I received this volume through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

I admit I am not in the target audience group for this book. I've been a genealogy hobbyist for a quarter of a century. So I forced myself to pretend I was a novice, looking for guidance on how to begin, where to go, how to document my findings. I concluded that this book is so annoyingly superficial that would have done me no good if I was a novice. Issues like conflicting evidence, which I've attended hour-long seminars learning about, are dealt with in a short paragraph in this book. Major web sites aren't dealt with in any detail. I could go on, but I'd be redundant. With the possible exception of DNA evidence, which is discussed in slightly more depth, this is not a worthwhile read.

Even more irritating was the tone of the author, who takes the voice of a little league coach cheering on “progress” which the novice has made. I found this condescending and amateurish. Not recommended. ( )

I found this book to have very little relevant information on the current available software. ( )

This is essentially a cliffs notes collection of tips for someone who is new to genealogical research. I was expecting, based on the title, for it to have more information about websites and computer programs used for genealogical research but that's not really what the book contains.

This e-book is not very lengthy, organized into small chapters, containing bite sized tips and advice. There is not any detailed information about how to do anything or use any of the resources he mentions. He does cover the main websites used for genealogical research, but nothing about any programs that one might use to organize the information on your computer without using the internet, which is what I was hoping to learn more about.

As someone who has already had experience working on genealogies there was not a lot of helpful information for me, however, I did find his summary of different resources for DNA testing and interpretations to be somewhat helpful as I have little experience with them.

Anyone who is already familiar with genealogical research will likely be disappointed, but a newcomer might find some helpful tips or advice about how to get started.

Software Tools for Genealogy is a cursory introduction to its subject matter. It is really just a list with brief definitions of types of digital tools that can be used in genealogy research. It provides no how-tos, recommendations, or reviews. Disappointing. ( )

This 86-page book is mistitled and contains virtually no useful information. The substantive content is so general it will already be familiar to most readers. The format artificially inflates the meager contents. A bolded margin title precedes each paragraph (typically four to six lines long), and the chapters are 5-6 pages long. Each chapter begins with an expression of gratitude that readers have returned and concludes with a page or more summary of the general focus of the next chapter. In sum, these elements constitute half of the content.

Although it took barely 90 minutes to read the book, it was 90 minutes wasted. ( )