Funny how things can change, Tuesday was such bliss I was almost ready to call it a week, feeling fully satisfied already by my experiences. But here we are on Thursday and I want to cry over the fact that we're almost done.
This morning's classes were presented by Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL. And as I mentioned in my last post, today dealt more with NARA (National Archive)
Mrs. Sayer gave a brief tour of the website, emphasizing that there are several ways to get to the same place, so its really best to just get in there and play around, knowing that you can't get too lost because you do have the "back" button on your browser. She also emphasized that NARA tried to be helpful by breaking links into various categories such as "Teacher Resources" but don't let that limit you, you'll find important resources in each grouping.
Earlier in the week, Tom Jones mentioned that its cheaper to actually higher a DC researcher to go in and copy/photograph the records you want, than to pay NARA to do it. Mrs. Sayre stated that it really depended on what records you wanted and what researcher you wanted to use.
Whether ordering, hiring, or making a trip yourself, its important to spend a lot of time on the website ahead of time to determine exactly what it is you want, and what's available etc. In the next class we also learned its important to determine WHERE the records are, as they may be at a regional NARA site rather than in DC. I wasn't even aware there were Regional National Archives, but now I know what I'm doing next time I'm in Denver or Seattle.
She emphasized that no matter where you went, call ahead, verify the records location, and make arrangements for your visits. Spend time on-line (or on the phone) finding out what else you need to know, such as security procedures (be graceful about, don't complain, its for the good of everyone), find out if you need a patron/visitor pass, parking permit etc.
Dr. Colletta finished the day with two more classes on Federal records. First of all addressing lesser-used federal/NARA records such as passport applications, homestead files, civil war income tax records, postmaster appointments and civil war draft registrations. He again emphasized that the important thing is to think about your ancestor and where their life may have intercepted with the government because there should be a record of that somewhere (or at least was.)
The last class was on Federal Court Records. There are several indexes available through FamilySearch or the NARA site. But you probably also want to check out docket books and use them as a sort of unalphabatized index. As well as visit a law library (or lawyer) to look at a set of Federal Cases books, a 30 volume set which lists cases from 1789-1880 which set precedence. Vol 30 is a digest version which serves as a great index as well. (I know the Research Center at the Archives Tuesday had quite a few law books, so that's another possible place to look.)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
SLIG - Day 3
How do you beat yesterday?
Ok, probably don't. But that doesn't mean today wasn't amazing and fabulous.
Day started out with Dr. Colletta teaching on County Courthouses, what types of records are there, how to find out what's there etc. He reiterated that 1/2 the battle is just knowing what records are available. The county clerks are supposed to know everything they have, but you rarely deal with county clerks anymore, and of course as a researcher your best strategy is always to know what you want to find before you make the trip.
So where do you find out what records are available? Some of the best places to go are to published county histories (or county historians). You can also check State Archive websites, Genealogy manuals, either ones for the county/state or something like Redbook or Handybook. The FamilySearch Library Catalog is also a great resource, as they often have indexes etc. to help, even if they don't have the records themselves. USGENWEB is still a great source, though often forgotten about.
The next two classes were taught by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG.
The first class was all about NUCMC (& its "cousins"). What a great resource that I'd never heard of before!!!! And apparently I'm not the only one, Mrs. Warren stated that even most the librarians who have the printed version of NUCMC have never heard of it. NUCMC = The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Think WorldCat for Manuscript collections.
Not every repository participates, but nearly 2,000 do. This catalog (available on-line in many locations, or in printed form at some libraries etc.) may tell you what happened to the pioneer dr's records or the midwives records, or even the family bible that got handed down the "other brother's line" until someone decided to donate it.
Her next course addressed searching the records of old settler's organizations. She said these can really be a gold mine and often contain vital info and familial data, as well as where the settler immigrated from and/or where the emigrated to.
Sadly my kids pulled a trump card so I had to bow out of the last class of the afternoon, which was focusing on the National Archive and how to use it, definitely a subject I wanted to hear more about. (Sadly, they're doing the same thing Friday afternoon, and night so I'll miss another course, and the banquet, but what do you do?) The syllabus does contain a long list of resources and guides so I can do some personal study, and some of tomorrow's classes deal with NARA as well, so maybe I can pick up a few things.
