Virtual Professional Management Conference for APG Members

Are you unable to attend our upcoming APG Professional Management Conference (PMC) in person? We are excited to announce a virtual option for a selection of the lectures. APG has partnered with FamilySearch to offer streaming for the following lectures:

 

Tuesday afternoon, 19 March 2013, 3:30-5:00 p.m., MDT

Variables in Professional Genealogists’ Approaches to Research

Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS

 

Wednesday afternoon, 20 March 2013, 1:30-5:00 p.m., MDT

Client Reports: Dos, Don’t, and Maybes

Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS

More Than the Begats: Using the Law to Spice up a Research Report

Judy G. Russell, J.D., CG

The Best Educational Plan for You: The Workshop

Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL

 

The virtual option is available for APG members only. Pricing is $30 for Tuesday’s lecture and $65 for Wednesdays lectures. The lectures will available through the APG website as a live stream, with recordings accessible for one week. Log in to the APG member site and register at http://www.apgen.org/members/virtualpmc.html. For those interested in attending APG 2013 PMC in person in Salt Lake, 19-20 March, register at http://www.apgen.org/conferences/index.html.

We look forward to your participation!

 

Kathleen W. Hinckley, CG

Executive Director

Association Professional Genealogists

 

APG is a registered trademark of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Certified Genealogist, CG, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer, CGL, are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists used by the Board to identify its program of genealogical competency evaluation and used under license by the Board’s Associates. All other trade and service marks are property of their respective owners.

Legacy Family Tree launches FamilyTreeWebinars.com

Contact: Geoff Rasmussen                                                                                                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tel.  800-753-3453

Email: Geoff@LegacyFamilyTree.com

136 HOURS OF GENEALOGY CLASSES NOW AVAILABLE AT FAMILYTREEWEBINARS.COM

New Annual/Monthly Webinar Memberships Provide Anytime-Access to Entire Webinar Archives and Instructors’ Handouts

Genealogists and family historians can now have anytime, anywhere and unlimited access to the nearly 100 recorded genealogy webinars and more than 350 pages of instructors’ handouts that have been part of the Legacy Family Tree Webinar series with their new website at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com.

Access to the complete archives (over 136 hours of classes) is now available through an annual or monthly Webinar Membership at the introductory price of $49.95 (annually) or $9.95 (monthly). Watching the live, weekly webinars continues to be free (36 more are scheduled in 2013), and visitors are free to view recordings for one week after a live presentation. For Webinar Members, new recordings and handouts will be added monthly at no extra cost.

A leader in online genealogy education, the Legacy Family Tree Webinar series has been attended by researchers in more than 100 countries. “I’m excited to bring quality genealogy education into the homes of genealogists world-wide,” said Legacy Family Tree Webinars host, Geoff Rasmussen. “Genealogists from the most remote parts of the world have been able to learn from some of genealogy’s  finest instructors because of these webinars. It’s been fun to help pioneer this technology for our industry.”

FamilyTreeWebinars.com currently features 36 of genealogy’s leading educators including Megan Smolenyak, Thomas MacEntee, Barbara Renick, DearMYRTLE, Marian Pierre-Louis, Maureen Taylor, Geoff Rasmussen, Lisa Alzo, and Karen Clifford. Click here for the complete list. Subjects include:

• Google
• Organization
• Photographs & Digital Images
• Researching in United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, Eastern Europe
• Brick Wall Solutions
• DNA
• Genealogy Technology
• Many more

Register for upcoming webinars for free.

Click here to register for future webinars.

Become a Webinar Member

• Annual Memberships – introductory price of $49.95/year – complete access to webinar archives and handouts for one year
• Monthly Memberships – introductory price of $9.95/month – complete access to webinar archives and handouts for one month

Click here to subscribe.

Continuing education for genealogists

Continuing education is a very important aspect of being a professional genealogist, or becoming one. When this post appears a few days after my writing it, I will be knee-deep in the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, where I will be presenting nine lectures in two courses and a tenth evening lecture.

On January 22, registration will begin for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University.

