As a somewhat experienced family historian, I thought the information in this book was well-organized and presented in a positive, can-do manner that would be motivating for beginners. However, I also felt this book left out some important information that most genealogists wish they had known when they started. For example, while a full discussion of sources and citations might be intimidating to beginners, they should be encouraged to write down where they got the information. An example might be, if conducting a family interview, they should write down the interviewer, interviewee, date, and location, along with the questions and answers.
Perhaps this could be in the next edition.

Although this book packs in a lot of information, it does so in small bites. In some cases this is just what you need to get started, in others it leaves you with more questions. If you are serious about researching your genealogy, and don't have access to a professional researcher, these books (as this author has several on this topic) are a great starting point. ( )

While I applaud the Author on his providing an abundance of information to get one started on the Genealogy trail, I only wish he provided more detail and examples within the book. He gives a lot of ideas of what to do, but doesn't elaborate on them. He mentions places and software to use, but it would be useful to show what they look like as well. I'm not saying this book is bad, in fact it is very good, just incomplete. ( )

This is a great first stop for people who are just beginning to think about entering the world of family history and genealogy research. It includes a lot of beginner quick tips to get started and a nice catalog of resources at the end to direct the new researcher to further sources. That said, it is very surface level, and any new researcher would need to go a bit deeper on each of the topics covered to really do well in genealogy. ( )

This book was an ok introduction of various tips of becoming a genealogist... but heavily on the tips. The book has 13 chapters that are focused on different subjects, but the actual content is just multiple sets of tips; each one being 3-4 sentences long, and then onto another tip. As an introduction, I suppose it works, but if you want anything more in-depth, it's onto to find more items. (Admittedly, there is a decent bibliography at the end with lots of links.

I suppose I cautiously recommend this book if you are fine with knowing ahead of tie that it doesn't go in-depth into any particular area. As a collection of various tips going from the beginning to planning reunions and sharing your work with others, it is ok. ( )