A recently released Ancestry.com database,”North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000,” appears to contain digital images of most Daughters of the American Revolutionary War lineage books up through volume 152. This database appears to be digital images of a variety of “family histories” that have been converted from microfilm. It is possible to view the list of titles from the “drop down” menu, but the volumes appear to have been titled inconsistently and hence do not appear in strict order. 
Ancestry.com also has a separate database of these lineage books (volumes 1-152) that has been on their site for some time. This database is textual in that the entire set of materials has been converted to text format.
Users of both these databases are reminded that DAR lineage books do contain errors. Pedigrees submitted in the early days of the society were not subjected to the amount of scrutiny that they are today. Like any published secondary source these materials should be used as clues and springboards to additional searches.
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Glad that you added the caveat about using the old DAR lineage books as clues. Many of the lines aren’t any more reliable than public member trees online as no documentation was required in the early days. The NSDAR website has a better resource – the Ancestor Database – accessible to the public at http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=1. Enter a Revolutionary War ancestor’s name to see if anyone has joined under him or her. If a line has been closed, which will be stated in the entry, then that person’s lineage and/or service will need to be reproven.
As you noted, early DAR lineage applications are unreliable and must be used with due diligence – Linda Stufflebean conveniently added the appropriate link for more information. Use only as clues and as a source for possible “cousins.” DAR cracked down on their evidence only recently (2000+), so those early books are fraught with errors/guesses and wishful thinking in some cases. However, they ARE a great resource for the majority of the lineages and particularly good post Civil War-WWII.
I would agree that the older lineages are generally pretty accurate from roughly Civil War era to the more current details. It’s the earlier stuff, particularly pre-1825 or so, where it starts to become more problematic.
The recently added group of DAR Lineage Books is searchable by name of the supposed Rev. War patriot ancestor. The old books were not.
Skip those old books and search directly on the DAR website in the link I provided in my first comment. You will be able to tell right away if the line is still a good one.
As with most early (and even current) genealogies, everything is suspect, wheather they come from the DAR, LDS, Aancestry etc.
But they are a guide to prove or disprove, with your own research.
I need at least 3 or more documented sources before I add a person to my official tree.
I have only 1 small tree posted on Ancestry, hoping only to make a connection.
Although, I have scores of surname trees and several master trees, I refuse to post them, to see them get bastardized, by other subscribers. I am also tired of just my small posted tree, with full documentation, showing up in a “private” tree.
I may, at some point, post all my genealogies as private, but it will be my own research and/or cited sources. If I do connect with another posted tree, I will ask permission first and then acknowledge the original source.
I would of course, share my information with any requestors, but only after checking their postings.
Again any single “source” as mentioned in this topic has a good chance of being inaccurate,
I’m sorry you feel so negatively about sharing your ancestry. It is so pleasing to find a relative or new info shared by someone. I realize I have many errors in my tree but always welcome someone correcting it. It is really wonderful to learn about family and their lives. I have limited resources for research where I live so I greatly appreciate others being willing to share! Good luck on your quest.