Tag Archives: SLIG

Mid-Summer Catch-Up

Events, Genealogical Education, Genealogy Conferences, , , , , , , ,

I returned from a fantastic week at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) where I had the pleasure of taking “Advanced DNA” from Blaine Bettinger, Angie Bush, and Karen Stanbury, CG. I learned a lot and I learned I already knew a lot which is almost just as important when you are trying to build your confidence in your DNA analysis skills! GRIP has a fantastic line-up for July as well as their 2020 courses published. It’s one of my favorite institutes!

I have some exciting things planned for the rest of my year that I wanted to share:

Phew! I’m tired just thinking about it. I hope to see you at at least one of these events. Be sure to say hi if you see me about.

Laura G. Prescott SLIG Scholarship Announced

Genealogical Education, , ,

One of the best, brightest, kindest, and most selfless genealogists in the genealogy community, Laura Prescott, has decided to enter hospice care after years of fighting a tough battle with cancer.

The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) has announced a scholarship in her honor. As if the writing of this post, the fund has reached over $14,000!

What a wonderful gift to remember and honor such a kind and generous person whose smile would just light up a room!

You can read the full details and how to donate here: https://ugagenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-laura-g-prescott-slig-scholarship.html?m=1

Please consider a donation, no matter how small, to help honor this lovely person and gift the community with a wonderful legacy in her memory for years to come.

SLIG Tech Day Seeks Proposals

Genealogy Program, , ,

slig_logo_large_transparent-02The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) held its first Tech Day this year prior to the regular week of classes. I presented a workshop on using Google’s MyMaps as a research tool. (I wrote about it here.) The SLIG program coordinators are seeking proposals and the Deadline has been extended to June 30, 2018. If you are a speaker, I highly recommend sending a proposal.

From their website:
“SLIG will hold its second annual SLIG Tech Day on Saturday, January 19, 2019 – the Saturday that follows SLIG and runs prior to the new SLIG Academy. Proposals will be accepted for half-day (3.5 hour) workshops and 1.5 hour classes on technology-related topics that will enhance participant research and documentation.”

You can read more about it and submit your proposals on their website.

SLIG Scholarships available!

Genealogical Education, Presentations and Events, , ,

I will have the awesome opportunity to co-coordinate a course at SLIG 2018 with my colleague Kathryn Lake Hogan, titled “The Third Coast: Research in the Great Lakes Region.” You can view the entire course outline by clicking here ( slig.ugagenealogy.org) and finding Course 2. You can also view a short video about our course:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr4Ds42HsGQ

(I’ll write more specifics about the course in a later post.)

Is your genealogical budget a little tight? Or would you like financial assistance to attend? If so, I want to let you know about some great scholarship opportunities for SLIG 2018. The following was sent out by Debra A. Hoffman, Assistant to the Director of SLIG:

Planning to attend the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) in January
2018? There are several scholarship opportunities available for SLIG
students.

SLIG Jimmy B. Parker Scholarship
*Deadline June 20, 2017*

Named in honor of Jimmy B. Parker, whose legacy of service to the
genealogical community covered more than 50 years, this full-tuition
scholarship will be awarded to an individual who has “demonstrated
commitment to genealogical excellence and community involvement”. The
winner will be announced July 1st and their course of choice pre-reserved.
Full details here: http://ugagenealogy.org/cpage.php?pt=424.

SLIG Scholarship for First-Time Institute Attendees
*Deadline June 20, 2017*

This fund, opened at SLIG 2016, was created to enhance scholarship
opportunities for SLIG students. Donations have been made by Maia’s
Bookstore and SLIG students. More details and submission requirements may
be found here https://ugagenealogy.org/cpage.php?pt=448.

ASG Scholar Award, American Society of Genealogists

This award provides “financial assistance for a developing scholar to
attend one of five academic programs in American genealogy.” The award,
which will be given in October, will apply toward a SLIG 2018 course of
study. To find out more, visit their website
http://fasg.org/awards/asg-scholar-award.

AncestryProGenealogists Scholarship
*Deadline TBD for SLIG 2019*

Established to “foster and support professional genealogists in their
ongoing development efforts.” Scholarship covers tuition and specific other
expenses to attend one of the four US-based genealogical institutes.

