In Search of Your Canadian Roots: Tracing Your Family Tree in Canada. 3rd ed.

Barbara B. Aitken is a public services librarian in the Douglas Library
at Queen’s University, a board certified genealogical record specialist, and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Angus Baxter’s first genealogical book, In Search of Your Roots: A
Guide for Canadians Seeking Their Ancestors, was published in 1978. The
third edition of In Search of Your Canadian Roots (first published in
1989) differs from the 1994 second edition only in its inclusion of an
updated listing of Web site addresses. The list of acknowledgments
appears to be identical in the second and third editions, despite the
fact that a number of librarians and archivists active in particular
venues in 1994 have long since retired or moved on to other
institutions.

Baxter covers the basics of many topics, including the National
Archives of Canada and Canadian church records of the various
denominations. For all the provinces, she describes details of civil
registration, land records, censuses, church registers, genealogical
societies, and public libraries. It is unfortunate that the book does
not include the Web addresses of the university libraries, with their
excellent collections of genealogical resource material and local
histories. One wishes that Baxter had included the Web addresses of
these libraries, so that researchers could follow up on the resources
and hours of such sites.

The index directs readers to specific topics within the various
provinces. If you are researching Canadian ancestors, In Search of Your
Canadian Roots is a must-have book.