1) What are your genealogy education plans for 2016? Local society meetings or seminars? Regional or national conferences? Weeklong institutes? Genealogy cruises? Podcasts? YouTube videos? Webinars or Hangouts on air? Magazines? Web sites? Blogs?
2) How much time do you invest in genealogy education? Why do you do it?
3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.
1. My genealogical education plans for 2016:
* I started out by attending SLIG this past week.
* I will almost definitely attend a local Ancestry Day that is being planned.
* I will be at San Francisco History Days (the revitalized version of the former San Francisco History Expo). Though it is not specifically focused on genealogy, learning about history is very important for genealogy research.
* I will be giving a talk at Jamboree and plan to attend several sessions there.
* I will be giving talks at both the spring (hosted by Fresno County Genealogical Society) and fall (hosted by California Genealogical Society) meetings/seminars of the California State Genealogical Alliance, but each will also have other speakers, and I'll have the opportunity to learn from their presentations.
* I plan to attend as many of the presentations offered by the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society and the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California as I can. I am a board member of both societies and attend as many meetings as is possible and practical, but sometimes I have schedule conflicts.
* I often go to talks presented by other local genealogical societies and our local Family History Center. (In fact, I'll be learning about mortuary records at the next meeting of the East Bay Genealogical Society.)
* I listen to as many Webinars as I can fit in my schedule. It's very convenient to have learning opportunities you can do at home. I regularly watch Webinars from Illinois State Genealogical Society, Legacy Family Tree, North Carolina Genealogical Society, Southern California Genealogical Society, Wisconsin State Genealogical Society, USCIS, and a few other organizations.
* I usually take one or two online courses each year.
* I have subscriptions to Avotaynu and the Association of Professional Genealogists' APG Quarterly.
* I read about two dozen genealogy blogs on a regular basis and several dozen others less often.
* I hope to attend this year's IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and International Black Genealogy Summit, but whether I will be able to depends heavily on at least one of my submitted talks being accepted by each. I would like to attend another institute, but I don't know if it will be possible, due to costs. (I need to earn another scholarship!)
* I give about two dozen genealogy talks during an average year, and they are an opportunity for me to learn from other genealogists as much as they are for me to share what I know.
2. I probably spend an average of one to two hours each day on some form of genealogical education. I do it because there is always something new to learn, and it is an investment in both my professional work and my personal life. I try to apply what I learn to my work, my volunteer activities, and my own research.
Great goals!! It's helpful to hear what others do to stay on top of their genealogy education.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It does keep me busy and off the streets. :)
ReplyDeleteConferences are terrific and lots of fun, but webinars are positively fabulous because most are free and can be viewed from the comfort of home. Your genealogy education calendar looks as full as mine!
ReplyDeleteI love conferences because there are so many options and you get to meet people in person, but I agree, being able to stay at home and watch a Webinar is incredibly convenient.
DeleteWow, when do you sleep, Janice?! ;-) Thank you for participating in this month's GBP!
ReplyDeleteAw, sleep is overrated. :) But you're welcome! Looking forward to seeing what next month's theme is . . . .
Delete