Genealogical Education and So Much More

The March 8th show focused on where you can go to increase your genealogy know-how. Karen Clifford, our guest, discussed the many ways to continue learning about family history. She mentioned that genealogy conferences such as those sponsored by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS) offer brief classes taught by experts in their fields. genealogy institutes are usually intense week long courses that focus on a specific area to help you solve a particular problem. Some colleges and universities offer genealogy courses through their departments for continuing education. Then of course, there are companies such as Karen’s own, GRA, which hosts on-line courses.

In answer to the listener question, we identified the three books Craig Scott mentioned in a previous show with which all genealogists should be familiar. The titles of those books are The Red Book and The Source, both published by Ancestry and The Handybook for Genealogists by Everton Publishers.

We also talked briefly about WorldVitalRecords.com and their new online collections, and spotlighted the Cleveland Necrology File website from the Genealogy Sleuth page. Don’t forget to take a look at these important websites!

Finding Answers through Education on 8 March Show

Family historians all know there's no shortage of research problems to pursue, but sometimes we feel like we don't know where to go next in our pursuit of those elusive ancestors. That's why the 8 March show is so important, since we'll be discussing, among other things, genealogical education. It's amazing how many avenues there are out there to learn about new sources and techniques. In addition to the excellent advice Karen Clifford will be giving us, there's two websites we'll want to explore.

The Ancestry Learning Center is free to all, and includes hundreds of articles by many noted genealogists that explore almost every topic under the sun. In addition, Genealogy.com also has a Learning Center with additional articles and helpful guides. We'll walk through some of the ways to maximize your search of these helpful sites. By the way, at Genealogy.com the complete list of articles is "hidden" on the How-To Articles page, which you can sort by topic or author, but there does not seem to be a link from the main page.

But, that's not all. We've got a hot tip in the "What's New" section about a subscription site that's made 100 new databases free for the next couple of days, but you'll have to act on it right away. Our research tip from the pros may just provide more answers than you thought were in that document the county sent you, and you'll want to learn about our free data site of the week. Listen live or to the archive, or download the webcast, just be sure to stop by and listen to the cool stuff we're talking about this week.

Karen Clifford to Guest on 8 March Show

We are very pleased to have long-time genealogical educator, Karen Clifford as our guest on Family Roots Radio on 8 March. One thing all genealogists soon realize is that they need more information about how to pursue their ancestral hunt. It may be a need to learn about a new source, a new location, or a better strategy for solving a genealogical problem. Karen has been at the forefront of genealogical education for almost two decades. Not only has she taught at local, state and national conferences, she has also created college-level courses for both classroom and Internet use. She has also written several genealogical textbooks, such as The Complete Beginner's Guide to Genealogy, the Internet, and Your Genealogy Computer Program.

Karen is a past director of a Family History Center, served on the board of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and was the president of the Utah Genealogical Association. She is the owner and president of GRA Online. Come give a listen as we discuss the many ways you can learn just what you need to know to become more successful in your family history pursuit.