Ok, probably don't. But that doesn't mean today wasn't amazing and fabulous.
Day started out with Dr. Colletta teaching on County Courthouses, what types of records are there, how to find out what's there etc. He reiterated that 1/2 the battle is just knowing what records are available. The county clerks are supposed to know everything they have, but you rarely deal with county clerks anymore, and of course as a researcher your best strategy is always to know what you want to find before you make the trip.
So where do you find out what records are available? Some of the best places to go are to published county histories (or county historians). You can also check State Archive websites, Genealogy manuals, either ones for the county/state or something like Redbook or Handybook. The FamilySearch Library Catalog is also a great resource, as they often have indexes etc. to help, even if they don't have the records themselves. USGENWEB is still a great source, though often forgotten about.
The next two classes were taught by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG.
The first class was all about NUCMC (& its "cousins"). What a great resource that I'd never heard of before!!!! And apparently I'm not the only one, Mrs. Warren stated that even most the librarians who have the printed version of NUCMC have never heard of it. NUCMC = The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Think WorldCat for Manuscript collections.
Not every repository participates, but nearly 2,000 do. This catalog (available on-line in many locations, or in printed form at some libraries etc.) may tell you what happened to the pioneer dr's records or the midwives records, or even the family bible that got handed down the "other brother's line" until someone decided to donate it.
Her next course addressed searching the records of old settler's organizations. She said these can really be a gold mine and often contain vital info and familial data, as well as where the settler immigrated from and/or where the emigrated to.
Sadly my kids pulled a trump card so I had to bow out of the last class of the afternoon, which was focusing on the National Archive and how to use it, definitely a subject I wanted to hear more about. (Sadly, they're doing the same thing Friday afternoon, and night so I'll miss another course, and the banquet, but what do you do?) The syllabus does contain a long list of resources and guides so I can do some personal study, and some of tomorrow's classes deal with NARA as well, so maybe I can pick up a few things.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
SLIG - Day 2
I spent the whole morning feeling like I was back in grade school, anxiously waiting for the afternoon field trip. Luckily, I was grown-up enough to not spend the whole morning fidgeting in my seat, even I was doing just that on the inside.
The morning sessions focused on State Archives, the records they might contain, and how they differ from state to state with a lot of examples and case studies. Dr. Colletta also gave us a quick explanation of naturalization records, and laws.
When I registered I kinda grumbled about the fact that we were "stuck" in one course, one subject, instead of the traditional conference format of picking and choosing each hour. But as it turns out, I kinda like this way. Not only do I not have to decide every single hour what I want to take, but since we are taking the same series of classes, when the lecturer goes over, we can request that he/she keep going, instead of cutting the lecture short, and just sacrificing some of our break time, and/or adjusting the schedule as needed. No worrying about having to run to other classes, or someone else needing the classroom etc.
We further discussed the differences between State Archives, State Libraries, State Historical Societies, and the responsibilities of each. There are 2 basic types of state archives, centralized (one for the whole state) or regional (several scattered across the state). Though thanks to recent digitization efforts, there are now mixtures popping up.
Some records you may find in State Archives are state census, military, prison, state hospital, state court records, maps, photographs, land records. Some may have gathered up county, or even city records, some may have copies of NARA microfilms.
We learned that the key is just to contemplate your ancestor's life and think when and why they would have had to deal with the government. Even times like applying for business licenses. Personally, I've had fun with the on-line Brands and Markings collection on the Utah State Archive site, just finding what brands my ranching ancestors used.
A great site to help you find archives is www.nagara.org (National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators)
Archive Finder is another great tool to not only help you find the archive, but help you know what they have, unfortunately they are a subscription site. But try your local library or university for access.
As for naturalization: I especially liked learning about naturalization laws, who could be naturalized and when. For example, it wasn't until 1922 that married women had to file their own naturalization papers. Previously, they simply had the same status as their husband.
Then came lunch and the field trip!!!!
