Finding Indiana Ancestors

I don't have 50 introduction-to-genealogy-in-our-state books lined up to compare side by side, but the Indiana Historical Society's Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research might just be the class of the field. Frankly, I wasn't sure I could justify the $30 price; having checked it out of the local library and looked it over, now I think it's a bargain -- and the kind of book that may be useful both to novices and those who've been around a while.

Beginners can benefit from the overview chapter on internet research by Amy Johnson Crow. I'm looking forward to learning the differences between the Indiana State Library, the Indiana State Archives, and the Indiana Historical Society Library. And even the browser can benefit from the six model articles, including Randy Mills on placing ancestors in historical context and Ernie Moore's hard-headed investigation of the family story that William Park Herron was wounded at Chickamauga. Fair warning: long-time Indiana researchers may already have many of these articles on their shelves in back issues of Hoosier Genealogist and THG:Connections.