Category Archives: Announcements

Virtual Seminar with Cyndi Ingle and Cari Taplin!

Announcements, ,

Coming up at the end of April, an all day seminar with Cyndi Ingle (of Cyndi’s List) and myself hosted by the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society. This is a VIRTUAL seminar so you can join us from the comfort of your own home! There will be two lectures by each of us.

Cyndi’s Topics:

  • Smarter Searching: Refining Search Parameters for Genealogists
  • Off the Shelf: The Unexplored Potential for eBooks in Genealogy

Cari’s Topics:

  • Using Timelines to Analyze Your Research 
  • The Heart of it All: A New Hampshire to Ohio Migration Case Study

Seminar Schedule – Pacific Time, so convert for your time zone:

08:30 – 08:45 Enter the Zoom meeting
08:45 – 09:00 General announcements; troubleshooting
09:00 – 10:00 Presentation 1
10:00 – 10:30 Break & chit-chat
10:30 – 11:30 Presentation 2
11:30 – 12:30 Lunch break & chit-chat questions
12:30 – 01:30 Presentation 3
01:30 – 02:00 Break & chit-chat
02:00 – 03:00 Presentation 4
03:00 – 03:15 Q&A with the Speakers

Click this link to get the full details and registration instructions.

We hope to see you there!

Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Groups Registration Now Open

Announcements, ,

We have had a little delay in the blog posts lately. Last week I was course coordinator for the “Spirit of the Inland Seas: Research in the Great Lakes” along with Cyndi Ingle (Cyndi’s List), Paula Stuart-Warren (Genealogy by Paula), and Judy Russell (The Legal Genealogist). It was a fantastic week with a great class! In that course, I taught eight lectures, and I also taught two lectures in Paula’s “Digging Deeper course.” As you can imagine, the weeks leading up to it and last week were quite busy with preparations and teaching! Therefore, a bit of lag on the blog. I will continue the current series next week.

Cyndi and I also opened registration for our next Mastering Genealogical Proof study groups that are beginning in August. Here are the details:

This will be a beginner/low-intermediate level class to study the book Mastering Genealogical Proof by Tom Jones. We will cover the principles outlined in the book as well as discuss the workbook questions.

Details of the course (PLEASE READ):

  • There will be THREE sessions: Wednesday daytime at 3pm Eastern, led by Cyndi Ingle (of Cyndi’s List), Wednesday evenings at 7pm Eastern led by Cari Taplin, or Saturdays at 1pm Eastern, led by Cyndi Ingle. Times are in Eastern so adjust for your time zone. Beginning Wednesday August 2, 2023 or Saturday August 5 (for 7 weeks). Each class will be about an hour.
  • We will meet on Zoom. 
  • Cost for the course: $75
  • You will need to have the book, Mastering Genealogical Proof. It can be purchased on Amazon or through the National Genealogical Society if you don’t already have it.
  • There are questions in the book that we will use to guide discussion. Reading the chapter and answering the discussion questions will prepare you for each week’s class.
  • For the first half (or so) of each class session, we will present/recap the principles for that week (we’ll have slides).
  • The second half will be going over the discussion questions.
  • There will also be a private Facebook group for this class only so you can ask questions and discuss issues in-between class sessions.
  • Class size is limited to 25.
  • Sessions are NOT recorded. Please plan on attending in person.

Choose one of the following times, click the link to register:  

We look forward to studying with you! However, if this session does not work for you, we will be holding the next session in early 2024. To be notified when registration opens for the next session, please click this link to sign up for the waitlist. (This waitlist is just a way for us to collect your email so we can notify you of registration and is not a guarantee of a seat in the class.)

I had a little break…

Announcements

Hi loyal readers. You might have noticed I took a bit of a break from my blog. I just had so many things come up that something had to give for a while. But I’m back, so never fear, all is well and I’ll try to get back into my blogging routine.

First, what have I been up to? Well, the biggest event was that I was the keynote speaker for the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference that took place at the end of April. My keynote followed the theme of the conference “What Brought Them Here?” and focused on why families move and how might those who moved to the Great Lakes area have made their way there. I also gave a workshop on using Google’s MyMaps, as well as five other lectures. It was a busy week! And all of the time leading up to that event was when I took a blog break. I had to make sure all of my materials were ready!

