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Online Educational Resources for Every Genealogist Part 4

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On 2 December 2014

In Resources

You can find the previous posts here:  Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Part 4 of my educational resources are things that can be found online for purchase, rather than reading them online (although you may be able to do that as well; I didn’t go looking for that in particular though). These are books and journals that are considered to be some of the must-haves in the genealogy world. I found my list on the Board for Certification of Genealogist’s educational activities webpage, as well as their recommend reading list.

Books

  1. Board for Certification of Genealogists. Genealogy Standards, 50th-anniversary edition. Nashville, Tennessee: Ancestry, 2014.
    1. This set of standards is a must in my opinion. It’s nothing long and it’s very clear and concise for what the standards are for genealogists. I also have their past book, the millennium edition, which has a lot of examples that the newer edition does not. I use both!
  2. Eales, Anne Bruner, and Robert M. Kvasnicka, editors. Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives of the United States. 3rd edition. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2000.
    1. This looks to be available mostly through the National Archives. It’s on my list of books to get, especially as I want to plan a trip to the National Archives next year!
  3. Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. 3rd edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000.
    1. I have this book and read it while doing the NGS Home Study Course (now called American Genealogical Studies). The NGS course was based on the book and I did find the information quite valuable. It also helped to have another source to go to if I had questions about the coursework. I will say that some of the information is a bit outdated especially when it discussed computer/internet technology but it still has good, sound information.
  4. Jones, Thomas W. Mastering Genealogical Proof. Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2013.
    1. I used this book during the BU Course I took and loved it! Especially for the citation information. It really lays out what is needed in a citation and made it much clearer to me what should be included (I’m no expert, but this helps!). The exercises included also help to make sure you understand the subject matter.
  5. Mills, Elizabeth Shown.  Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2015.
    1. This should be a staple in any genealogists library, hobbyist to professional! Citing sources for genealogists isn’t always easy and this book helps to lay out examples and give information on what is needed for different types of sources. As a history major and now a genealogist, I think citations are a MUST whenever doing research. In my early years as a genealogist, I did not write down where I got the information. Now, if I want to see it in case it had other information in it (because I didn’t record that either), I have to re-find it. Citations are incredibly helpful and necessary!
  6. Mills, Elizabeth Shown, editor. Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001.
    1. This was one of the first books I bought and it’s where I found a lot of the information that led me to the path I am on currently. It is also required for the ProGen study group I mentioned before as well. Not to mention, there are excellent examples for client reports and contracts. Plus, it’s great for those getting started in creating a genealogy business and mentions all the little things that I hadn’t thought of before reading (like insurance, the kinds of business types, etc.).

There are obviously more books but I feel like these give someone a great start on their genealogy library.

Journals

Journals are a wonderful way to see how other professional genealogists create proof arguments, articles, methodology, citations, and more. It’s a great way to learn how to begin writing like a professional genealogist, not to mention that most genealogists find all the information fascinating and fun to read! 🙂

  1. National Genealogical Society Quarterly – by the National Genealogical Society
    1. This is the first big journal I started to receive and it’s still one of my favorites. I love all the information in the articles and love learning from each one.
  2. New England Historical and Genealogical Register – by the New England Historic Genealogical Society
    1. I just recently signed up for this one and haven’t had a chance to read through the journal yet but have had this one widely recommended to me so I’m positive it’ll be a good read.
  3. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Record – by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
    1. This is the second oldest genealogical journal in the US and comes also highly recommended, especially for people with New York research.
  4. The American Genealogist 
    1. This is an independent quarterly journal also known as TAG. Donald Lines Jacobus founded the journal in 1922. It is known for it’s carefully documented research and work.
  5. The Genealogist – by The American Society of Genealogists
    1. Another high-quality journal known for it’s well documented research and scholarly articles. This journal isn’t a quarterly like the others and is published twice a year.

 

Any other must-haves out there? High book/journal recommendations? Any of what I mentioned something that you love? Leave a comment!

Online Educational Resources for Every Genealogist Part 3

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On 1 December 2014

In Resources

Continuing with my presentation topics from last week Tuesday, today is part 3 of what I found for online resources for genealogists. Part 1 focused on the free online tutorials and lessons and part 2 focused on online genealogy classes/courses/lessons. Today’s topic is institutes and conferences (not many of these are online).

