Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Registration Opens Saturday

Registration for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) opens this Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 9:00am Mountain Time (8am Pacific, 10am Central and 11am Eastern). There is a great lineup of courses for the institute which will be held January 23 - 27, 2012 at the Salt Lake City Radisson Hotel. Some classes may fill quickly so register as soon as possible. The full brochure is now available on the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy website, and this is the same link to begin the registration process.

I have attended the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy in 2009 and 2011 and thoroughly enjoyed it. This last January I was in the Advanced Genealogical Methods course with Tom Jones and it was excellent! I am excited to be coordinating a new practicum course for SLIG for 2012 on Advanced Evidence Analysis. See my previous post with all the details.

The FGS Radio "My Society" Show will feature the Utah Genealogical Society and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy this Saturday at 1:00pm Central (Noon Mountain, 11:00am Pacific and 2:00pm Eastern). See http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mysociety for details and to tune in.

Here are the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy courses for 2012:

Course 1: American Research and Records: Focus on Families
Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FUGA

Course 2: Advanced New England Research
D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS

Course 3: Welsh Research
Darris Williams, AG

Course 4: Swedish Research
Geoffery Fröberg Morris, AG

Course 5: Midwest U.S. Research
Kory Meyerink, BS, MLS, AG, FUGA

Course 6: Genealogy Software and Research Tools
George G. Morgan

Course 7: Principles of Effective Genealogy Librarianship
Drew Smith, MLS

Course 8: Beyond the Library, Using Original Source Repositories
John Philip Colletta, Ph.D., FUGA

Course 9: Advanced Methodological Methods
Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS

Course 10: Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum
Angela Packer McGhie

Course 11: Advanced Research Tools: Land Records
Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, GCL and Richard G. Sayre, CG

Course 12: Problem Solving
Judith Hansen, BS, MLS, AG

PLENARY SESSION -- Monday, January 23, 2012 at 7:00 PM
Thomas W. Jones will be presenting “The Genealogical Proof Standard: What It Is and What It Is Not”

Friday, May 27, 2011

Genealogy Books 25% off for Memorial Day

Are there books you would like add to your genealogy library? Books are a very important  resource in any genealogy education plan and now is the perfect time to add to your collection as the annual Memorial Day sale at Genealogical Publishing Company has begun!

From today through 11:59 p.m. EDT, Monday, May 30, 2011, you can order any product available at www.genealogical.com at a discount of 25% off the current selling price of the book(s) or CD(s) of your choice. To take advantage of this special holiday discount, simply add the code MDS11 (all caps, with no spaces) in the Discount Code box on the "Shipping and Handling" page during the check-out process.

The discount is good on:
·  Hundreds of Genealogy Warehouse books already reduced by 40%-50% or more

I have many favorite genealogy books I would recommend, but I will limit my list today to the ones that are available from Genealogical Publishing Company on sale.

Val D. Greenwood. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000.  

Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace
Elizabeth Shown Mills. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007. 

Edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001. 

Emily Croom.  Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000.

Emily Croom.  Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001.

Elizabeth Shown Mills. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2010. 

Elizabeth Shown Mills. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2010. 
 
Elizabeth Shown Mills. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007. 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Photo Detective Live! A Free Webinar

Family Tree University announces a FREE webinar:

Maureen A. Taylor, the Photo Detective, has been solving family historians’ photo mysteries for years. In celebration of National Photo Month, she offers advice for identifying family photos in a free webinar.


Photo Detective Live! Solutions to Your Photo Mysteries is a 30 minute presentation that can be viewed on the Internet. There is also a PDF file of the presentation slides available for download.

Maureen is also doing monthly free teleseminars to answer participants' questions on photo identification and preservation. See AskMaureenTaylor.com to post your question and register for the teleseminar. The next one is scheduled for June 14, 2011 at 11:00am Eastern.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum


I am very excited to share details of a new course at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) that I am coordinating. It is an Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum (see official description below) where the focus is on working to solve a genealogical case study each day. It is designed for advanced genealogists who want additional experience working with indirect and conflicting evidence. We have found five excellent instructors who are preparing genealogical problems for the participants in this course to tackle.

