One of the areas that Rootstech could improve on is more books. I love buying books about my work and I’m always trying to build my reference library further. This year saw the release of a new book written by Michael S. Ramage & Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais (amongst others) and published by the National Genealogical Society, who were selling it at their stand. Some of the authors were there and they kindly signed my copy. You can also buy the book through their website. At USD $55 plus shipping, it is not a cheap read. Those wishing to buy from Europe or elsewhere should check whether they might also be charged customs duties if buying from the USA.
Forensic genealogy covers an array of topics where genealogists assist the legal profession. The best known examples would be probate work (helping to find heirs for an estate), citizenship claims and the identification of victims or criminals through investigative genetic genealogy.
The book is broken down into 2 parts, with chapters on the main categories of forensic genealogy:
- Tracing heirs
- Real estate issues
- Military repatriation
- Unknown parentage using DNA
- Investigative genetic genealogy
- Dual citizenship
- A catch-all of smaller categories (artefact provenance, helping with memoirs, etc)
These chapters are written by different people including the two main authors and other specialists in their field. Some of these such as mineral rights and military repatriation are necessarily very specific to the USA. The second part focuses on skills building.
Although it is a US publication, there’s still plenty to learn for a professional in another country like me or those who would just like a deeper understanding. If you are an early career professional, this book would also be useful if you’re considering specialising into a particular area or diversifying your abilities. It’s not a how-to manual but there is a lot of methodology, which is great. There are a lot of practical examples, case studies, templates and advice for professionals in the areas of ethics, business considerations and report writing. However, this does mean that a hobbyist or amateur only focused on their own family tree is probably going to find this book a little too in-depth. This doesn’t mean it’s a dry read though, it’s very accessible and the chapter format allows for easy dipping in.
There’s a section on how to gain citizenship of other countries with summaries for many places and a much more detailed section on both Italian and Irish citizenship (which I’m happy to report is exactly right).
As a professional, I think this will become an essential text, but it’s probably too detailed for a casual hobbyist. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts.