My genealogy education plan for 2016

Happy New Year, everybody!

My year is off to a great start, as I will be flying to Salt Lake City the day after tomorrow to attend the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy next week. What a wonderful way to start the year! It will be my first genealogy institute. If you're there too, please come and introduce yourself.

I will be participating in the Advanced Evidence Practicum, where a different genealogist will throw a case at us every day, which we will attempt to solve. The next day, we will discuss and compare our methods and outcomes, and learn how the original researcher solved the problem. The practicum is unlike any type of education I can get in Europe, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, educational opportunities in the Netherlands are limited. Most genealogical lectures and workshops are aimed at the beginner or intermediate level. There are online courses from overseas institutes like Boston University in the US or the University of Strathclyde, but they are intensive, expensive and are not specialized in the Netherlands, where I do most of my research. Still, good methodology is pretty universal, so that would be a good choice, but I can't afford to spend that much time and money while building my business.

So I'm relying mostly on self-study. I attend webinars, read lots of books and have several dozens of subscriptions to journals and magazines. I don't limit myself to pure genealogical literature but am also a member of several historical societies which have nice journals that explain the local circumstances.

View of New Amsterdam (now: New York City), by Johannes Vingboons, about 1674

This year, I will focus on learning more about New Netherland research, researching Dutch immigrants who settled in North America in the 17th century with a focus of finding their place of origin and parents in Dutch records. I love doing these projects; the puzzles are so interesting! Unlike British Colonial lines, often there hasn't been much original research done in records in the country of origin, so there are great opportunities for discoveries. For the dozen or so New Netherland projects I did for clients so far, I managed to find the immigrant ancestor in Dutch records in each case. It's wonderful to see how the skills that I built doing other types of projects translate so well to New Netherland projects.

My intention is to learn more about New Netherland research by:

• Reading the books about New Netherland and the Dutch West India Company in my own library. I purchased several books over the couple of years that I haven't read cover-to-cover yet. Mostly, I've just searched the index for specific names. 
• Listening to all the "New Netherland Praatjes" podcast by the New Netherland institute. 
• Reading the old issues of "New Netherland Connections," a magazine that existed between 1996 and 2010. These are available online at the American Ancestors website, which I can access as a member of the NEHGS. 
• Reading case studies involving New Netherland families in the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record.
• Doing more New Netherland projects for clients. 
• Creating my own research guide for New Netherland research. I think systematically going through all the sources will help me with my own understanding, and might help others too. 

How do you educate yourself? Any plans to visit institutes?

What part must we play in our genealogy education?

Are we shifting responsibility?
Genealogists cannot rely on a librarian, archivist or courthouse clerk to bring them up to speed on things like:

• the historical basis for the development of a record group
• advice about other record groups that may also prove beneficial

Quite frankly, a librarian, archivist or courthouse clerk is responsible to provide access to specific record groups. They are not paid to think though our genealogical quandaries. There are other people waiting in line for help with file retrieval. 

We become "newbies" all over again, when it comes to changes in an ancestor's residence, occupation or religious affiliation.

Encountering unknown terms in a legal document or an unfamiliar cause of death leave questions to be answered.

IMAGE: Myrtle Eliza Weiser at the time
of her engagement circa 1917. SLC, Utah.
From the author's private collection.

Clearly, genealogists have a need for additional education specific to research at hand.

It may take personal sacrifice.

Ancestral metaphor: My paternal grandmother, the real Myrtle in our family, decided she wanted to be a nurse, and as such she matriculated at St. Marks Hospital Nursing School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her family wasn't wealthy, since her father was often led away for years at a time by interests in such things as a travelling circus. Myrtle's mother had many mouths to feed. Despite the problems, the sacrifice was made and tuition paid. Grandmother studied hard, passed her tests and practicums and served as a nurse through much of her adult life.

Two Options
Family historians have two options when it comes to accurately compiling their pedigree charts:

• hiring a professional genealogist as a mentor or as a researcher
• educating oneself about relevant record groups and research methodologies

Educating oneself
Assuming we are committed to active learning, note-taking and follow-through, let's consider two types of learning experiences:

Participant-led curriculum, meaning you choose which classes to take and in what order.

• A plethora of short subject tutorials are provided by such services as www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com, FamilySearch, Ancestry, The National Archives Podcast Series, and Cousin Russ' Family Tree Maker videos, to name a few employing a variety of delivery formats. You might check out the calendar at www.GeneaWebinars.com for more ideas.
• Earlier this month, Pauleen Cass posted To conference or not to conference in this WWG blog, where among other considerations, she points out expenses associated with conference attendance. And we know how my Grandmother Myrtle felt about spending money for things considered important.

Instructor-led curriculum, meaning the course coordinator designs the series of multiple class sessions with homework, group projects and practicums, leading to a certificate of completion.

• Week long, live-in advanced genealogy course studies include the well-regarded Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and Genealogical Research Institute of Pennsylvania.
• ProGenStudy Groups involve 18 months of dedicated mentoring, in online format, following the 18 chapters in Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers and Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  

For further reading

• Sue Adams provides a thoughtful post titled Time for Formal Genealogy Education? and includes a listing of in-person  courses, online courses, institutes, and undergraduate programs.
• Genealogical Proof Standard from the Board for Certification of Genealogists includes brief descriptions of elements of the GPS with notations about how adhering to each element contributes to the credibility of our compiled genealogies.
• National Genealogical Society Standards and Guidelines includes standards for sound research, the use of technology, sharing with others as well as guidelines for using repositories and libraries, publishing web pages and suggestions for self-improvements and growth.

Call to Action
Let genealogists commit to overcoming inexperience by selecting appropriate educational opportunities to improve comprehension of relevant extant record groups and hone research methodology skills.