National Archives Tutorials On-Line!

I subscribed to a series of webcasts given by NARA on many subjects.  It was a "Virtual Genealogy Fair" about a month ago.  I can't remember the exact subjects presented but they are all interesting to anyone conducting genealogical research who can make use of the amazing amount of data available.

I watched the first but didn't have time to sit for the rest.  So I subscribed to UStreamTV which has archived many  or possibly all of the programs from the National Archives.  So far, I've received 12 e-mails with links to various shows.  That's fine with me. It makes it convenient for me to grab one when I can devote an hour or to watching it from start to finish.

I could copy the links (which have about 200 characters each!!), convert or shorten them in TinyURL and post them here.  Or, if you'd like me to forward one or two or all of these e-mails so that you can watch these broadcasts, send a note privately to me at dave@oldbones.info.

I'm going to attempt to attach a "Contact Form" to the bottom of this post which may make it easier for you to contact me.  I tried it once before but I'm not sure if it worked!  Supposedly, all I have to do is click the "Add Contact Form" button....  Sure, I can do that!!

[contact-form][contact-field label='Name' type='name' required='1'/][contact-field label='Email' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='Website' type='url'/][contact-field label='Comment' type='textarea' required='1'/][/contact-form]

Lots happening

Last night was Session 2 of a 4 part class I'm holding at the Wilbraham Public Library on the basics of genealogy and family research. The first session went very well and everyone in attendance seemed to get a lot out of it. Well, I guess it was a good session because last night, about twice as many people as the first session showed up!! A wide variety of participants in the group: Some have done a substantial amount of research but most have only dabbled or are just beginning. We spent most of the night discussing web sites and went to a few so I could show them some shortcuts to their research. Lots of great interaction and we actually went over by about 45 minutes in the Q&A!!

Next, I finally registered to attend NERGC, the New England Regional Genealogy Conference. Karen and I went to the last conference which was held down the road in Springfield. Next year's conference will be in Manchester, NH. I really got a lot out of the last one and I'm looking forward to this one. Many speakers, many subjects covered and much to learn. The easy part is registering; the hard part is trying to pick the sessions to attend. There are probably 5 or 6 different subjects being covered in each time frame such as DNA/genetics, the National Archives, immigration and naturalization, writing and publishing your work, advanced on-line research techniques and many more. I'll also be leading one of the discussion groups at a luncheon on Saturday sponsored by the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

And at last, I was able to register for the on-line “Certificate in Genealogical Research” course at Boston University. It begins January 16, 2013 and runs for 15 weeks. When that's complete, I'll begin the official certification process through the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG). As I get deeper and deeper involved in specific areas of research, I discover that I don't know what I don't know! Basically, it ain't easy!