Institutes and Conferences

Institutes – These are normally about 5 days long, give or take a day, and focus on genealogical topics in depth. You choose classes depending on what is available and work with instructors during your time there. Some courses are in depth for one topic and others have a variety of topics to choose from. Some courses also have hands-on work and/or home/course work. 

  1. Genealogical Institute on Federal Records
    1. Gen-Fed takes place at the National Archives in D.C. as well as College Park, Maryland in July. This institute allows for on-site examination of federal records and is designed for serious genealogical researchers, and is not for beginners. Each year’s offerings are a bit different and it’s highly recommended to sign up as soon as possible as the class fills very quickly. There are scholarships available as well. This institute is one I plan on taking some time in the future!
  2. Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR)
    1. IGHR takes place in Athens, Georgia in June. This institute is hosted by the Georgia Genealogical Society and the classes are taught by many nationally known genealogists . The class levels can range from beginners to specialized topics for advanced genealogists. IGHR also offers scholarships for those interested.
  3. Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)
    1. GRIP is a bit different than the other two institutes mentioned: instead of a week long schedule with a few different courses, GRIP has each participant pick one topic that they will then focus on the entire time. Although the website doesn’t say what level the genealogist should be to attend, none of the classes seem to be geared to beginners so keep that in mind. GRIP has become popular enough that there are now three sessions planned! The first goes from June to July and the second happens in July, both in Pittsburgh. The third session is in August and happens in Amherst, NY! Registration opens in February and it is highly recommended to register as soon as possible as classes always fill quickly!
  4. Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG)
    1. SLIG is held in January in Salt Lake City. There are twelve tracks to choose from for your week there with nearly 20 hours of genealogical instruction over five days! They also provide ample time to for their participants to research at the Family History Library during those five days as well (always a perk!). These courses are for high-intermediate and advanced level genealogists.
  5. Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research (VIGR)
    1. VIGR has online courses anyone can take. These look incredibly promising! VIGR was formed by Catherine W. Desmarais, CG, Michael Hait, CG, and Melanie D. Holtz, CG. Their goal is to offer online educational courses for all skill levels. You can even purchase a class after it has happened if you couldn’t attend it while it was live, or didn’t know about it until later. VIGR has some great looking classes coming up and it’s much more affordable than the in-person institutes.
  6. International Society for British Genealogy and Family History British Institute
    1. Like GRIP, the British Institute is also an in-depth look into one topic. The topics focus on British and Irish records and the institute is held annually in Salt Lake City in September. The courses are held in the morning to allow for research in the Family History Library in the afternoon. Again, signing up early is the best idea as classes fill up quickly!

Conferences!

Starting small, many local societies offer some sort of conference/fair in the area. Not all of them have their own website and I’ll leave those for you to find. Each state/area also may have some sort of conference. I’m sticking to what is around me but know that there is very likely to be some sort of equivalent in your area as well!

Most conferences have the same kind of idea: general sessions that can be geared to the beginner to advanced genealogists, an expo hall, other activities including luncheons or dinner events, networking, and sometimes research opportunities. Some conferences offer tracks with their sessions – for example, those wishing to become a certified genealogist can follow the certification track and all of these sessions either focus completely on topic or will touch on the subject somehow.

  1. Indiana Genealogical Society Conference
    1. Each state genealogical society can have something different, or nothing at all. It depends on the area and what the area can support. Check out your local groups and see what kind of conferences are available at the local level! This can be a great way to network with other researchers who live in the area!
  2. Midwestern Roots
    1. This is a bit bigger than the state conference and was held in Indianapolis in prior years. It’s run by the Indiana Historical Society so I’d imagine it would be held in Indianapolis again. I recommend looking for other local ones like this in your area!
  3. Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference
    1. FGS is a great conference for anyone to attend, no matter what your level of genealogy. There are the usual items you’d see in a conference: general sessions for all ability levels, expo hall, other activities, etc. The locations vary every year, so keep checking to see if it will come near you!
  4. RootsTech
    1. RootsTech is run by the Family History Library so it takes place in Salt Lake City in February. It’s quite a large conference so ample opportunity to hear many great sessions and network with a number of people. There will also be an Innovator Summit for developers and business leaders seeking to use family history data and services.
  5. National Genealogical Society(NGS) Conference
    1. I’ve gone to the NGS conference before and had a blast! It was my first genealogy conference and I don’t think I could have chosen a better conference to go to! It’s a wonderful conference and I learned A LOT through the sessions but most of all through the people I met. It was an amazing networking experience and it helped me to grow in being my own genealogist with all the information I learned. I also loved the Board for Certification of Genealogists track and expo table. The expo table had a station where anyone could look through past portfolios of those who were certified. That whole experience made me feel better about applying for certification but also made me realize how much work I had left to do. All in all, a wonderful experience!
  6. International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
    1. Going from small to incredibly large, international conferences will have a large number of people from all over the world and will take place all over the world. Jewish genealogy is a quite a large topic in the genealogy world and this conference would be amazing to attend for anyone who has Jewish genealogy in their work or family tree!

