My 2015 New Year Genealogy Education Goals: Part 1

As challenged in a post by Randy Seaver in his genealogy blog, Geneamusings, I am going to list my genealogy education goals for 2015.

I am still employed full-time and so must limit my opportunities to after work, weekend and vacation hours. Still, I think I have managed to accumulate quite a list of opportunities for the advancement of my studies.

One very ambitious goal was just started this last week- I signed up for ProGen Study Group 25, which begins soon. I had signed up for a waiting list last summer as indicated in my earlier post here. I was unaware that there were some technical difficulties and some of the names on the waiting list were lost. After no word in over 6 months I decided to contact the new administrator of the program to find out when I might be included and found they had no record of my registration. Fortunately, I kept my copy and was able to promptly send it back. I was accepted into the newly formed group and am awaiting news of the first online meeting.

I also recently signed up for a week-long institute, the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama that runs from June 7 through June 12. I am very fortunate in that my sister lives in a nearby suburb and has offered to put me up and to put up with me. I am signed up for the Intermediate Genealogy and Historical Studies course  - I can hardly wait to get there!

And I am currently in the Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group 37; we just completed our second meeting. This study group will run concurrently with my ProGen Study Group 25 but just for the first 2 months of ProGen study. So I should be able to work it out especially since this is my second time through the MGP book. I do need the practice!

I've been a member of several genealogical societies for years. I joined a few others this past year. Most have a quarterly magazine or journal and some educational opportunities. These are the societies I currently belong to and the publications (if available) that are a benefit of membership:

• New England Historic and Genealogical Society; NEHGS Register, American Ancestors
• National Genealogical Society; NGS Magazine and NGSQuarterly (e-magazine)
• Minnesota Historical Society; Minnesota History
• Minnesota Genealogical Society; Minnesota Genealogist
• Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International; Nase rodina (Our family)
• Association of Professional Genealogists; APG Quarterly
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; The New York Researcher, The Record
• Southern California Genealogical Society; The Searcher
• Tenney Family Association; Tenney Times
• Wright County (MN) Historical Society; no publication

Other family history/educational magazines I subscribe to:

• Family Tree Magazine
• American History

Some of these magazines are on my Kindle App on my iPad where I can read them on one of our many 3 hour summer car trips. Others, that arrive in PDF version, are on my iBooks app also on my iPad. I like being able to bring several months worth on one device.

I also have memberships in many genealogy and research websites. Some are free and some require a paid subscription. I will list these in a future post.

I am addicted to blogs! I have been following 50 or more (nothing like the 1500 that Randy Seaver follows) and find something new and helpful every week. I read them at least once a week, some post every day and so I read several days worth from that author. Many post weekly or slightly less often. I choose blogs that appeal to me based on interest, midwest genealogy or technology in genealogy, for example. Or blogs based on genealogy software that I use. I will list my old favorites, and some new ones, in a future post.

Webinars and videos, live and archived, are quickly becoming a favorite for me, too. I have several favorite sites which I will list in a future post.

And books! I love books; hardcover, paperback, e-books, it doesn't matter. In a previous post I indicated one of my last year's professional genealogy goals was to build a research library. I'm not finished yet but I have to say that it is a lot of fun.  It was somewhat difficult to find online references  listing "must have" books. I even posted online at Dear Myrtle last May to see if some of the others viewing would list their top ten. Dear Myrtle posted some of her favorites in her G+ post of December 26 (thanks, Dear Myrtle!) So I will follow suit and list some of my top favorites in a future post.

So I have lots of opportunities this year. My goals this year: I will...

• make it to the end of 2015 still up-to-date with all my readings and homework in ProGen25.
• successfully complete Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group 37.
• learn to critically read articles in professional genealogy registers.
• follow the GenLaw Study Group on Dear Myrtle's YouTube channel.
• continue to add to my research library.
• visit at least one courthouse for research.

I have much to learn but lots of opportunities!