The idea for the course came about when Kimberly Powell, Harold Henderson, Christy Fillerup and I were attending the Advanced Genealogical Methods course with Dr. Thomas W. Jones at SLIG last January. We loved his course and the case study homework assignments that he provided. We wanted more of this type of hands-on practice where we are given a case to research and solve, or are provided with documents and asked to analyze them and find the clues that lead to the solution. The four of us proposed a new course to the SLIG advisory committee that is entirely hands-on genealogical problems solving activities, and it has been approved for the 2012 institute. Dr. Jones is the advisor for this new course.

The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy will be held January 23-27, 2012 at the Radisson hotel near the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Registration for the institute opens on June 4, 2011 at 9:00am Mountain Daylight Time. The complete list of 12 courses can be found on the SLIG website. You may wish to register early as some courses may fill quickly.

Here are the details from the soon to be released Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy brochure:

Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum

Coordinator: Angela Packer McGhie

Instructors:
Dr. Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
David Ouimette, CG
James Ison, AG, CG
Karen Mauer Green, CG
Kory Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA

Classroom Discussions: 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday

This hands-on course is an opportunity for advanced genealogists to put their research skills into practice. Participants will work on five or more complex genealogical research problems—a new one each day. Each case will require careful evidence evaluation and/or additional research to solve. The objective is to give each student experience in conducting research on complex problems, analyzing and correlating evidence, and reaching conclusions. The research problems will be varied, offering students the challenge of stretching their mind and skills in directions that their research may not normally take them.

Participants will work individually on the cases to analyze documents and evidence provided, and also conduct research online and at the Family History Library. The first case study will be distributed Sunday at orientation, and then class will meet from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. This will be an opportunity to discuss the case with fellow classmates and the expert instructor. Participants will compare strategies and methodologies used, discuss difficulties encountered, and receive guidance from the case study author. Students will learn from each other as well as the instructors.
This course is designed for advanced genealogists who have sufficient experience and education to work on complex genealogical problems.

All of the instructors are known writers and lecturers who specialize in complex problems.

Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS, has co-edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly since 2002. He is a former trustee and a past president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, past board member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and recipient of its 2004 Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit. Professor emeritus at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and retired from a thirty-year career in higher education, Tom works full time as a genealogical researcher, writer, editor, and educator. In addition to SLIG, he coordinates a writing course at Samford University’s Institute on Genealogy and Historical Research, and he teaches evidence evaluation and documentation in Boston University’s Genealogical Certificate Program.

Karen Mauer Green, CG, of Cooperstown, New York, is an editor, author, lecturer, and professional genealogist, and is currently employed as co-editor of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Record. She holds an MA from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies (State University of New York, Oneonta). She has served on the boards of APG (as Regional Vice President and Director) and FGS (as Director; Vice President of Administration; National Conference Chair of the 1997 FGS conference in Dallas, Texas; and Chair of the FGS Public Relations Committee, 1992-1998).

David Ouimette, CG, manages Content Strategy at FamilySearch, prioritizing the acquisition and online publication of historical records worldwide for family history research. David lectures at the National Genealogical Society and Federation of Genealogical Societies national conferences and the Samford and Salt Lake Institutes of Genealogy. He currently serves on the National Genealogical Society board of directors and edits OnBoard, the newsletter of the Board for Certification of Genealogists. He has contributed articles to Ancestry Magazine, APG Quarterly, BYU Family Historian, Crossroads, NGS Quarterly, and The Septs, and is the author of Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide.

Kory Meyerink, BS, MLS, AG®, FUGA, has been involved in nearly every aspect of genealogy and family history for the past 20 years. Kory is an accredited genealogist in four geographic areas (Germany, Midwestern U.S., Eastern U.S. and New England U.S.). He specializes in tracing the origins of German and Dutch immigrants.

Jim Ison, AG, CG, is a manager at FamilySearch. He is both an Accredited Genealogist and Certified Genealogist. He is past President of the Utah Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and a national Board member of APG. He is past Trustee of the John Parker Historical Society. He has presented at NGS and FGS conferences, and numerous other conferences.