Of course, there are many more institutes and conferences than just what I mentioned here. Are there any favorites I missed? Any comments on anything I mentioned above? Let me know!

 

Next will be Part 4, Professional Genealogy Reading: Journals and Books. 🙂

Online Educational Resources for Every Genealogist Part 2

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On 27 November 2014

In Resources

Tuesday, I posted about my first genealogy presentation for Twigs. It went very well even though I was a bit nervous! I posted the first part of my research findings involving free online tutorials and lessons and today I’m going to show what I found about online genealogy classes, courses, and lessons.

Online Genealogy Classes, Courses, and Lessons (unless otherwise stated, these cost money)

  • National Genealogy Society
    • Family History Skills: This is great for the beginner who would like to get started on some genealogy basics. It’s free for NGS members and not available to non-members (again, joining has some great benefits!) This course covers how to record information, how to find information, using online aids, and writing source citations.
    • American Genealogical Studies: If you’re familiar with NGS’s Home Study Course, this is what it’s become. This is all cloud based and because the assignments are graded, you will receive a certificate upon completion. At the moment, only the Basics and Guide to Documentation and Source Citation are currently available. In the past, this course has been great for those wishing to learn more about records: where to find them and when they exist. I took the Home Study Course and LOVED the ability to redo assignments and get feedback on them. If this is anything like the Home Study Course (which I would hope it would be) then I’d highly recommend it!
    • Continuing Genealogical Studies: There are two courses offered in the continuing genealogical studies tab – Civil War Research and Genetic Genealogy. Both are cloud based and have self-graded exams (so no certificate upon completion). I’ve been told these are wonderful and very informative!
    • PDF Courses: These are downloadable PDF files with self-graded exams (no certificate upon completion). They have three available: Introduction to Religious Records, Working with Deeds, and Using Federal Population Census Schedules in Genealogical Research.
  • Boston University
    • Genealogical Essentials: This is a four-week online course specifically for genealogy enthusiasts who wish for more formal training and are serious students. The cost is what you’d expect from a university but there can be deals (like the book cost included in the overall cost), not to mention being an NGS member gets you a discount.
    • Online Certificate in Genealogical Research: I took this course over the summer and discussed it here and really can’t sing it’s praises enough! I learned so much during those 15 weeks and enjoyed every moment! It is time constraining (20-30 hours of work a week) but so rewarding.
  • Brigham Young University Free Online Courses: All of these wonderful courses are FREE! BYU does offer a Family History degree and certificate (not online) but if you are only interested in a class or two, you can check a few out for free (these classes aren’t for credit though).
  • National Institute for Genealogical Studies: This online institute/courses offers classes for certificates in Genealogical Studies with specialization in various countries. It seems like an online university really, but specifically for genealogists. I haven’t heard from people who have taken the course but this did come up often in my research. It seems worth checking into!
  • ProGen: This is for those who wish to go the professional route, especially certification. I have been told this is a MUST for anyone considering certification, in fact. I’m on the waiting list currently and hope to get into a study group next year. The study group lasts for 19 months and goes through each chapter of Professional Genealogy. Each month’s assignment goes to the rest of your group and everyone critiques everyone’s work. I have heard wonderful reviews of this class and can’t wait to start!
  • University of Strathclyde: I heard of this through the National Genealogical Society’s conference in May. The university offers online courses in genealogy for those wishing to earn a diploma, certificate, or MSc (Masters? – I am not sure what the American equivalent would be but I believe it would be a Masters). The courses focus on British genealogy and you can earn a PG Certificate in Genealogical, Palaeographic, and Heraldic Studies. It sounds very interesting and I do want to look into this further.

Anyone else have any courses or classes you’d recommend? Any of you taken something I mentioned and wish to leave a comment about it?

On Monday I’ll discuss Institutes and Conferences! Stay tuned and enjoy your Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating it today!

Online Educational Sources for Every Genealogist Part 1

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On 25 November 2014

In Research, Resources

I have my first genealogy presentation today! I volunteered to do this for one of my genealogy groups, Twigs. It’s a spin-off group from my local genealogy society, the South Bend Area Genealogical Society. We meet once a month and discuss whatever topics we previously decided on. Then, one of our group does the research and brings the results to the group. I have a lot of fun in the group and I’m very excited to be able to give back tonight!

With that in mind, I also want to share my results with all of my online genealogy friends! I can’t cover everything in the hour I have for the presentation (because there is a lot!) so I’m just bringing you all what I’ll be talking about tonight. Feel free to leave a comment with anything that I missed!

My topics will cover:

  • Free Online Tutorials and Lessons
  • Online Genealogy Courses, Classes, and Lessons (these aren’t free unless stated as so)
  • Institutions and Conferences
  • Professional Genealogy Reading: Journals and Books
  • Genealogy Certification

So today I will start with the Free Online Tutorials and Lessons!

  1. Cyndi’s List: This is a well known genealogical site and I know there aren’t free online tutorials or lessons specifically ON the site, but there is information on where to find the free online tutorials and lessons. It’s one of my go-to places when looking for new information and I love how much can be found through the website.
  2. DearMyrtle: Besides Cydni’s List, this is probably the second genealogy related site I went to for more information. I absolutely love this website! Myrtle has been online since 1985 and has a lot of information on there for everyone including genealogy lessons and organization tips. Her YouTube channel is a wonderful resource to go to see her archived webinars as well. If you have the chance, you can also participate in her Monday’s with Myrt, which is done through Google+ and her website explains how to set that up so you’ll be prepared. Also, she has a wonderful GeneaWebinars Calendar where she has current information on upcoming webinars. She’s a wonderful resource to have as she keeps up with the online genealogy world wonderfully.
  3. Geneabloggers: This is another site that doesn’t necessarily have lessons and webinars for genealogists, BUT it is a great resource for those who wish to start blogging or read other genealogy bloggers. They are a wonderful community!
  4. Genealogy Gems: Lisa Louise Cooke is a pretty well-known genealogy podcaster. On her site she does offer a free e-newsletter and some of her podcasts and videos are also free. You can then have the option of trying out her videos/podcasts to see if it’s something you are interested in and are willing to pay the yearly fee.
  5. Family Tree DNA Webinars: For people who would love to learn more about DNA, this website has webinars (archived and upcoming listed) on DNA. Including autosomal (what they call Family Finder), Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA. It’s a great place for genealogists who wish to learn more about DNA.
  6.  National Genealogical Society: Although I highly recommend becoming a member of NGS to take advantage of everything they offer, there are some free offerings on their website. The linked page gives three items that NGS calls tutorials – getting started, querying for results, and professional genealogy. All pages are relatively quick to read but the information is sound.
  7. FamilySearch.org’s Learning Center:  FamilySearch.org also has a great wiki site but they also have this great learning center. These are webinars/classes/courses that can last from 5 minutes to over an hour. There is a lot of FREE information for people to learn about through this website.
  8. Illinois State Genealogical Society: Don’t be scared off by the name; you don’t need to have Illinois research in your family to find this site to be useful. Their webinars are free if you can watch them live (on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8pm Central Time) and the information covers MANY genealogical items – like HeritageQuest, using Google Earth, Scandinavian Research, etc. If you want to see archived webinars, you would need to become a member.
  9. Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region: This is another website that hosts free webinars if you can watch them live (2nd Tuesday of the month at 2pm Eastern Time) and once again, these cover many genealogical items of interest. If you wish to see the archived webinars, you would again need to be a member.

I realize there is a lot more out there than just these 10 but I only have one hour to cover a lot of information, plus, I wanted to make sure that these could be relevant to everyone. Did I miss anything you think is important under this category? Or do you want to add to anything I mentioned? Leave a comment! 🙂

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