A Guidebook of American Genealogy . Szucs, Loretto, and Luebking, Sandra, editors. Using sources such as these will save you countless hours of research. Books that provide historical maps of geographical areas you are researching should also be consulted, as well as those that list all the published family histories available in a particular library. You can also find books that will help you use the computer, and others that will help you organize your work so that others can benefit from your research.
All libraries have a section dedicated to their collection of published family histories.
Here you may discover a volume dedicated entirely to the family name you are researching. While the odds of finding your own name and genealogy in such a book are quite slim, you may find some valuable clues that will aid your research. These volumes are usually displayed in alphabetical order by the name of the principal family covered in the book. Find out if such a volume exists and where it is located. Another section in most county, state, and national libraries is one devoted to published materials relating to other states.