Write for Vital Records (DHHS pub #87-1142)
      -- The Handy Book for Genealogists
      -- Rand-McNally Atlas of World History
      -- A Survey of American Church Records
      -- The Genealogical Helper (subscription)

All of this material, together with COMMSOFT's Roots II, makes me
unstoppable.  Now if I only knew what I were doing!

  -- Bob Fliegel, Roanoke, VA.
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