After arriving at the archive, we went into a classroom where the Head Archivist, Patricia Smith-Mansfield, taught us about the purpose of State Archives, about manuscript collections, an overview of record laws.
Then came the tour. First stop was the archive room itself with a demo of the machine that automatically pulls the container-a bookshelf type thing holding several archive boxes-and brings it down to a person who can then scan the box barcode for the requested box to help track it.
Next stop was the imaging labs where we were shown a digital capture camera, and a microfilm scanner (both of which I'm more than familiar with) and then up to the digital specialist for more talk of preserving and some cool audio transfer equipment.
Finally, we ended up in the research room for a tour of that area.
Our tour was scheduled to end at 3. (and thus that's when the bus was coming to get us). But the research room was open to 4.
I decided to stick around, and was rewarded with copies of pictures that my GGG took, as well as some good ones of a couple of his stores as they changed over the years. I'm always on the lookout for his photos. He was a photographer before photography was cool, so many of his photos have a lot of historical value, especially since he was also one of the early founders of Provo, UT, so has many pictures of the city in its early years. But most of these were ones I hadn't seen before, and showed features of the town that I hadn't seen before.
As I mentioned, I've spent time on their website, and in their digital collections, but this was my first trip to the archives/historical society. I came up with a long to-do list as I heard more about what records are there. So I look forward both to spending more time in their on-line catalog, and more personal visit time.
Since another course I'd really wanted to take was the New England course with Josh Taylor, I didn't want to miss his evening class on the topic. But even with the hour of research time, I had 3 hours to kill. I tried to decide if I was going to head to the FHL, or to the study room for some homework time, or lesson prep time for a class I'm teaching Friday night, or just hanging out and visiting with other classmates.
I ended up grabbing some dinner at a great restaurant I've been meaning to try, then wound up running into some friends, and ended up killing over 2 hours that way. So then I just decided to "bag it" and enjoy the city. It was just the day-cation I needed!!!! I'd forgotten what it felt like to not have to be constantly rushing from one place to another, to be worrying about the mile long to-do list, or the kids or...
And of course Joshua's class was wonderful! If you haven't had the chance to hear him speak, do everything you can to get that opportunity. He's absolutely fabulous! And gave a lot of great resources for New England research, particularly Colonial NE.
His favorite sites are (of course) FamilySearch, American Ancestors, and Google Books
He also recommended a lot of great books, many depending on what state you're researching in. He also told us that when he moves he packs by priority. The books he uses most get top priority, then next and so forth so he knows what order to unpack, who cares about kitchen stuff or bedsheets. Sounds pretty familiar, is it any wonder I love his presentations?!?!
He claimed early New England research is some of the best there is because there is such a wide variety of records, so many compiled sources (so many compiled sources in public domain hence the Google Books link), so many on-line resources etc.
This is also one area that really does require your due diligence aka "exhaustive" searches, since there are many conflicting sources. He brought up how there are often debating and/or correcting TAG records. (TAG=The American Genealogist, published by the NEHGS). Not to mention other conflicting records.
I learned just enough about the NEHGS holdings to wet my appetite, but not enough that I feel confident in my ability to jump right into this area. But that's what the other guides and resources he recommended are for.
The morning sessions focused on State Archives, the records they might contain, and how they differ from state to state with a lot of examples and case studies. Dr. Colletta also gave us a quick explanation of naturalization records, and laws.
When I registered I kinda grumbled about the fact that we were "stuck" in one course, one subject, instead of the traditional conference format of picking and choosing each hour. But as it turns out, I kinda like this way. Not only do I not have to decide every single hour what I want to take, but since we are taking the same series of classes, when the lecturer goes over, we can request that he/she keep going, instead of cutting the lecture short, and just sacrificing some of our break time, and/or adjusting the schedule as needed. No worrying about having to run to other classes, or someone else needing the classroom etc.
We further discussed the differences between State Archives, State Libraries, State Historical Societies, and the responsibilities of each. There are 2 basic types of state archives, centralized (one for the whole state) or regional (several scattered across the state). Though thanks to recent digitization efforts, there are now mixtures popping up.