Unfortunately, due to a lot of complicating factors, applicants won’t be
aware of the courses to be offered for SLIG 2019 until after they have
completed their application. For that reason, we offer the opportunity to
have open dialogue with the director if needed to help you rank SLIG in order of attendance preference on your application. (send an email to: director@slig.ugagenealogy.org and use the subject “AncestryProGen scholarship question for 2018”)

You can learn more about the AncestryProGenealogists Scholarship on their
website https://www.progenealogists.com/scholarship.

More 2017 Plans… and into 2018!

Events, Genealogy Conferences, , , ,

So a few more things have been finalized that I can now mention publicly.

I have two all-day seminars scheduled this year:

  • 12 August 2017 – Ark-La-Tex, in Shreveport, LA holds an annual conference. This year I am their conference speaker! See this link for details.
  • 7 October 2017 – San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society, I will be the annual seminar speaker for this group as well. You can find out more information about the seminar here.

The BIG NEWS that I want to share is that I will be a co-coordinator in a course at SLIG in 2018!

fullsizerender

I will be teaching a course with Kathryn Lake Hogan, with special appearances by Judy Russell and David Ouimette! The course will cover the Great Lakes region, more than a general survey, and intended to highlight the unique nature of history, records, documents, and methodology surrounding research in the Great Lakes region, both from the U.S. and Canadian sides. Watch for more details on this course coming soon!

Reviving, Refreshing, Reviewing … And we’re back!

Research Trips, , , ,
This was NOT me in Salt Lake City.
This was NOT me in Salt Lake City.

I recently spent almost 2 weeks in Salt Lake City for research and to attend the APG PMC and SLIG. (Thanks Grandpa for being “mom” for me!) It was beautifully snowy the first week (along with slippery sidewalks and cold temps) and sunny but smoggy the second week. Basically I’m not a fan of winter in SLC when you are trying to get around outside. But it will not deter me from attending again next year! I’m pretty tough. I had such a great time just being surrounded by the topic that I love, with people who love the same boring (but not to us!) topic. I got to know the best people more closely. I don’t think I ever laughed so hard in my life. One night, I literally had a face-ache from laughing so much. (You know who you are.)

I am absolutely a huge fan of SLIG. It was my first time attending and I had an outstanding time. I think a large part of that was because of the friends I made and people I connected with beyond Facebook! I took the Advanced Practicum which is a different type of course. Everyday you get a new problem to work on, a case study that has been worked on and nearly completed by genealogists in the field, who then turn the problem over to the class with varying degrees of information to get us started. We then had 24 hours to work on the problem. We met everyday at 4pm to discuss our findings and get the next problem. I won’t go into the details of how it all worked, but the class was very interesting. I enjoyed seeing how others would go about solving the same problem, the different thought processes, and the sometimes different, sometimes same results.

After SLIG I needed about a week to readjust to life. I had gotten out of all of my routines and I was exhausted! Living out of a suitcase gets old after a while, even though I love to travel. I did very much enjoy coming down from my hotel room to a nice continental breakfast and giant pots of coffee everyday. I didn’t have to worry about that part of my day everyday. It’s back to making my own coffee and bed again. And back to the blog. I have a fun plan for February’s theme so I’ll “see” you here soon!

Genealogy Institutes – Part Four

Genealogical Education, , , , , , , ,

In my continuing quest to describe institutes and ultimately convince you to attend one if you haven’t already, this post will highlight the last two of the five major genealogy institutes that I have identified. I have not personally attended either NIGR or SLIG so the following information is a summary from what I’ve learned from reading their websites and from various friends and colleagues who have attended.

2013-08-09 12.32.26 pmI am registered to attend the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, or SLIG, this coming January. This institute is hosted by the Utah Genealogical Association and is held annually in January at the Radisson in downtown Salt Lake City. It offers a wide range of topics for various skill levels through 10-12 different tracks. The courses for 2014 are:

  • “American Research and Records: Focus on Families” with Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FUGA
  • “New York Research” with Karen Mauer Green, CG
  • “Research in the South” with J. Mark Lowe, CG
  • “Advanced Research Tools: Land Records” with Richard G. Sayre, CG and Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL
  • “Credentialing: Accreditation, Certification, or Both?” with Apryl Cox, AG and Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL
  • “Producing a Quality Family Narrative” with John Philip Colletta Ph.D., FUGA
  • “Researching in Eastern Europe” with Kory Meyerink, AG
  • “Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum” with Angela McGhie and Kimberly Powell
  • “Advanced Genealogical Methods” with Thomas Jones Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
  • “Problem Solving” with Judith Hansen, AG, MLS

I will be taking the “Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum” track and I am very excited for the experience. The benefit of this conference, like British Institute, is that it takes place in Salt Lake. Classes take place in the morning and research or homework in the Family History Library. This coming year, the Association of Professional Genealogists’ Professional Management Conference (PMC) is being held a few days before SLIG. I plan to attend that as well. At the writing of this post, their website had not been updated to reflect this yet, but the information was sent to members via email. Keep checking their website for more information.

2013-08-09 12.32.52 pmThe National Institute on Genealogical Research is held in Washington, D.C. annually in July (typically the week preceding GRIP). This institute stands out from the others in that it is very specific in scope. NIGR is not a beginning course and is aimed at a focused examination of federal records, there is only one track with everyone in the same course together. Most of the week is spent at the main branch of the National Archives with one day being spent at the Archives II in College Park, MD. There are optional evening sessions to spend at the Library of Congress and the DAR Library. This institute is different also by the registration format. This one is currently via regular postal mail only, no online registration at this time. You must go to their website and be added to their mailing list. Then, when registration time comes, you need to fill out the application and mail it back as soon as you get it. They have a limited number of spaces in the course so it is important to return the application promptly.

This institute also has two scholarship opportunities that help pay for tuition and some of the travel expenses. One scholarship is from the American Society of Genealogists, the other is the Richard S. Lackey Memorial Scholarship. The details are on their website.

That wraps up the details on the five major institutes. Up next, some tips on registering for institutes and later, what you might expect during your week.

Genealogy Institutes – Part One

Genealogical Education, , , , , ,

IMG_3920_1024This summer I attended two outstanding genealogy institutes, IGHR and GRIP. I attended my first last summer and I am hooked. If I had unlimited resources, I’d attend them as much as possible! Genealogical institutes are great because you get to delve into one topic, in-depth for a full week. Also, being in the same class with the same people all week allows for networking and relationship building that one might not get at other educational events. Plus, there tends to be more time to ask questions from the instructors that might not be available at national conferences when they (or you) might need to rush off to another lecture.

Over the next several posts, I am going to share some of the information I have collected to help those of you who have never been to one know what to expect, what to pack, things to consider ahead of time and other tips to enjoy these great opportunities for genealogical education.

Before you go there are few things you’ll want to consider. First of all, you will want to consider your travel arrangements. Depending on where the institute you will be attending is located, you may want to fly. However, taking a car, train or bus are also viable alternatives. You will want to decide if you will stay in the dorms, a hotel or on a friend’s couch (or guest room). Will you want to take advantage of the cafeteria meal plan, eat out or pack your lunch. Also, when you are there, depending on where you stay you will want to determine if you will need daily transportation to and from the venue. I usually have to locate the nearest coffee shop when I travel. And don’t forget to plan some extra time for sight-seeing. Why go all that way if you can’t see some of the local attractions while you are there?

Here is my packing list (besides toothbrush and underwear):

  • banquet clothes (often there is a banquet and you might want to dress up a bit)
  • comfy clothes (for sitting in class all day, all week)
  • walking shoes
  • computer or iPad or other electronic devices
  • power cords (you don’t want to forget these, been there)
  • business cards (if you have them as there are plenty of networking opportunities)
  • highlighters, pens, pencils, notebook, sticky notes, etc.
  • backpack/bag to carry your stuff in all week
  • cash (my trip to Pittsburgh this year included a day of sightseeing that encountered many “cash only” establishments)
  • camera (if you don’t use your phone)
  • extra reading materials (plane rides are excellent times to catch up on NGSQ reading)
  • an umbrella (if you think you’ll melt, I personally don’t own one as I have never needed it here in Colorado, some might want one though)

While I’m sure there are other things to bring. If you have been to an institute and would recommend something else, please feel free to add it to the comments below. Over the next several posts I will be looking at the 5 major institutes and give some of the unique details about each.