Out Of Your Tree! Crazy About Genealogy

"All of your pencils need good erasers," warns writer/host Robert A. Burns in this low-budget but wonderfully engaging guide to getting started with genealogy. Mixing in short dramatic vignettes from his own extended family's (sometimes checkered) past, the energetic Burns takes viewers on a walking tour of the major sources of information for family tree growers: cemeteries, county courthouses, churches, and, of course, libraries. (In fact, Burns' effusive praise of libraries is as good an ad for our profession as I've seen lately.) Burns offers tons of insider tips as he covers birth, marriage, and death records; wills, deeds, and tax statements; census records; existing genealogies; and the motherlode for genealogists (the LDS collection). And he warns of many pitfalls: one census recorder changed his ancestor's birthplace from "Maryland" to "Ireland," and another went so far as to change one relative's gender. The program concludes with a look at the burgeoning area of computer software and networking. Better than Gift of Heritage (reviewed in our January 1993 issue), Out of Your Tree! Crazy About Genealogy is a good introduction to the subject, and is enthusiastically recommended. (R. Pitman)