Some records you may find in State Archives are state census, military, prison, state hospital, state court records, maps, photographs, land records. Some may have gathered up county, or even city records, some may have copies of NARA microfilms.
We learned that the key is just to contemplate your ancestor's life and think when and why they would have had to deal with the government. Even times like applying for business licenses. Personally, I've had fun with the on-line Brands and Markings collection on the Utah State Archive site, just finding what brands my ranching ancestors used.
A great site to help you find archives is www.nagara.org (National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators)
Archive Finder is another great tool to not only help you find the archive, but help you know what they have, unfortunately they are a subscription site. But try your local library or university for access.
As for naturalization: I especially liked learning about naturalization laws, who could be naturalized and when. For example, it wasn't until 1922 that married women had to file their own naturalization papers. Previously, they simply had the same status as their husband.
Then came lunch and the field trip!!!!
After arriving at the archive, we went into a classroom where the Head Archivist, Patricia Smith-Mansfield, taught us about the purpose of State Archives, about manuscript collections, an overview of record laws.
Then came the tour. First stop was the archive room itself with a demo of the machine that automatically pulls the container-a bookshelf type thing holding several archive boxes-and brings it down to a person who can then scan the box barcode for the requested box to help track it.Next stop was the imaging labs where we were shown a digital capture camera, and a microfilm scanner (both of which I'm more than familiar with) and then up to the digital specialist for more talk of preserving and some cool audio transfer equipment.
Finally, we ended up in the research room for a tour of that area.
Our tour was scheduled to end at 3. (and thus that's when the bus was coming to get us). But the research room was open to 4.
I decided to stick around, and was rewarded with copies of pictures that my GGG took, as well as some good ones of a couple of his stores as they changed over the years. I'm always on the lookout for his photos. He was a photographer before photography was cool, so many of his photos have a lot of historical value, especially since he was also one of the early founders of Provo, UT, so has many pictures of the city in its early years. But most of these were ones I hadn't seen before, and showed features of the town that I hadn't seen before.
As I mentioned, I've spent time on their website, and in their digital collections, but this was my first trip to the archives/historical society. I came up with a long to-do list as I heard more about what records are there. So I look forward both to spending more time in their on-line catalog, and more personal visit time.
Since another course I'd really wanted to take was the New England course with Josh Taylor, I didn't want to miss his evening class on the topic. But even with the hour of research time, I had 3 hours to kill. I tried to decide if I was going to head to the FHL, or to the study room for some homework time, or lesson prep time for a class I'm teaching Friday night, or just hanging out and visiting with other classmates.
I ended up grabbing some dinner at a great restaurant I've been meaning to try, then wound up running into some friends, and ended up killing over 2 hours that way. So then I just decided to "bag it" and enjoy the city. It was just the day-cation I needed!!!! I'd forgotten what it felt like to not have to be constantly rushing from one place to another, to be worrying about the mile long to-do list, or the kids or...
And of course Joshua's class was wonderful! If you haven't had the chance to hear him speak, do everything you can to get that opportunity. He's absolutely fabulous! And gave a lot of great resources for New England research, particularly Colonial NE.
His favorite sites are (of course) FamilySearch, American Ancestors, and Google Books
He also recommended a lot of great books, many depending on what state you're researching in. He also told us that when he moves he packs by priority. The books he uses most get top priority, then next and so forth so he knows what order to unpack, who cares about kitchen stuff or bedsheets. Sounds pretty familiar, is it any wonder I love his presentations?!?!
He claimed early New England research is some of the best there is because there is such a wide variety of records, so many compiled sources (so many compiled sources in public domain hence the Google Books link), so many on-line resources etc.
This is also one area that really does require your due diligence aka "exhaustive" searches, since there are many conflicting sources. He brought up how there are often debating and/or correcting TAG records. (TAG=The American Genealogist, published by the NEHGS). Not to mention other conflicting records.
I learned just enough about the NEHGS holdings to wet my appetite, but not enough that I feel confident in my ability to jump right into this area. But that's what the other guides and resources he recommended are for.
Monday, January 23, 2012
SLIG - Day 1
Last night did not go as planned....neither did today.
