Genealogy Books have for a long time been the way in which family tree and genealogy data are stored and accounted for. Therefore large stockpiles of information still lye in these old books and they should be used in your family tree research.
Books provide researches great information about which direction a beginner needs to follow and have the ability to turn a complete novice into a genealogy expert. If you have not yet been converted by the interesting and ever changing world of genealogy research you just need to pick up a well written book on family tree research and you may very well be converted.
One reason why have a good read about your long lost grandfather, is it is a way of self reflection and self understanding. Their is a little bit of your ancestors in you, they shaped part of who you are today so it pays to find out just who they were and what their lives were like.
They may well have travelled many miles to get to the land you now call home and take for granted. Genealogy books and uncover all this for you.
The history of our ancestors in a way defines our present so that the better understanding we have of our past better prepares us for the future.
To give you an example, your surname has gone through a bewildering array of marital exchanges which ended up eventually at you. It is interesting to find out how surnames have changed over the years. At certain dates in American history some surnames changed completely.
This is because immigrants with surnames that the Americans could not pronounce simply altered or completely renamed them. Another fascinating fact found in books is the fact that the names like Baker, Potter, Tanner are often rooted in what our ancestors’ did for a living. So you can look up your family name and discover if there was any connection to a job of some sort.
Some use genealogy books a completely different purpose. Certain lines and lineages can be predisposed to illness and disease. So looking up your family tree to discover how your ancestors died is a good idea to determine what you should be weary of.
Illness can and is Genetically inherited from our parents so your lifestyle can change dramatically after you look into genealogy lines and discover your likelihood of falling ill to a certain cancer for example. Being able to trace these conditions, and who in our family had it can more or less predict, if not warn us of the kind of lifestyle we must lead in order to avoid the same condition.
Be sure to not rely solely on books however. They are a great source of information but there are others and you should complete your research from a wide variety of different sources.