BCG Seeks Public Comment on Genetic Genealogy Standards

Genetic Genealogy, , , ,

Exciting news!

This was just sent out by the Board for Certification of Genealogists:

[At the annual meeting at NGS] … “the trustees debated a proposal to update genealogy standards to incorporate standards related to genetic genealogy. As a result of this discussion BCG intends to move forward with the integration of genetic genealogy into Genealogy Standards. The board directed that the committee’s proposal be published for public comment. The proposed standards can be viewed at https://bcgcertification.org/DNA/Proposed_Standards.pdf.

The public comment period ends on 23 July 2018. Fill out the survey at this link (https://goo.gl/forms/57ahXLqkAYOBWDop2) by 23 July 2018. Due to the expected volume of comments, we will not be able to acknowledge or respond to individual comments.”

Often, when I am discussing the certification process with interested genealogists, I am asked about using DNA in portfolios. They want to know about the specific requirements for including genetic genealogy in their portfolios, and as of yet, there are not really any specifics. There are now many NGSQ articles I can point people to, webinars that can be watched for DNA methodology, and guides and articles on citing DNA in your reports. However, there are not currently any DNA-specific standards, rubrics, or instructions for portfolio preparation. I hope this is a step in that direction, so that those working on certification can have specific and solid guidelines for DNA requirements.

If you are interested in reviewing the proposed standards for genetic genealogy, I encourage you to view and comment using the links above.

Audio Recordings from NGS 2018

Genealogical Education, Genealogy Conferences, , , ,

Audio recordings of many of the NGS lectures are available for sale and download at PlaybackNGS. There were many fantastic sessions, some I made it to, some I missed due to speaking or other obligations, and so I’m compiling my list right now.

7780-banner2If you couldn’t make it to NGS (or even if you did) this is a great way to hear some fantastic lectures.

I do have three lectures available if you are interested:

  • The Third Coast: How the Great Lakes Shaped America (W144)
  • Casting the Net: Denominational, Ethnic, and Specialized Newspapers (S443)
  • Using PERSI Like a Pro (S451)

I thought Grand Rapids, Michigan and this NGS conference was one of the best I’ve been to. The level of education, the exhibit hall, and the city offerings were fantastic.

Next year’s NGS is 8-11 May 2019 in St. Charles, Missouri. And 2020 will be 20-23 May in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mark your calendars!

Great Lakes States – State and Territorial Censuses

great lakes,

I spoke on Wednesday at the National Genealogical Society Conference on “The Third Coast: How the Great Lakes Shaped America.” This lecture really just skims the surface of  topics one would need to know to do effective research in the Great Lakes States. (I put together this lecture and realized I had a lot to say on the subject and gave me the idea to develop an entire course on the subject.)

One thing I wish I had more time to discuss is the use of State and Territorial censuses in Great Lakes research. The following map I colorized to demonstrate the Great Lakes states that held state-level censuses, typically on “the fives” (e.g. 1855, 1865, and so on).

StateCensusMap

The states in green held state censuses, those in orange did not. Indiana (in yellow) did, but they are scattered or no longer exist. So, of the eight Great Lakes States, five of them offer this extra set of records that other states do not.

I share with you two resources for further study on this topic:

To make things a little easier, I have collated the information from both of these sources, as well as that from the appropriate state archives, to create a useful table regarding only the Great Lakes States. (Click here to download a PDF.)

So, if you had not considered whether or not your Great Lakes ancestors had been captured on a state or territorial census, I hope the above resources help you figure that out. Happy searching!

BCG Putting Skills to Work 2018

Genealogical Education, Skill Building, , , , ,

I’ve been in Grand Rapids, Michigan since Tuesday when I attended the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) Education Fund’s “Putting Skills to Work” class. What an excellent day! The time was split between two classes.

Connie Lenzen’s class “Planning and Executing Reasonably Exhaustive Research: Or How to Ensure a Successful Hunt” discussed research questions and plans. I have to say that I was quickly reminded of what I should be doing everyday. I get so excited for the research that I forget to focus, slow down, and set forth a path for my search.

Tom Jones made us think about “Citing All Kinds of Online Sources.” This class focused only on sources you find online and really made us look at all of the layers that an online source might have. The original source, the microfilmed version, the scan of the microfilm, an original digitization in color, previously published or not, and so on. We worked through many example citations as a class and discussed each of the parts.