Homework took me a lot longer than I thought, and still wasn't finished. Consequently, I stayed up later than I'd planned, and decided to take the bus in so I could work during the commute time. But that of course meant an even earlier morning to catch the bus.
Managed to get here, and enjoyed a fabulous breakfast! Then, as a bonus, had an hour between breakfast and the first class. Even better, the brilliant people at UGA who organized this, made plans for "study rooms." I was so there to make another effort at the homework since I really didn't want it hanging over my head all day. I made tremendous progress, and felt much more ready to turn my focus to the courses at hand.
My primary "professor" is John Phillip Colletta of "They came in Ships" fame. A very charismatic (and experienced) lecturer, very easy to listen to. YAY!!! (nothing like getting a dull professor to listen to the whole time, I get enough of that in college).
We also had Tom Jones lecture in the afternoon today
There are 4 classes each day, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, with 15 min breaks in-between and 90min for lunch.
Today's courses included a general overview, how to evaluate the evidence you find, case studies that could only be solved via original sources, and 5 ways to prove (or not prove) who your ancestor was.
All 4 courses included a lot of great case studies, and both lecturer's knew how to tell them in a way to keep you glued. The last class was one of the best classes on the Genealogical Proof Standard that I've attended. I particularly liked that he pointed out the GPS includes "reasonable exhaustive search" and that far too often we focus on the "exhaustive" part and we forget that its "reasonable." We hear time and time again of people spending 30 years to proof or disprove one thing. It can be very overwhelming. Using his methods, it seems much simpler, without becoming willey-nilley searches.
The GPS is used for determining if a relationship, identity, situation or event is substantially credible based on:
All logical and seemingly basic, but good reminders.
Dr. Colletta seemed to hit the public vs. private issue quite a bit, reminding us to check both, and explaining that a lot of places do have multiple archives, historical societies, etc. because one may have been started with private funding while the other was established with public funds (even though now both are often run with both type of funds).
He also brought up that each state handles their archives differently, some are connected with their historical society, some are separate.
There are numerous ways to find the repositories you need. Of course the internet is a great place to start, but there are also genealogy manuals which contain the info and other guides, catalogs, indexes, inventories etc. may mention the repositories as well.
One major item that you'll probably need to get on-site are manuscript collections. I recently learned from the catalogers at work that Manuscripts are basically anything not intended for publication. (though the definition of "publication" is coming to debate in our new age of e-publishing). Basically, they're collections of papers, mostly loose papers, but it might also include family bibles, or journals, newspaper clippings. Basically that box of "family history stuff" and memorabilia that Uncle Joe kept for years but his kids had no idea what to do with so donated to the local library, archive, or historical society. But it may also be the papers of an organization, a company or societal group.
Life got even more "exciting" when, during the break, my computer started to crash and show signs of a virus. Luckily, I'm close enough to the office that I was able to run over during lunch and get a techie to save me. I lost a few things, but the homework was saved. (One item lost: homework time during lunch). Then of course, since I wasn't able to sit near one of the scattered few outlets in the conf room, so my battery was low, the outlet on the bus was also not working so I lost power 10min into the ride home.
Did finally get my homework done, just in the nick of time.
Despite all the frustrations, the classes were so great I can't even call it a bad day!
Homework took me a lot longer than I thought, and still wasn't finished. Consequently, I stayed up later than I'd planned, and decided to take the bus in so I could work during the commute time. But that of course meant an even earlier morning to catch the bus.
Managed to get here, and enjoyed a fabulous breakfast! Then, as a bonus, had an hour between breakfast and the first class. Even better, the brilliant people at UGA who organized this, made plans for "study rooms." I was so there to make another effort at the homework since I really didn't want it hanging over my head all day. I made tremendous progress, and felt much more ready to turn my focus to the courses at hand.
My primary "professor" is John Phillip Colletta of "They came in Ships" fame. A very charismatic (and experienced) lecturer, very easy to listen to. YAY!!! (nothing like getting a dull professor to listen to the whole time, I get enough of that in college).
We also had Tom Jones lecture in the afternoon today
There are 4 classes each day, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, with 15 min breaks in-between and 90min for lunch.
