This week I had a chance to use a brand-new genealogy tutorial called U.S. Passenger Lists, produced by the Heritage Learning Library of Salt Lake City. In effect, this tutorial is a one-hour presentation that is similar to what you would experience in-person at genealogy conferences. E. Wade Hone, an author and frequent lecturer on the topic of passenger lists, delivers the one-hour presentation on CD-ROM. It is presented in a format that is very similar to attending a presentation at a genealogy conference, listening to the speaker and viewing the accompanying PowerPoint slides. You hear the presenter’s voice in your computer’s speakers, and you watch the accompanying slide show on the screen.

This CD turned out to be one of the easiest to use that I have ever reviewed. Insert the CD-ROM disk into your computer, then sit back and watch and listen. The tutorial autostarts immediately, as soon as you insert the disk; you don’t even need to click anything with your mouse. Once launched, however, the user can use the mouse to jump to specific sections of the presentation. This makes it easy to return to parts of the presentation a second or third time to revisit specific points.

Mr. Hone’s introduction describes the earliest passenger lists, and he explains why they were created. Perhaps even more importantly, he also tells why there was little need for passenger lists in the earliest days of Colonial America, and why thousands of immigrants arrived before 1820 without being listed on any passenger list. He then launches into an in-depth description of how to examine passenger lists in a manner that maximizes productivity. He also gives specific tutorials on the port arrival records of Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He describes the use of Soundex and concludes with an extensive list of printed and online resources for future efforts.

The format of this presentation is simple but effective. The CD-ROM contains a speech delivered by Mr. Hone, along with an accompanying slide show. The information presented is an excellent introduction to the topic. Anyone with limited experience in passenger lists would be an obvious potential customer for this product. Genealogy societies would also be likely to purchase it, as would local Family History Centers or any other library that holds passenger list information. Library employees would love to have a patron watch this CD-ROM instead of trying to coach the patron personally.

The U.S. Passenger Lists tutorial on CD-ROM requires Windows 95 or later plus a minimum of 60 megabytes of RAM memory. Almost all Windows computers purchased these days have that amount of memory or more, but owners of older systems might want to verify the amount of installed RAM memory before purchasing this product.

The U.S. Passenger Lists tutorial on CD-ROM sells for $19.95 plus shipping. It is a brand-new product; I couldn’t find it listed yet on the Heritage Learning Library’s website at www.heritageconsulting.com. However, I suspect it will appear there soon. In the meantime, I bet you could obtain ordering information by sending an e-mail to lindan@heritageconsulting.comor by calling 801-596-1028 between the hours of 10:00 am and 9:00 pm (MST) Monday through Friday.