BOOKS–WHY WE STILL NEED THEM–WHICH ONES ARE IN YOUR LIBRARY?

In this day & age we have so many electronic devices at our disposal.  Just in our home we have the following list of electronic devices:

• HP desktop computer with dual monitors (my genealogy central)
• Toshiba laptop – mine, to take on trips and to libraries
• Toshiba laptop – my husband’s computer, so he doesn’t have to fight with me for the desktop.  LOL!
• An iPad which I use all the time
• A Samsung tablet for my husband
• Kindle paperwhite – for my reading
• 2 iPhones
• Garmin - to take on trips when we rent cars

Have I forgotten anything?  I don’t think so.

With all of the millions and millions of records currently online and coming online all the time, do we still even need books?

The answer is a resounding YES!

Because, until every single book, in every repository around the globe has been scanned, we will be missing out, if we don’t use books.

• What’s in your library?
• Do you buy books?  If so, how often?
• Do you borrow books?
• Do you download books from the internet?  Or, read them online?
• Do you go to libraries?

I have always been a book lover.  I’ve been an avid reader from the time I learned to read.  That gene was handed down from my mother and grandmother, who are & were avid readers.

There are copyright & public domain laws in place that will tell us which books might be available online.  Please see my reference below for more information about that subject.

For my purposes, I make it easy and remember the 1923 rule about works prior to that, first registered or published in the United States are now in public domain.

Date of Publication6	Conditions7	Copyright Term3
Before 1923	None	None. In the public domain due to copyright expiration

That means that for any book published before 1923 (depending on the circumstances regarding publishing), we may have to access online.  This would all depend on whether the book has been scanned & put online.

I am certainly not a lawyer or professional when it comes to all of these laws.  There is another blogger, Judy G. Russell, who writes a blog called “The Legal Genealogist” http://www.legalgenealogist.com/  If you have questions I would refer you to her site.  She has already written several blogs about copyright and would certainly know more than I do.  

Now back to books.  When I first began, in earnest, to research our families I couldn’t read enough about genealogy.   I “needed” to know and I was determined to learn.  In addition to subscribing to every magazine being published back in 2003, I bought books that would help me learn to be a good researcher.  

You can begin using your genealogy database and finding records on Ancestry, Family Search, FindAGrave etc.  But, I wanted to know what to do with those records, how to use them, what else is out there?  Now, we have webinars, YouTube, blogs and tutorials of all kinds right online.  

BUT, you aren’t  likely to find your ancestor’s stories on those sites. A reference or historical book about local history in the area your ancestor lived, will be much more likely to result in those great finds for your ancestor.

I guess the bottom line of what I’m saying here is, don’t dismiss books as resources, in spite of all that we have available online. 

• Go to libraries
• When you are on those genealogy trips, go to the local historical society, library or genealogy society and see what books they have available for reading or purchasing.  I’ve also found books about my ancestors at local bookstores in small towns.
• Check on various websites that offer genealogy books, such as

                - Amazon.com
                - eBay
                - Genealogical.com
               - Google books

I have found wonderful stories about my ancestors and my husbands, that give insight to their lives.  I’ve found names of parents, children & siblings listed.  

Examples of the what I’ve found in books about our family

(Enlarge any image by clicking on it)

Excerpt from The Journal of Abner Sanger with several references to my husband's family

Excerpt from The History of Lawrence County, Ohio Volume I about a Kimball ancestor on my side

Excerpt from The History of Keene, New Hampshire about my husband's ancestor

           

Please see a list of the books contained in my personal library by going to the “Books I Own”  (click on link or go to tab at the top of my blog page)

Here is a reference to the copyright and public domain laws:

Copyright & Public Domain in the United States

We do have access to thousands or millions of books online. They can be read online or downloaded to our computers. But, we need to know which books are in the public domain and available for us.