In May the National Genealogical Society conference will be held in Las Vegas. June will see IGHR and the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, July brings the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh and the National Institute of Genealogical Research, and August has the Federation of Genealogical Societies annual conference in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

In the meantime, dozens of webinars will be offered where genealogists can learn from the comfort of their living room. Other opportunities for distance learning include the certificate programs offered by the National Institute of Genealogical Studies, and the National Genealogical Society’s Home Study Course and other free and online courses.

For many genealogists, these opportunities and others are well-known.

Did you know that a number of prestigious universities around the United States now offer free non-credit online history courses taught by esteemed professors and historians?

Take a look at a few that have piqued my interest:

Open Yale Courses (Yale University)

• “African American History: From Emancipation to the Present,” Jonathan Holloway
• “The American Revolution,” Joanne Freeman
• “The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877,” David W. Blight
• “European Civilization, 1648-1945,” John Merriman
• “Early Modern England: Politics, Religion, and Society under the Tudors and Stuarts,” Keith E. Wrightson
• “France Since 1871,” John Merriman

BYU Independent Study (Brigham Young University)

• “Introduction to Family History Research”
• “Writing Family History”
• “Helping Children Love Your Family History”
• “Family Records”
• “Vital Records”
• “Military Records”
• “French Research”
• “Germany Research”
• “Huguenot Research”
• “Scandinavia Research”

OpenCourseWare, Utah State University

• “Guide to Writing in History“

Open Courses @ Illinois Springfield (University of Illinois-Springfield)

• “The Emancipation Proclamation: What Came Before, How It Worked, And What Followed,” Matthew Holden, Jr. and Gwen Jordan

New York University

• “New York City: A Social History,” Daniel Walkowitz

University of California-Berkeley (via Internet Archive)

• “US History: from Civil War to Present,” Jennifer Burns

 

There are a lot of other courses available online in addition to these. If you know of some that I have missed, please feel free to include a link in the comments below.

Free webinar on beginning your Civil War research tomorrow

Just a note to remind everyone that I will be presenting a free webinar tomorrow (October 24) at 2pm Eastern through Legacy Family Tree.

My presentation “Your Civil War Ancestors: Beginning Your Research” will discuss how to identify which of your ancestors may have served in the Civil War, and then how to find more information about the soldiers using compiled military service records and pension applications. Both Union and Confederate soldiers will be addressed.

To register for this webinar, visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp.

I hope to see you all there!

Free webinar tomorrow – “What is a ‘Reasonably Exhaustive Search’?”

There is still time to register for my webinar “What is a ‘Reasonably Exhaustive Search’?” Legacy Family Tree will be hosting this webinar, tomorrow (12 September 2012) at 2pm EDT.

The first requirement of the Genealogical Proof Standard is that we “complete a reasonably exhaustive search for all relevant records” related to our research objective. This presentation discusses what a “reasonably exhaustive search” entals, why this is necessary, and how to conduct a search. A case study explores how failing to identify all relevant records can lead to missing information and forming inaccurate conclusions about your ancestors’ lives.

To register visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp. You will receive a confirmation email after you complete the registration process.

Attendance at the webinar will be restricted to the first 1000 to sign in. There are already many more than this number registered, so it is important to sign in at least thirty (30) minutes early. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, the recording will be available to watch free on the Legacy Family Tree website for ten (10) days.

A more permanent copy of the lecture will be available for purchase on DVD directly from Legacy Family Tree here. Feel free to also pre-order the DVD  whether or not you can attend.

I look forward to seeing you there!

For more articles about conducting a “reasonably exhaustive search,” read:

• “How to conduct a ‘reasonably exhaustive search’ for relevant records”
• “Finding what you are not looking for”
• “Does a ‘reasonably exhaustive search’ include online family trees?”

You can also read any of the articles included in the category “Genealogical Proof Standard” on the right, for details about other very important research and analysis skills.

Free webinar tomorrow: “The Pursuit from Genealogy Hobbyist to Professional”

Tomorrow afternoon, 4 April 2012, Legacy Family Tree will be presenting a free webinar entitled, “The Pursuit from Genealogy Hobbyist to Professional,” featuring John M. Kitzmiller, II, AG and Claire V. Brison-Banks, AG.

According to Legacy’s website,

Several terms are applied to individuals that are interested in their ancestors. Those who are fascinated by the story but not really interested in the data could be termed amateurs. Moving up a rung on the ladder would be the hobbyists, who gather photos, letters and family memorabilia to share with others. They quite often are members of societies, are familiar with local history, and help others to find their ancestors. This group is quite underestimated, in that many have self-taught expertise and are quite knowledgeable. However, most of them do not charge money for their assistance. The next step is to operate at the “professional” level, which requires perspective, attitude, methods, process, and some business skills. This webinar will discuss various ways to make that transition. Join John M. Kitzmiller, II, AG and Claire V. Brison-Banks, AG for this special webinar, sponsored by the The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).

For more information, and to register for the free webinar, visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp.

RootsTech Genealogy Idol — At least we won’t be singing

This coming Thursday, 2 February 2012, Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen will be hosting a session at RootsTech 2012 in Salt Lake City: “RootsTech Genealogy Idol.” According to the description on the RootsTech website,

Attend the first-ever RootsTech Genealogy Idol competition as four contestants – 2 live and 2 online – compete for your votes. In the three rounds of competition, contestants will demonstration their gen-tech expertise and try to woo you with their favorite gen-tech secrets. Everyone will learn – but only one will leave with the title of RootsTech Genealogy Idol. The competition will also be broadcast to a live webinar audience who will cast their votes live.

I am excited to have been selected as one of the four contestants. I will presenting remotely from my home in Delaware. The other contestants are Marian Pierre-Louis (one of my favorite fellow genealogy bloggers), who will also be presenting remotely from her home in Massachusetts; and two live presenters, Elyse Doerflinger of California, and Elizabeth Clark of Connecticut.

We will each be presenting three three-minute presentations on the following topics:

• Round 1: Favorite Technology Tip
• Round 2: Genealogy Serendipity story
• Round 3: Technology website or blog

At the end of the final round, the audience–watching live in Salt Lake City and via webinar–will vote on which of us will become the first “RootsTech Genealogy Idol.” I am sure that the voting will be extremely competitive.

If you will not be at RootsTech, be sure to watch the competition from home. To register for the free webinar, visit https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/754294750.

And be sure to vote for your favorite presentations!

See also:

Geoff Rasmussen, “Genealogy Idol Competition – finalists announced AND sign up to watch and vote,” Legacy News blog, posted 13 January 2012 (http://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news : accessed 28 January 2012).

Marian Pierre-Louis, “Participate in the 1st Genealogy Idol Competition,” Marian’s Roots and Rambles blog, posted 19 January 2012 (http://rootsandrambles.blogspot.com : accessed 28 January 2012).

Elyse Doerflinger, “Who Will Be The Next Genealogy Idol?,” Elyse’s Genealogy Blog, posted 13 January 2012 (http://elysesgenealogyblog.com : accessed 28 January 2012).

Survey for upcoming genealogy webinars

Many of you may recall my offering several genealogy webinars this past spring and summer. I am currently in the planning stages of a new round of webinar offerings sometime this winter or next spring.

I would like to enlist your help during the planning stages, so that I can best serve your educational needs.

Please take 2 minutes to answer the following anonymous survey. The survey contains only 6 short multiple-choice questions.

To take the survey, go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TPKQP5W

Thanks so much for your input!

Ancestry.com Free Webinar: African-American Research

Just finished watching a free webinar presented by Ancestry.com, “Making a Breakthrough in Your African American Research”.  The presentation was by Marjorie Sholes, a professional genealogist since 1984.  I don’t have time to fully review this presentation at the moment but I did take notes throughout, and will post a full review within the next few days.  I will also let you all know when the webinar becomes available online.

Overall, I will say that the presentation was useful.  Unfortunately, as I have found with many lectures on African-American research, the case study presented dealt solely with a family that kept its owner’s surname — even though Ms. Sholes made note of the fact that 85% of the former slaves did not take the surname of their last owner.  This is a shortcoming in many of the lectures that I have personally seen, though my own research supports the statistic that Ms. Sholes herself admits.

More will be forthcoming on the presentation…