The GRD, compiled and edited by Keith A. Johnson and Malcolm R. Sainty, directors of the Library of Australian History in North Sydney, Australia, is the largest query book on surnames available. The current issue contains nearly 150,000 entries from genealogists in Great Britain, Canada, United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It also lists more than 400 archives, record offices and major libraries, and more than 600 genealogical societies worldwide. Nonprofit genealogical societies and historical societies with a family history group may be listed for free in the societies section of the directory.
Many researchers now have e-mail addresses listed, making international contact easier and faster.
California residents must also include sales tax. If you're researching Colonial Virginia or in Lancaster County, Penn., a couple of new publications that may be of interest. The 553-page volume begins with Land Patent Book 29 and continues through Patent Book 34. In the index, patentee names appear in uppercase, allowing the user to distinguish between the patentee and other references. The index also includes place names.