Second, what am I up to for the rest of the year? The biggest thing going forward is that I’m coordinating a course and teaching in another for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. My course is “The Spirit of the Inland Seas: Research in the Great Lakes States” along with Cyndi Ingle, Paula Stuart-Warren, and Judy Russell. There are a few seats left if you’d like to join us! It is virtual so held entirely online and from the comfort of your own home. The other course I’m teaching in is “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills” coordinated by Paula Stuart-Warren.

I also have some webinars planned:

You can follow my speaking calendar here.

Third, what’s the next topic for the blog? I’m going to share some tips and techniques for using various online catalogs at websites many genealogists use frequently, starting with Ancestry, but we will eventually get to FamilySearch, FindMyPast, MyHeritage, and others. With this series I’m hoping to share some different ways to utilize the websites that you may not have thought of.

Happy Spring!

Hiatus this week

Announcements

A little bit of a hiatus this week because I’m teaching at GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh).

In the meantime, registration is open for the next session of our Mastering Genealogical DOCUMENTATION study groups. For more information, click here.

We will continue next week with the parts of my version of a locality guide.

GRIP Registration Opens Today!

Announcements, Genealogical Education, Genealogy Program

Just a quick note to let you know that registration for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) opens today! Click HERE for more information.

I will be coordinating a course about Great Lakes research titled “The Spirit of the Inland Seas” with the wonderfully experienced and fun teachers such as Paula Stuart Warren, Cyndi Ingle, and Judy G. Russell.

I will also be teaching in Paula Stuart Warren’s course “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills.” I will present on the topics of probate records and PERSI.

Registration opens today, Wednesday, February 17th, at Noon Eastern for June courses and 2 PM Eastern for July courses. I hope to see you there!

Valentine’s Day a Little Early

Announcements,

We are all working/schooling from home in my household. So, when the flower delivery came Monday, it was my husband who answered because I was in a meeting.

As long-time readers will know, we recently moved back to Colorado after being in Texas for 6 years. We had been planning to move after our daughter graduated high school, but when everything went online and we weren’t “tied” to Texas anymore, we decided quite quickly to take the plunge and head back. I missed the crisp mornings and the view to the west.

We just bought a house and will spend February moving into the new house. (We’ve been renting for 6 months while we shopped.) So, the blog might be a bit low-key, with shorter posts and announcements rather than a more in-depth series for a few weeks while we get re-settled. I’m just happy to be able to unpack my genealogy books soon!

Genealogy Pants is Back in Colorado!

Announcements,

I took a little bit of a hiatus last week because we moved back to Colorado! We moved to Texas six years ago for a new job opportunity for my husband. Long story short, he’s with a different company now, and they are having everyone work from home until at least next June. My daughter switched over to an online school. I already work from home. It finally dawned on us that we didn’t have to stay in Texas! (I was not fond of the heat and humidity!) We’d been talking about moving back to Colorado for about the last four years and so we “seized the day” and just went for it.

So, as I get my life adjusted, I will get back on track next week with my blog posts. I haven’t finished my thoughts on newspapers, so stay tuned for those continued posts!

We took a drive to Estes Park last weekend. I missed the mountains and the crisp air so much!

The Genealogy Squad’s Newest Member

Announcements,

I’m taking a short break from my Box Adventures series for a couple of reasons. First, my scanning assistant has been studying and taking her AP tests recently so not much progress has been made on the scanning front. Also, I ordered some archival materials, but since they are shipped out of New York, and New York is in lockdown, they aren’t shipping right now. So I will wait until some of those things clear up to finish that blog series.

In other exciting news, I was asked to join one of the largest (over 33,000 members and growing!) and highest-quality genealogy groups on Facebook, The Genealogy Squad. It was started a year ago by several of my colleagues with the idea of giving good, solid, accurate information when it comes to genealogy. Of course I said yes! How could I resist working with some of my favorite people? Drew Smith and George Morgan of the Genealogy Guys podcast and Cyndi Ingle of Cyndi’s List are the other administrators. We also have some fun moderators working with us as well.

“The mission of The Genealogy Squad Facebook group is to provide a positive space for the sharing of appropriate and reliable methods and resources to assist genealogists at all levels. We focus on answering questions and solving problems, while demonstrating best practices in all aspects of genealogical research.”

If you’d like to join, click here. There are some rules to read and follow, and some questions to answer so we know you are not a spammer. We try to keep the group drama-free, positive, and educational so the items in the rules are important and are there for reasons they’ve figured out over the life of the group.

I’m so excited to have been included. Please join the group if you haven’t done so already!