Today's courses included a general overview, how to evaluate the evidence you find, case studies that could only be solved via original sources, and 5 ways to prove (or not prove) who your ancestor was.
All 4 courses included a lot of great case studies, and both lecturer's knew how to tell them in a way to keep you glued. The last class was one of the best classes on the Genealogical Proof Standard that I've attended. I particularly liked that he pointed out the GPS includes "reasonable exhaustive search" and that far too often we focus on the "exhaustive" part and we forget that its "reasonable." We hear time and time again of people spending 30 years to proof or disprove one thing. It can be very overwhelming. Using his methods, it seems much simpler, without becoming willey-nilley searches.
The GPS is used for determining if a relationship, identity, situation or event is substantially credible based on:
- a reasonably exhaustive search
- complete, accurate source citations (he also pointed out that we don't want our work tossed out when we die, so essentially we are doing all our work for someone else, thus increasing the importance of this)
- skilled analysis and correlation of the data
- resolution of contradictory evidence
- a soundly reasoned conclusion
All logical and seemingly basic, but good reminders.
Dr. Colletta seemed to hit the public vs. private issue quite a bit, reminding us to check both, and explaining that a lot of places do have multiple archives, historical societies, etc. because one may have been started with private funding while the other was established with public funds (even though now both are often run with both type of funds).
He also brought up that each state handles their archives differently, some are connected with their historical society, some are separate.
There are numerous ways to find the repositories you need. Of course the internet is a great place to start, but there are also genealogy manuals which contain the info and other guides, catalogs, indexes, inventories etc. may mention the repositories as well.
One major item that you'll probably need to get on-site are manuscript collections. I recently learned from the catalogers at work that Manuscripts are basically anything not intended for publication. (though the definition of "publication" is coming to debate in our new age of e-publishing). Basically, they're collections of papers, mostly loose papers, but it might also include family bibles, or journals, newspaper clippings. Basically that box of "family history stuff" and memorabilia that Uncle Joe kept for years but his kids had no idea what to do with so donated to the local library, archive, or historical society. But it may also be the papers of an organization, a company or societal group.
Life got even more "exciting" when, during the break, my computer started to crash and show signs of a virus. Luckily, I'm close enough to the office that I was able to run over during lunch and get a techie to save me. I lost a few things, but the homework was saved. (One item lost: homework time during lunch). Then of course, since I wasn't able to sit near one of the scattered few outlets in the conf room, so my battery was low, the outlet on the bus was also not working so I lost power 10min into the ride home.
Did finally get my homework done, just in the nick of time.
Despite all the frustrations, the classes were so great I can't even call it a bad day!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
SLIG IS HERE!!!
Day 0.
The time has finally come. I'm so excited! I opted for course 8-Beyond the Library: Using Original Source Repositories. The field trip to the Utah State Archives was kind of the clincher in my decision, even though I kept telling myself that I could go anytime and probably get the same tour/assistance. Additionally, I feel lucky to even get time at the library, most of my research is done on-line, so archive trips, courthouse trips etc. are not things I've ever even attempted, so I definitely have a lot to learn.
Due to a kink in the scheduling, they moved the Welcome Breakfast to 7am. Since I do live just an hour or so away, I'm staying at home, so it will be an early morning. But I'm sending my 2 yr old to my parent's house for the night, and hitting the sack early so I'll be well rested and ready to absorb everything I possibly can!
Now on to finish my homework due tomorrow night so I can focus solely on Genealogy this week! (well, almost solely).
The time has finally come. I'm so excited! I opted for course 8-Beyond the Library: Using Original Source Repositories. The field trip to the Utah State Archives was kind of the clincher in my decision, even though I kept telling myself that I could go anytime and probably get the same tour/assistance. Additionally, I feel lucky to even get time at the library, most of my research is done on-line, so archive trips, courthouse trips etc. are not things I've ever even attempted, so I definitely have a lot to learn.
Due to a kink in the scheduling, they moved the Welcome Breakfast to 7am. Since I do live just an hour or so away, I'm staying at home, so it will be an early morning. But I'm sending my 2 yr old to my parent's house for the night, and hitting the sack early so I'll be well rested and ready to absorb everything I possibly can!
