Genealogy Education Programs & Activities – Part 2

In my last couple of posts, I have been taking a look at the state of my own genealogy education, and sharing some of the educational opportunities out there that I have learned from or hope to learn from in the future. Here are a few more types of activities that can help to strengthen...

Genealogy Education Programs & Activities – Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been evaluating my own genealogy education. Here are some of the educational programs/activities that I have taken advantage of over the past few years, and some resources I will likely look to further as I work to fill in any gaps or strengthen areas that need it...

Evaluating My Genealogy Education

Lately, I have been challenging myself to push my own genealogy research to the level required for application for certification by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG). Most recently, I have been working on cataloging and evaluating my development activities, or the educational efforts that have helped me enhance my genealogy knowledge and refine...

Evaluating My Genealogy Research: The Genealogist’s Code of Ethics

As I mentioned previously, I’m challenging myself to compare my work to the standards set by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. The first component of a portfolio for those applying for certification with the BCG (or for those aiming to perform genealogy research at that level) is to agree to abide by The Genealogist’s...

Striving to Meet Genealogy Standards: Part 2 – Evaluating My Own Work

Last week, I discussed the Genealogical Proof Standard and Genealogy Standards, and how I believe that all genealogists can benefit from keeping these standards in mind as they study their family histories. As I attempt to improve my own research methods, I've been trying to be more careful with my work, adhering to the standards...

Striving to Meet Genealogy Standards: Part 1 – Understanding the GPS and Genealogy Standards

For about as long as I have been researching my family’s history (nearly twenty years now), I have worked to improve my genealogy research – not only in the number of ancestors I have identified or how much I have learned about each of them, but also in terms of the quality of my research...

How Do I Level Up the DNA Evidence for My Ancestors?

Last week, I looked at the current state of research into my ancestors – focusing on my assembled DNA evidence. (This is a modification of Yvette Hoitink’s original Level-Up Challenge for genealogy research). Here, I'll walk through the steps I take to bring my genetic genealogy research to the next level. My goal for this process...

The Level-Up Challenge – For DNA Evidence

Last week I wrote about taking Yvette Hoitink’s Level-Up Challenge for my genealogy research, which pushed me to clarify what I know about my ancestors and helped me focus my research moving forward. As I mentioned in that post, though, when I classified my ancestors at different levels based on how thoroughly I’ve researched them...

Taking the Level-Up Challenge!

Last week, I wrote about evaluating my family tree in terms of completeness, or simply counting how many ancestors I have identified (with at least some confidence). There is much more to genealogy research, though, than simply putting names on a tree - even if you have one or more pieces of evidence that seem...

Research Check-In: How Complete Are My Trees?

I’m starting this year by checking in on my tree completeness. Why am I doing this? While it can be nice to keep tabs on genealogy research progress, and I like a good set of statistics as much as the next person, it’s more than just curiosity. For any research project, it’s useful to start...