Abbreviations & Acronyms: A Guide for Family Historians [Paperback]

Kip Sperry (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0916489949 | ISBN-13: 978-0916489946 | Publication Date: September 9, 2000

Puzzled by baffling abbreviations you encounter in your research? Get unpuzzled with this long overdue reference from Ancestry. Quickly lookup the meanings of baffling abbreviations, acronyms, and other cryptic contractions like ARC BIRDIE, DAMRUS, FOIA, GEDCOM, NAIL, Xpofer and thousands more.

If you haven't already come "eye-to-I" with some of these incomprehensible initials, you surely will before long. And even though they often hold the key to further enlightening research, it's impossible to know the meaning of them all, regardless of your level of expertise.

In A&A, compiler Kip Sperry presents an exceptionally detailed list of meanings for:

- abbreviations
- alphabetic symbols
- initials
- contractions
- and shortenings of words...

...those that are found both in original records and in printed sources. The listings, along with a brief explanation or description of each entry, are arranged alphabetically and appear just as they would in the original documents.

Ideal for genealogists, historians, reference librarians, and others who often work with documents that contain abbreviations or acronyms. 8.5" x 11" paperback. 199 pages

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kip Sperry is a professor of family history in the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, where he teaches American and LDS genealogical research methods and sources. He is an Accredited Genealogist??; Certified Genealogist; Certified Genealogical Lecturer; Fellow, American Society of Genealogists; Fellow, National Genealogical Society; and Fellow, Utah Genealogical Association. Kip is author of Abbreviations and Acronyms: A Guide for Family Historians; Genealogical Research in Ohio; Kirtland, Ohio: A Guide to Family History and Historical Sources; Reading Early American Handwriting; other books, chapters, journal articles, and Internet tutorials. He has lectured at national, regional, and state family history conferences and seminars, including BYU genealogy conferences. A graduate of BYU, he was born in Chardon, Ohio.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Finally, a comprehensive guide to those often baffling abbreviations and acronyms you encounter in your research. Listing thousands of abbreviations, alphabetic symbols, initials, contractions and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Ancestry.com (September 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916489949
• ISBN-13: 978-0916489946
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,436,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A 201 Page Reference - All Abbreviations, June 29, 2000

By 

Darren McMannis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abbreviations & Acronyms: A Guide for Family Historians (Paperback)

Kip Sperry has drawn from his vast experience in Genealogy to compile this reference work. This is an alphabetical list of many standard abbreviations along with a very short explanation. It is explained in the introduction that the book is not intended to be a complete list of all the abbreviations one would encounter in their own local research. The book does not instruct nor is it useful to determine the proper abbreviations to use in your own work. However, if you come upon unidentifiable abbreviations in your family history research, this book may just have the answer you seek. Entries such as lp (local preacher) and Twif (traveler's wife) will be helpful if you need that information, but if you don't know what a "stoker" (stkr) is, this won't tell you. It is not a dictionary but rather a basic list, yet a very valuable list if you're completely stumped as to the meaning of an abbreviation in your genealogical research. It is also valuable as you read through the list as it will help give you a sense of the ways words were abbreviated which may help you decipher more local abbreviations not listed specifically in this book. I would like to have seen more detailed explanations, many more abbreviations listed, and a reverse index. However, for the many abbreviations and acronyms contained, it contains information you will not readily find anywhere else. If you regularly get into historical documents in your family research, you are likely to find this compilation beneficial.