Also consider....

2) HOW MANY SPICES DO YOU USE? If you use a lot of different spices, would you like one large single-level or multi-tiered shelf spice rack that holds all of them? Or like me, would you like a few different spice racks clustered in one area of kitchen? If you only keep a few spice jars, then perhaps a spice rack that holds six to eight spice containers is sufficient (especially if your space is limited to a small area of kitchen). And if it's a gift for someone else, visualize available space they have in their kitchen. You don't want to give someone a gorgeous spice rack that they have to stuff in a closet for lack of a place to put it.

3) CAN YOU CONVENIENTLY ACCESS THE SPICES? For instance, if you hang a vertical double-shelf spice rack on a wall underneath a kitchen cabinet, you need enough room between spice containers on top shelf and underside of kitchen cabinet to be able to easily remove and replace spice containers. You don't want to keep scraping your knuckles against wood on underside of cabinet. Wherever you plan to put spice rack, it's probably a good idea to measure intended space for it and then compare that to dimensions of product listed on its sales box before you purchase it.

4) ARE YOU BUYING A SPICE RACK WITH OR WITHOUT SPICES? Some spice racks come complete with full containers of spices and others come without jars or containers of spices. Some spice racks don't even use typical container or jars; instead you fill them and then turn a dial for measured spice amount to filter through a dispenser, which is removable from spice rack.

Remember that you're trying to save space when buying home organization gadgets. So if you buy a spice rack complete with new spices, you'll just have to store new or existing set of spice jars in pantry until spice jars in use need a refill.

And if you buy a spice rack with containers, make sure they're what you want. Some are glass jars; others aren't. Some have corks as lids; others have screw tops. Some come with snap on sifters or shaker ports. Also check to see if jars come pre-labeled or with an extra set of blank labels.

5) WHAT MATERIAL COMPRISES THE SPICE RACK? You can find spice racks or spice shelving in many types of material: wood, acrylic, metal/stainless steel/wire, plastic or chrome. What matches style of or colors of your kitchen? Or if spice rack isn't going to be clearly on view, maybe you're just interested in a durable material or one that wipes clean easily.

6) DO YOU LOVE. IT? Spice racks are very durable products. You'll be seeing your spice rack choice in your kitchen for a long time.

By typing in her paternal grandfather’s name into search, we were able to find much more information. The consultant told us that we needed to download his pedigree chart, take it home to our computer and merge his file with my wife’s file. That would associate all his information with my wife’s.

The best computer program for compiling Family History information is Personal Ancestral File (PAF) which is currently in 5.2 release. The software is free, so you should be able to find it in any search engine.

Check back again for next installment which will deal with doing your own research.

Tom LeBaron is a marketing representative of DNA Bioscience, a DNA laboratory that specializes in verifying lost relatives through an affordable DNA test.