The Jean Ritchie book is a good starter because she introduces all of the different tunings which make the instrument much more interesting. A lot of players these days stick to the DAd (Myxolidian) tuning and never venture further. A catch is that many of the better older instruction books prefer the more traditional DAA (Ionian) tuning, not an insurmountable problem, but a factor if you want to jam with other players. Larkin Bryant's book is one of these...she has one of the best introductions to strumming, but DAd isn't introduced till nearly the end of the book. Elderly Music (www.elderly.com), Missigman Music (www.missigman-music.com) and Andy's Front Hall (don't have the URL) all have good selections of music books for the Dulcimer. Of the three, I would recommend Missigman: Donna Missigman is very helpful, plays the dulcimer and will be able to give you specific recommendations based on your needs and experience.