The level of interactive instruction that one gets at a BCG “Putting Skills to Work” class is incredible. If you are interested in certification, are already on the clock, or are already certified, it doesn’t matter. These classes are wonderful examples of hands-on, lecture with discussion with exercises, types of classes many of us enjoy and will benefit for our own continuing education.

The BCG Education Fund’s “Putting Skills to Work” occurs on the Tuesday before the National Genealogical Society Conference every year, so you will want to adjust your schedule accordingly. Next year’s schedule was announced at this years’ class, and will take place in St. Charles, Missouri on Tuesday May 7, 2019:

  • “Meeting Standards with Twenty-First Century Research Reports” with Melissa Johnson, CG
  • “Evidence Analysis: Theory, Practice, and the Real World” with Nancy A. Peters, CG, CGL

For more information on the BCG Education Fund, visit bcgedfund.org.

Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Webinar

Genealogy Program,

Tomorrow I will be presenting a webinar for the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society on finding religious records in the Great Lakes region of the United States. You can find more information about the webinar here: https://wsgs.org.

In January I had the pleasure of coordinating a course at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) with my colleague Kathryn Lake Hogan, PLCGS who specializes in Canadian research. This webinar is a sprout from that course and I am excited to share some history, tips, and strategies for finding the religious records of Great Lakes Ancestors with a new audience.

Here are the details:

  • Date:  Tuesday, April 17, 2018
  • Time: 7:00 PM CST
  • Webinar Description: Some of the first settlers in any region were missionaries who wanted to convert native tribes already in the region. The area around the Great Lakes was explored by Jesuits, Methodists, Moravians, Baptists, Anglicans, Quakers, Presbyterians and others. These groups built early churches and religious meeting places that served settlers and native people alike. This class will focus on major religions in the Great Lakes region, a history and timeline of their arrival and expansion in specific areas, and will include a discussion on the main denominational repositories for research.

Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6940041915140711427

I hope to “see” you there!

 

 

Irish Genealogy

Genealogical Education, , ,

I have identified two lines in my family tree that are Irish. I am excited to learn how to do Irish research this fall (because I haven’t really started yet) at the British Institute in Salt Lake City. The institute is taking place 15 – 19 October 2018 at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah

On the topic of Irish research, this opportunity slid across my news feed recently: the Irish Genealogy Virtual Conference. You can read more about it here.

The schedule is as follows:

9:00 – Fintan Mullan presents Finding 17th Century Families in Ireland

10:15 – Gillian Hunt presents Using Church Records for Irish Genealogy Research

11:30 – Fiona Fitzsimons presents Finding Women in the Irish Records

12:30 – break

1:00 – Chris Paton presents Using Irish Land Records for Genealogy Research

2:15 – Maurice Gleeson presents Making Online Resources Work for You

The website states: The virtual conference starts at 9 am (Eastern) with presentations being delivered in pre-recorded webinar format. Presentations are made available in sequence. After one presentation ends, another becomes available. Also, the webinars are available for 72 hours to accommodate time zone differences.

At $79 CAD (about $64 US if my conversion is correct) for five presentations, this seems like an easy choice for me! If you are interested in learning more about Irish research, this sounds like a great conference that you can attend from home. For more information, visit their website: https://www.genealogyvic.com

(note: I am not affiliated with genealogyvic.com)

Tips for Learning to Read Old Handwriting

Genealogical Education, Skill Building, ,

In my work as a professional genealogist, I have to be able to read old handwriting. I know others struggle with this, and I have a couple of tips to share that really helped build my confidence when it comes to reading old handwriting.

My first tip and the best thing I can suggest is to take part in a volunteer indexing project. I signed up for the FamilySearch Indexing project the year it was released. I was onboard when the 1940 census was indexed in a matter of days, when the Civil War Pensions project was indexed, and for a whole host of state-organized projects through various state societies. After working on so many projects, I got really good at reading old and often messy handwriting.

Family Search indexing is not the only indexing game in town. There are indexing projects available through the National Archives and the DAR (if you are a member) as well. Here are those links:

My second tip is to get the book Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry. You can find it at Amazon or another online bookseller.

