Are you tired yet?  I AM!  I was up ‘til 12:30 AM last night working on my homework, but I got the right answer!  We were supposed to determine a man’s father, and there were at least five or six possible men that had to be considered and eliminated before one man was left standing.  [...]

Day three of Thomas W. Jones’ Advanced Genealogical Methods course:  Today we spent time mastering how to transcribe, abstract, extract, quote, and document sources.  We also studied how law may be used in complex genealogical problems, and the differences between Canon and Church law,  Civil law, Common Law, and Statute law!  (I remember now why [...]

This morning in Thomas Jones’ Advanced Methodology course he counseled us that the most important things we can do as genealogists is (1) record the oral family history stories in our family and distribute that record to others, and (2) contribute our DNA.   Then, he drilled deeper into source and evidence analysis.  Here’s some key [...]

This morning we met at 7:00 AM for SLIG’s Welcome Breakfast.  (As I write this now in the evening at it seems so long ago!)  I sat at a table with Paula Stuart-Warren, Craig Scott, Thomas Jones, Joshua Taylor, Linda Woodward Geiger, and a few others.  They are faculty this week!  I felt I was in [...]

Last night I checked in at the Radisson Hotel in Salt Lake City, dropped my luggage in my room, and headed to the SLIG check in.  Christy Fillerup, Director, has done a fantastic job pulling this institute together.  The check in went so seamless, everyone that had arrived had picked up their materials within the [...]

Are you feeling blue, wishing you were going to the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) next week to be taught by the experts?  If you can’t attend, I just want to remind you there are other ways to gain a genealogical education, even from the experts.  Elizabeth Shown Mills is one of our prime [...]

Have you ever found a great family history all about YOUR family and it didn’t include one source?  I have found a few about my family.   It’s like someone made a big batch of pudding and offered it to you.  It looks like it tastes good, but when you take a bite, it’s bitter.  They [...]

If you had a birth record for a child that gives the date and place of birth and his parents’ names, would that be enough?  Would you stop there or would you look for other records?  I hope you said you’d look for other records and sources. If you had a birth record AND a [...]

Book Winner Thank you to everyone who entered the random drawing for Elizabeth Shown Mills book, Evidence: Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian.  The winner was selected by Random.org. The winner is Margaret of Bountiful, Utah. If you did not win but would like to purchase a copy, you can access it from my [...]

(This contest closed August 10, 2011) Sign up for my free email newsletter by August 10 and I’ll enter you in a random drawing to win Elizabeth Shown Mills work, Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. Mills is a nationally renowned genealogist/historian who has lectured at numerous genealogy conferences, edited a national journal, [...]