Here are the current public domain laws as posted on 1 January 2014 at http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

Never Published, Never Registered Works2
Type of Work	Copyright Term	What was in the public domain in the U.S. as of 1 January 20143
Unpublished works	Life of the author + 70 years	Works from authors who died before 1944
Unpublished anonymous and pseudonymous works, and works made for hire (corporate authorship)	120 years from date of creation	Works created before 1894
Unpublished works when the death date of the author is not known4	120 years from date of creation5	Works created before 18945
Works Registered or First Published in the U.S.
Date of Publication6	Conditions7	Copyright Term3
Before 1923	None	None. In the public domain due to copyright expiration
1923 through 1977	Published without a copyright notice	None. In the public domain due to failure to comply with required formalities
1978 to 1 March 1989	Published without notice, and without subsequent registration within 5 years	None. In the public domain due to failure to comply with required formalities
1978 to 1 March 1989	Published without notice, but with subsequent registration within 5 years	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first
1923 through 1963	Published with notice but copyright was not renewed8	None. In the public domain due to copyright expiration
1923 through 1963	Published with notice and the copyright was renewed8	95 years after publication date
1964 through 1977	Published with notice	95 years after publication date
1978 to 1 March 1989	Created after 1977 and published with notice	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first
1978 to 1 March 1989	Created before 1978 and first published with notice in the specified period	The greater of the term specified in the previous entry or 31 December 2047
From 1 March 1989 through 2002	Created after 1977	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first
From 1 March 1989 through 2002	Created before 1978 and first published in this period	The greater of the term specified in the previous entry or 31 December 2047
After 2002	None	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first
Anytime	Works prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties. 21	None. In the public domain in the United States (17 U.S.C. § 105)
Works First Published Outside the U.S. by Foreign Nationals or U.S. Citizens Living Abroad9
Date of Publication	Conditions	Copyright Term in the United States
Before 1923	None	In the public domain (But see first special case below)
Works Published Abroad Before 197810
1923 through 1977	Published without compliance with US formalities, and in the public domain in its source country as of 1 January 1996 (but see special cases) 20	In the public domain
1923 through 1977	Published in compliance with all US formalities (i.e., notice, renewal)11	95 years after publication date
1923 through 1977	Solely published abroad, without compliance with US formalities or republication in the US, and not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996 (but see special cases)	95 years after publication date
1923 through 1977	Published in the US less than 30 days after publication abroad	Use the US publication chart to determine duration
1923 through 1977	Published in the US more than 30 days after publication abroad, without compliance with US formalities, and not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996 (but see special cases)	95 years after publication date
Works Published Abroad After 1 January 1978
1 January 1978 - 1 March 1989	Published without copyright notice, and in the public domain in its source country as of 1 January 1996 (but see special cases)20	In the public domain
1 January 1978 - 1 March 1989	Published without copyright notice in a country that is a signatory to the Berne Convention and is not in the public domain in its source country as of 1 January 1996 (but see special cases) 20	70 years after the death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication
1 January 1978 - 1 March 1989	Published with copyright notice by a non-US citizen in a country that was party to the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC)	70 years after the death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication
After 1 March 1989	Published in a country that is a signatory to the Berne Convention	70 years after the death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication
After 1 March 1989	Published in a country with which the United States does not have copyright relations under a treaty	In the public domain
Special Cases
1 July 1909 through 1978	In Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands ONLY. Published in a language other than English, and without subsequent republication with a copyright notice12	Treat as an unpublished work until such date as first US-compliant publication occurred
Prior to 27 May 1973	Published by a national of Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan in either country19	In the public domain
After 26 May 1973	Published by a national of Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan in either country19	May be protected under the UCC
Anytime	Created by a resident of Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, or San Marino, and published in one of these countries13	Not protected by US copyright law until they become party to bilateral or international copyright agreements
Anytime	Works whose copyright was once owned or administered by the Alien Property Custodian, and whose copyright, if restored, would as of January 1, 1996, be owned by a government14	Not protected by US copyright law
Anytime	If published in one of the following countries, the 1 January 1996 date given above is replaced by the date of the country's membership in the Berne Convention or the World Trade Organization, whichever is earlier: Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Comoros, Jordan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Micronesia, Montenegro, Nepal, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen

Go and take advantage of the wealth of history and genealogical information about your ancestors by finding those books that make reference to them.

And, learn more about finding your ancestors by reading books about research.

As always, happy hunting,

Michigan Girl,

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall