ThinkGenealogy

As June comes to a close, we finish the third month of the ProGen Study Group. Our assigned chapters from Professional Genealogy were:

• Chapter 4 – The Essential Library by Joy Reisinger, CG
• Chapter 7 – Copyright and Fair Use by Val D. Greenwood, J.D., AG

Chapter 4 begins with the phrase: “A personal library is an essential tool of every professional. As genealogists, we use the written word on a daily basis for information about unfamiliar locales and repositories, as well as for source material.”

The chapter then proceeds to break down the selection criteria for our library into three goal areas: education, efficiency, and reliability. As we then proceed to stock our library, we can do it in stages starting with a basic shelf, adding more essential materials, and finally topping it off with useful, but discretionary items. We should also have a balance of three categories of media: instructional works, general references, and source materials. Like the public and academic libraries of today, our libraries will be a mix of books, magazines, journals, maps, and digital media. This chapter helps us plan our personal library so we can then purchase our items as time and budget allows.

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May was the second month for the ProGen Study Group.  You can read about April’s report at ProGen Study Group #1.

This month we continued our study of Professional Genealogy by reading the following:

•  Chapter 2 – Educational Preparation by Claire Mire Bettag, CGRS
•  Chapter 8 – Alternative Careers by Elizabeth Kelly Kerstens, CGRS

Chapter 2 provided details on academic degrees or credit programs in genealogy. For example, BYU offers a BA in Family History – Genealogy as well as a Family History Certificate. Another certificate program is the Home Study Course provided by the National Genealogical Society. This chapter also talks about major conferences such as NGS, FGS, and those held at BYU. There are also numerous self-study options discussed. If I were to list all the educational opportunities, it would take pages. One newer series of conferences that is not mentioned in the chapter are those provided by My Ancestors Found. The chapter included mostly US programs but did mention some international ones.

Particularly helpful are pages 19-21 that provides questions in the areas of presenters, programs, sponsors, and other concerns that can be used to evaluate educational opportunities to determine which are right for you.

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Our first peer-reviewed assignment for the ProGen Study Group was to write a draft of our mission statement. Since I am not currently looking to hire myself out for research, I thought that I would create a mission statement for the ThinkGenealogy site:

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On May 7th, I met with 5 other genealogists to discuss the book, Professional Genealogy: a Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  I am part of a study group that each month reads chapters from this book in preparation for an online discussion via instant messaging (IM) software.  The discussion lasted for an hour and a half as we answered prepared questions for the two chapters that we read.
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