My last tip is to transcribe, transcribe, and transcribe. Any and all of your own research documents. Don’t have any? Go to FamilySearch and pick any record such as a deed or a will, and get started. If you choose to transcribe documents from a location where there is a local genealogical society that publishes a quarterly journal or other research publication, consider submitting your transcriptions to be published. Society journals are always looking for content. For more information about best practices for transcriptions, see chapter 16 of the book Professional Genealogy (edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills) titled “Transcripts and Abstracts.”

Truly the best way to get better at anything is to practice. I hope the above tips help you find your best way to practice and to also perhaps give back to the genealogical community at the same time.

NGS Conference Live Stream Details Announced

Genealogy Conferences, , , ,

The National Genealogical Society’s Annual Conference is coming right up! I am honored to be going to present three lectures among a wide variety of very talented speakers. The conference is being held in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 2-5 May 2018. If you are unable to attend in person, NGS just announced their live stream schedule option. You can read the full release with sign-up instructions and fees here.

ngs-2018-conferencesitebanner-060
National Genealogical Society Conference Banner

The schedule is as follows:

  • Thursday, 3 May 2018: Viewers will be able to stream five lectures from 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., including:
    • Reasonably Exhaustive Research of African American Ancestors who came out of Slavery—LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG®
    • The Price of Loyalism: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary War—Terry Koch-Bostic
    • The Y-DNA Test Should be Your Favorite—Diahan Southard
    • Your Cousins are Your Secret Weapon—Angie Bush
    • Native American DNA: Separating Fact from Fiction—Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD
  • Friday, 4 May 2018: Five BCG Skillbuilding lectures will be live streamed from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m., including:
    • History, Records, and Context: Researching the Locations Your Ancestors Lived—Angela Packer McGhie, CG
    • Samuel Witter vs. Samuel Witter: Separating Same-Name Soldiers, War of 1812—Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGLSM, FASG, FNGS, FUGA
    • Using Indirect and Negative Evidence to Prove Unrecorded Events—Thomas Wright Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA
    • A Matter of Standards: DNA and the GPS—Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL
    • Deeper Analysis: Techniques for Successful Problem Solving—Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL

Details about the live stream program, plus additional conference recordings, can be found on the PlaybackNGS Website.

If you’d like to attend, but can’t make it in person, this is a wonderful opportunity to attend from home.

The Best Education From Home Got Even Better!

Genealogical Education, ,

Check Out This Sale at Legacy Family Tree Webinars!

Even at FULL price ($49.95), a subscription to Legacy Family Tree Webinars is a complete steal! An annual subscription is less than $5 per month! That’s about one Starbucks latte! Through April 1st you can get an incredible deal: $20 off an annual subscription! This is no joke!

Legacy
Click on the yellow banner at the top of the screen to receive this fantastic deal.

If you aren’t familiar with Legacy Family Tree Webinars, now is your chance. With a subscription, you have access to well over 500 (and possibly over 600) excellent, inspiring, thought-provoking, and educational webinars for genealogists of all skill levels. I have presented two webinars already for Legacy and am scheduled to give another one this fall. I find the entire program, from speaker to audience member to be top-notch.

I feel so strongly about this being the best education your money can buy, I’m not even going to post any of my affiliate links.* You can click here to access the site: https://familytreewebinars.com/index.php

(*Affiliate links give me a small reward if you sign up after clicking through them. Though if you appreciate my blog content and are interested using my affiliate link to buy, it is at the bottom of every one of my pages in the black area. Just click that link and I will get credit if you sign up for a subscription. Thank you in advance!)

Take advantage of your state’s offerings!

Research - General, Resources, ,

We moved to Texas about three and a half years ago now…my how time flies! Through learning the library systems in the state, which are very different to how they worked in Colorado, I discovered that as a Texas state resident, I am allowed a FREE library card to the Texas State Library, and in particular to their online digital collections! This means that I can access HeinOnline and other useful databases for FREE!

HeinOnline logo

HeinOnline is quite expensive but so useful when doing any law research as it relates to your ancestors, which you should be doing! I also discovered on the Texas State Law Library website that all of the historical Texas statutes are nicely listed and available to anyone (library card or not).

If you live in Texas and would like to get your library card, it can be done online. Click here for instructions. If you live outside of Texas, ask your local librarian or do some online searching to see what offerings are available in your state. There are valuable resources available. Be sure not to miss them!