TO: _____ James Holloway RE: The Holloway book controversy As a person who has spent some 20-odd years in Holloway research -- and as a former research librarian with 30-odd years' experience assisting historians, graduate students, genealogists -- I'm interested in your project. General criteria for evaluating a published work in genealogy, from the view of the purchaser, whether private or institutional, include: 1) Are sources clearly stated? & authority footnoted for every claim, especially if controversial? 2) Does the author specify his indebtedness to other researchers? 3) Does he recognize copyright restrictions, avoiding infringement of blanket prohibitions such as the LDS includes on every document reproduced? Specific matters I'd question so far: 1) the compiler/author traces his ancestry to an 18th century George Holloway in VA, while asserting connections to the first known Holloways in England, and interrelationships of most American Holloways. Holloways are in Virginia and New Jersey in the 1600's; has he established connections among them on the basis of fact, precisely cited? Exactly what sources has he searched? 2) The "information" he's going to sell in his book, how much of that was he given for free by other researchers? 3) To what genealogical journals and/or societies will he present copies of his book for review? Would be interested to see James David Holloway, Jr. address these questions. Sincerely, Lisabeth M. Holloway, MLS