Now on to finish my homework due tomorrow night so I can focus solely on Genealogy this week! (well, almost solely).
Monday, October 17, 2011
The emotions of victory!
I won the SLIG blogging contest!
Since learning the news via a tweet (interesting in itself since I'm not a huge twitter fan and only have about 3 people set up to tweet on my phone) my emotions have been a rollercoaster.
Of course I'm elated! If I had the time, I'd make a paper countdown chain. (Since I don't, watch for a counter on the blog to come soon.)
There have also been feelings of winner's remorse (is that a real thing? Like survivor's remorse, only milder... I wish so-an-so could have won. This other person really could have used it too...I hope this other person finds a way to come too....)
There's a lot of gratitude and humbleness as well. I'm grateful to UGA for sponsoring the contest in the first place. I mean really, how GREAT is that!!!
But I also know that the contest was still just chance. Other than putting forth the effort to enter, there was nothing I did, or even could have done, to assist myself in winning. Granted, there were not that many that entered, so odds were good, nevertheless, I'm not that lucky. When something like this happens to me, its usually in relation to Family History, and its usually because some dead ancestor is meddling in my life. (Not that I have any problem with it, in fact I welcome them to meddle in other parts of my life too.)
But that leads me to wonder who exactly wants me to find them, or who wants me to get to know them better this time. At which point I begin to wonder if I really signed up for the right course or not. I think I did. I felt good about it after I wrote the entry blog.
But that leads me to feel really overwhelmed.
First of all, I'll confess, I'm a rather disorganized genealogist. It's something I keep working on, but I never seem to make much progress. But now I have to get at least somewhat organized before January so I know what I already have on the lines I'm hoping to get help on. Not to mention, get what organization I do have up to a point where I can show what I have to someone else. YIKES!
I also want to make sure I have exhausted all I know how to do on those lines so I can best make use of the help while its available.
But with work, school, kids, church, and everything else that makes up my daily life, not to mention the holiday season quickly approaching....Now is when I could really use some "luck."
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
SLIG
Coming Jan 23-27, 2012, The Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) is once again presenting its SLIG Conference (Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy). (For more information, be sure to visit their webpage HERE)
For years, I've been hearing about how wonderful this conference is. People come in from all over the world to attend. It's set up so you choose a specific "track" and spend the week focusing on one area, and learning from best researchers for that locale. It's like boot camp for genealogists, or so I've been told.
Additionally, classes are taught in the evening and open to all for a mere $10 each.
It's a great opportunity, and a great value. Nonetheless, the registration fees are a bit steep for my limited budget, so I've never been able to go.
But this year, UGA has introduced a blogging contest and the random winner will earn a tuition waiver.
Not only is SLIG a great educational opportunity for me, but let's be honest, the change in routine would provide a much needed vacation for me. (Much needed, how about desperately needed!) (Yes it is that bad that a week at a conference, 30 miles from my home, with nights still spent at home would be a vacation for me.)
So the question is not really whether or not I want to go, but which of the wonderful 12 tracks I'd choose if I were able to go.
1: American Research and Records: Focus on Families
The first track is American Research and Records-an "intermediate level course...on 19th-21st century U.S. sources and the methodology for using them." I always like classes that discuss lesser-used records, as much for the inspiration and reminders of what to search as for the instruction on them. But for most of the time period discussed, my family were all in Utah, an area I'm already pretty familiar with. Again, record-types are good, and hubby's family wasn't here yet. But it's also so generic that I'm not sure which project I'd pick for my project-time/apply-what-you-learned research time.
2: Advanced New England Research
The second track is actually full already, so I probably couldn't go to it anyway, but its on Advanced New England Research, with Josh Taylor heading up the instruction. And it covers 1620-1850, with a focus on 1620-1781. I LOVE Josh's classes! (he's also teaching some classes in the first track). As I mentioned in an earlier post, My husband has been talking lately about needing to get to work on his Family History, which was all the motivation I needed to start diving into his family again. He has several New England roots, and its not an area I've ever paid attention to before, despite having some lines there too. The time period is perfect for what I'd need as well. The "Advanced" is a bit intimidating since I haven't researched in the area before but I think I could manage it, given my overall experience.