Angela Packer McGhie is the administrator of the ProGen Study Program, president of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), and assistant director of the Columbia Maryland Family History Center.  She is an instructor for the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) and teaches genealogy courses at Howard Community College.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Writing Family History Narratives Course Adds Second Session

The Writing Family History Narratives and Other Genealogical Works course with Dr. John Philip Colletta and Dr. Thomas W. Jones, has proven to be so popular that a second session has been added. The first session scheduled for July 25 - 29, 2011 filled quickly and so another is scheduled for August 1 - 5, 2011. This course is sponsored by the Center for Professional Education at Boston University and is a followup to their Genealogical Research Certificate Program. The program is held on campus at Boston University.

I am not surprised that there are so many genealogists interested in this course, as I would love to take it myself. I am focusing on genealogical writing this summer and am excited to attend the Writing and Publishing for Genealogists course with Dr. Thomas W. Jones at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in June. 

Both Dr. John Philip Colletta and Dr. Thomas W. Jones are excellent instructors and teach writing courses on a regular basis. Dr. Jones' writing course at IGHR runs on an annual basis (and fills to capacity on the first day of registration), and Dr. Colletta will teach "Producing a Quality Family Narrative" at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy in January of 2013.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

New Civil War Records Course

I am very excited about this new course from NGS as Craig Scott is an expert in military records and research. I think I will take the course and then write a review. I did not find it available on the NGS website yet, but as they are just announcing the new course at their national conference this week I will be patient.

The following announcement was written by the National Genealogical Society:

National Genealogical Society's New Civil War Records Course


Arlington, VA: The National Genealogical Society proudly announces the release of its newest educational course, Introduction to Civil War Records, developed by renowned military expert Craig Robert Scott, CG. It will debut at its thirty-third Family History Conference in Charleston in South Carolina, 11 - 14 May 2011.

Craig Robert Scott is a nationally-recognized lecturer, educator, genealogical and historical researcher with more than thirty years experience. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians and specializes in the diverse military records at the National Archives.

Besides being CEO and President of Heritage Books, Inc., a genealogical publishing firm, Craig coordinates the Military tracks at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and Samford University Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in Birmingham, Alabama. He has authored The “Lost Pensions”: Settled Accounts of the Act of 6 April 1838 and Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, Inventory 14 (Revised).

Now Craig brings his military expertise to NGS with the Introduction to Civil War Records. In this course, he focuses on current genealogical practices of research. In this six chapter course, he will teach you strategies to identify and locate information on an ancestor living at the time of the Civil War. You will learn about numerous records created for, during, and after the war like compiled service records, prisoners of war record, pension files and indexes and post-war records to name a few.

This NGS American Genealogy Studies course is available on CD-ROM as a PDF file for $35.00 for NGS’ members. Craig will make a personal appearance on Saturday 14 May from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for questions and autographs.

The NGS American Genealogy Studies courses are designed for people who want to complete a short course on a specific topic and put the resultant knowledge to work right away. Courses offer the convenience of completing a genealogy study course at their own pace in their home. Courses are reasonably priced, and NGS members receive a discount.

The National Genealogical Society was organized in Washington, D.C. in 1903. NGS’ mission is to serve and grow the genealogical community by providing education and training, fostering increased quality and standards, and promoting access to and preservation of genealogical records.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Announcing The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh

I just received the following announcement from my friends Elissa Powell, CG, CGL and Deborah Deal. I am excited for this new genealogy institute!
 
NEW GENEALOGY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY IN 2012
Announcing The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 6, 2011 - Pittsburgh, PA – GRIP – The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh – a new genealogical institute of learning announces a genealogy educational opportunity planned for July 2012. Consisting of four courses, it will be held Monday, July 23 through Friday, July 27, 2012, at LaRoche College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. According to Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL, and Deborah Lichtner Deal, directors of GRIP, “the demand for in-depth genealogical education is so high that week-long courses sell out shortly after registration opens, disappointing many potential students. At the same time genealogists who have taken many courses want new content.” GRIP seeks to satisfy this growing need for high quality genealogy education through its week-long courses with internationally recognized instructors.

