I think that Pitfalls and possibilities in family history research by Pauline Litton is essential reading for all genealogists:

If your ancestors are proving elusive and the records are not where you expected, or do not contain the information you anticipated, then Pitfalls and Possibilities is the book for you. Based on a series of articles with the same title published in Family Tree Magazine, updated and expanded, it is not a book on ‘how to do your family tree’. Rather it suggests unexplored avenues and additional sources which you may not have considered.

Our new family history sources come from north of the Murray. Entrance books for Bathurst Gaol and Windsor Gaol are now available on microfilm from thanks to State Records (NSW). You can use these sets of convicts records to find out more about your ancestors in chains such as name, offence, sentence, magistrate, age, religion, place of birth and ship of arrival.  Also check out the Gaol Photographs available in the State Records NSW Indexes Online web page.

If you have more recent migrants in your family, then it is well worth checking out Cora Num’s new book How did they get here?: arrivals after 1924. This handy book can help you find arrival records for members of your family who came to Australia after 1924, drawing on a broad range of internet and other resources from the National Archives of Australia and beyond. It also provides heaps of useful hints and suggestions to help you discover when your ancestors arrived in the Great Southern Land.

Beginners will find Kerry Farmer’s latest little book Which genealogy program? a useful guide to help them choose which computer program to record and manage their family history. If you are on the home stretch and writing your family history, then I recommend that you check out Publish your family history : preserving your heritage in a book by Susan Yates & Greg Ioannou or Write your life story: how to organise and record your memories for family and friends to enjoy by Michael Oke.