More Genealogy Education Goals and My Progress, Part I

After writing my educational goals last January, it became apparent that while they were OK goals, they were't specific enough.

This table below shows the specific skill areas that I feel I need to grow. I'm very comfortable with many record types but recognize that I need to learn more about many others.

There are also some research skill areas I need to improve on. I've been searching on the Internet for over twenty years, now I need to research on the Internet. That is, I need to make my searches more concentrated toward a specific task rather than blind searches for whatever may pop up. Sources and citations will be an area that I need to continually work on.

The geographic locations are areas that apply to my personal research and that may change and grow as either new information in uncovered or as I help others in their research.

And the writing skills are the areas I would like to improve in before I publish my ancestors' stories.

Record Types	Research Skills	Geographic Locations	Writing Skills
Land and property	Sources and citations	Northeast: New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts	Beyond the family tree
Wills and probate	Maps and plat books	Midwest: Ohio, Illinois	Using historical context
Historical law	Online searches	Europe: Czech Republic	Editing
DNA	Finding female ancestors	Scandinavia: Iceland, Norway	Copyright
Federal records			Layout and publishing

After I made this table, I started listing ways that I might start building those skills and turned them into long-term goals (not just goals for 2015).

1. I will read scholarly journals.
2. I will attend a genealogical institute. 
3. I will attend one or more conferences.
4. I will participate in webinars. 
5. I will continue to build my library, read books and participate in book studies. 
6. I will work with unfamiliar record types.
7. I will keep a record my educational activities and evaluate them quarterly.

The seventh goal, "I will keep a record my educational activities and evaluate them quarterly," is actually the reason behind this post. I have been very faithful in recording my activities this year. What follows is my evaluation of the work I have done in the last 6-7 months toward building those skills.

I use Excel to track my educational activities. Tabs across the bottom of the workbook are labeled:

• Webinars
• Institutes
• Conferences
• Book Studies
• Article Studies

The columns in each worksheet are similarly labeled but vary slightly for each activity type. Typical column headings are:

• Date - the date I participated or viewed
• Sponsoring Organization - conference, institutes, or society sponsoring event
• Presenter - name and credentials, if known
• GenTopic - general genealogy topic, say "Research Skills"
• SubTopic - topic sub-category, say "Online Searches"
• Length - time spent viewing or attending
• Handout - link to downloaded handout (organized on my computer)
• Notes - link to notes taken (organized on my computer)
• Rating - mini-review on topic and/or speaker

Goal 1- "I will read scholarly journals."

I have probably tripled the amount of time I spend reading journals as compared to years past. However, I need to spend more time studying the articles. I joined an National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) Study Group and need to make an effort to schedule myself accordingly. These are the journals I subscribe to:

• Association of Professional Genealogists; "APG Quarterly"
• Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International; "Nase rodina" (Our family)
• Minnesota Genealogical Society; "Minnesota Genealogist"
• Minnesota Historical Society; "Minnesota History"
• National Genealogical Society; "NGS Magazine" and "NGSQuarterly" (e-magazine)
• New England Historic and Genealogical Society; "NEHGS Register", "American Ancestors"
• New York Genealogical and Biographical Society; "The New York Researcher", "The Record"
• Southern California Genealogical Society; "The Searcher"

Goal 2- "I will attend a genealogical institute."

I met this goal by attending IGHR, Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, in June 2015. I could stop there and just say I met this goal. But instead I want to encourage anyone who might read this to participate in IGHR or one of the other institutes available. There are several including:

• GRIP, Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh
• SLIG, Salt Lake Institue of Genealogy
• NIGR, National Institute on Genealogical Research
• IGHR, Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research

There are also institutes on genetic genealogy and one or more virtual institutes. If there are others, I would love to hear about them as I have heard nothing but wonderful things about each of the ones listed above. And my own experience was beyond expectations, one of the best values for my genealogy dollars.

The list of speakers at the week-long IGHR in June reads like a "Who's Who" in genealogy expertise. The coordinator of the Intermediate Genealogy & Historical Studies course that I took was Angela McGhie and I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed the course. I also learned so much from Angela and her guest speakers. Fun & learning - you can't beat that! Speakers (and their topics) during the week-long course included:

• Thomas W. Jones (Using Evidence)
• Debbie Parker Wayne (Tax Rolls; DNA)
• Kimberly T. Powell (Online Searches; Manuscript Collections)
• John Phillip Colletta (Immigration & Naturalization)
• Gerald Smith (Local & State Land Records)
• Michael Strauss (Military Records)
• Judy G. Russell (Court Records)
• Angela McGhie (Essential Skills; Vital Record Alternatives; Advanced Census Research; Federal Land Records; Historic Newspapers; Wills and Probate; Evidence Review, Techniques)

The session topics were very closely aligned to my genealogy goals, particularly in Record Types and Research Skills, so I feel that this course was especially suited for me and my goals.

I plan to attend another Institute in the coming year. Because I have family in Birmingham, it may be IGHR as 2016 is the last year it will be held at Samford University. But I have heard such wonderful things about SLIG, GRIP and NIGR; it's a very tough decision.

I will continue my evaluation of my progress toward my goals in Part II.