Nestled in the Pittsburgh suburbs, LaRoche’s campus includes economical air-conditioned “en suite” dorm accommodations steps from the classrooms, a buffet-style cafeteria, and free parking. The instructors are all experienced researchers, lecturers, and writers who bring their expertise into the classroom with case studies and problem solving exercises. Registration will begin in February.

Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper with Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA. Warren focuses on unusual resources, manuscripts, methodology, and analyzing records. She researches across the U.S. and has coordinated and taught at multiple genealogical institutes and conferences. Warren serves on the Federation of Genealogical Societies board and is President of the Northland Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Advanced Research Methods with Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS. Jones has edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly since 2002. A former trustee and a past president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, he works as a researcher, writer, editor, and educator. Jones coordinates courses at Samford University’s Institute on Genealogy and Historical Research, at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and he teaches in Boston University’s Genealogical Research Certificate program.

Beneath the Home Page: Problem Solving with Online Repositories with D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS. Taylor is Director of Education and Programs at New England Historic Genealogical Society, and has appeared on the television program “Who Do You Think You Are?” A frequent speaker at various venues, Taylor is a course coordinator for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. He is also Vice President of Administration for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), where he serves as co-chair of the FGS/ISGS 2011 National Conference.

German Genealogical Research with John T. Humphrey, CG. Humphrey is an award winning author who specializes in German and Pennsylvania research. In 2010 he was invited to give a presentation on researching Germans in America in the Rhineland-Palatinate; in 2008, at the request of the German Embassy, he presented the keynote address at the 400th Anniversary Celebration commemorating four centuries of German immigration into the United States. Humphrey is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society and past vice president of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

About GRIP

The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh will serve a need for in-depth genealogical education in the Mid-Atlantic region and nationally. Located about 300 miles from major cities such as Cincinnati, Ohio; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Detroit, Michigan; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Rochester, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Charleston, West Virginia; and Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh is strategically placed and economical to visit.

The directors of GRIP have been doing genealogical research for a combined 40 years and have volunteered thousands of hours to various genealogical societies.  

Deborah Lichtner Deal is an Ohio Genealogical Society Trustee and has run their week-long Summer Workshop for over ten years. Deal also has attended both Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the Institute for Genealogy and Historic Research (IGHR) at Samford University, winning its prized Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr., award in 2010. She is a local lecturer and southeast Ohio researcher.

Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL, is a Board for Certification of Genealogists Trustee and instructor at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. She is the course coordinator for the Professional Genealogy course at IGHR and has attended the National Institute for Genealogical Research in Washington, D. C. She wrote part and instructs in part of Boston University’s fourteen-week Genealogical Research Certificate course. She has encouraged others in their genealogical education in the classroom and by teaching online. Powell is past-president of two Pittsburgh area genealogical societies and served six years as a board director for the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). She has video lectures available through the PMC Webcast link at http://www.APGen.org on choosing the best continuing education options and on professional development.

The directors’ commitment to genealogy educational excellence is shown in this newly-formed institute. For more information, visit our website at http://www.GRIPitt.org.

CG, Certified Genealogist, CGL, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are Service Marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluations by the Board.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Family Tech: Technology tips for genealogists and family historians

I am very excited about a new web site created by FamilySearch. This one is is called "Family Tech" and can be found at http://familytech.familysearch.org/  It focuses on sharing technology tips for genealogists and covers a wide variety of topics. With technology becoming more important to genealogists, these articles are useful to assist us in keeping up with the many gadgets, programs and resources available. The articles are written by a variety of authors sharing their knowledge and expertise. I hope you will take time to browse this new resource, as I am sure you will find something of interest to you.
 
If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can find article series covering topics such as:
ABCs of GPS
Camera Basics
Genealogist's View of Memory Cards
Digital Photography for the Genealogist
Restore Damaged Photographs

Here is a sampling of recent posts:
 
How To’s and Tips
 
Learn About
Helpful Apps and Tools
Learn How To Buy

Viewpoint