3: Welsh Research
The third track is Welsh Research, headed up by Darris Williams, another favorite instructor of mine. I do have some Welsh roots, but they've always been a low priority for me (right down there with my NE ancestors). I'm not sure I'm ready to move them up the line right now, but I couldn't think of a better excuse. There is no time period given. But one of the classes is on Civil Registration, which of course (Murphy's Law) didn't start until after my family emigrated, so I wonder how many other of the classes may be out of my time range.
4: Swedish Research
My Swedish roots were some some of the last to immigrate. Consequently, any cultural traditions or stories that have managed to survive the generations have come from this line, and have peaked my interest. I've started diving into this area a couple times, even trying to teach myself Swedish at one point, but I've never gotten very far so I could really use the help. The question would be whether or not I could handle the foreign language research in my present and chronic sleep-deprived, mentally-exhausted state.
5: Research in the Midwestern United States.
This is another one that interests me more because of my recent activity with my husband's lines. They were all over the map, but many of them spent a lot of time in the Midwest, and in several cases, this is where the brick-walls lie. This track is also full of wonderful teachers and really excites me.
6: Genealogy Software and Research Tools
Ok, this one doesn't excite me nearly as much, but since I've included every other class so-far, I hated to break the streak. It definitely seems to have some awesome classes included in it, such as using GenSmarts (which I've been in love with since it first came out, but am a few releases behind on), and Mobile Apps, which does me no good since I still have a dumb phone.
7: Principles of Effective Genealogical Librarianship
Another "not so much" one. Despite my boss's best efforts, and the fact that I work with books day-in and day-out, and enjoy doing so, and enjoy being in the library, I'm not a librarian. (Wait, why aren't I????). A lot of great classes, such as Newspaper Research Techniques, and various internet resources, and a Digitization Projects and Issues class that I'd love to be a fly on the wall for, But still... (This is the disadvantage to "tracks" I'd love to hop over for a a couple of these classes while enjoying another track for the ones that wouldn't apply)
8: Beyond the Library: Using Original Source Repositories
Pro: A field trip to the Utah State Archives! Con: Once they got me there, they probably wouldn't get me out. If ever I'm tempted to play hookey from life and grab some alone time for myself, this is where I dream of going. Well this and a tropical, semi-deserted island. But the Utah Archive is slightly more accessible. However, if I had the money to visit any other source repositories, I'd also be paying my way to SLIG. :) (Or visiting that tropical island...why couldn't my ancestors be from the Caribbean? Instead of the equally beautiful, but much colder lands of the British Isles and Scandinavia)
9: Advanced Genealogical Methods
What Genealogist couldn't use this, especially one at my intermediate skill level. That's probably the reason the class is full already.
10: Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum
Same as above, but this one is for even more advanced genealogists, so is probably above my level, but could be fun, if they manage to find room for more people, which they're working on.
11: Advanced Research Tools: Land Records
Another already full class that may be overwhelming but fabulous, and definitely something I need, especially since it includes internet resources for land records. You know I LOVE internet research!
12: Problem Solving
Help getting through brick-walls. YES! But which brick-wall would I pick?!?!?!
See why the decision is so difficult! And I didn't even list all the classes within each track for you. You really should hop over to the UGA or SLIG websites and learn more.
Out of the classes that still have room in them, I'm still kind of leaning towards Track 5, Midwestern States. Not only have my husband's ancestors in this area started calling out to me lately, but they are some of the closest brick-walls to us time-wise, so theoretically, they should be the easiest ones to break-through. It's also where there seems to be the most movement so I could definitely use the help tracking them.
Or if your budget is as strapped as mine, I'd definitely recommend you check into a UGA membership. Only $35 a year (with discounts for family, or extended memberships), which first of all saves you $50 on tuition to SLIG, but also provides you with a subscription to the UGA magazine "Crossroads" As well as access to training materials and members-only activities, among other things. Does it get any better than that?
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