The 14th annual Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy

2009 will be the 14th annual week long SLIG held in Salt Lake City. The 2009 dates are January 12-16. SLIG lasts for 5 full days plus optional evening special lectures. The ten courses offered for 2009 are: American Research and Records, Research in the Gulf South, English Research, Research in German Speaking Areas, Colonial American Research, Effective Use of the Internet, Hispanic Research, Beyond the Library,, Skillbuilding for Professional Level Research, and Problem Solving. Yes, you do have to pick only one course!

Check out the Utah Genealogical Association's website for a description of each course and the coordinator for each. Check back later for the full class listing for each and for the names of all the instructors for the courses. The courses generally consist of 20 classroom hours and then you can walk or ride 2.5 blocks from the Radisson Hotel to the Family History Library and immediately put what you have learned to work. The friendships that have developed over the year are wonderful. Some return year after year. New students fit right in.

I coordinate and teach in Course I: American Research and Records: Focus on Localities. This is a two-part course with the alternate year focusing on Families. 1997 was the first year I taught at SLIG and have been coordinating a course since 1998. I wouldn't miss this special week! What else can you do in January? This course is educational and fun at the same time. A special bond develops between the class and instructors.

Course I is designed a bit differently from the others. 16 hours are classroom hours, some with hands-on work. There are optional FHL homework assignments to help you immediately apply the new knowledge. This course also offers 6 hours in the FHL with mini-tours and one-on-one consultations. The instructors for this course are Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, John Philip Colletta, Ph.D., FUGA, Birdie Monk Holsclaw, CG, FUGA, Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA, Kory L. Meyerink, AG, FUGA (2), and D. Joshua Taylor.

Birdie and Josh will once again assist me in the FHL with the tours and consultations. It is a great feeling to help a student work on what to do next and then have that person come back and say "thank you, I found them." I will also be an instructor in the Beyond the Library, Gulf South, and Skillbuilding courses. This year's line up of coordinators and instructors that I already know about is impressive. All the full course titles are listed in the blog post immediately below this one.

SLIG 2009, January 12-16: Course I classes

I coordinate and teach in the annual Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy's Course I: American Records and Research: Focusing on Localities. The lineup of classes for this course is below. Read the entry just before this one for more about SLIG in general, the instructors in this course, and the other courses.

• Never Enough Time! Strategies and Organizational Tips & Tools for Busy Researchers
• Answers in County Courthouse and Town Hall Record
• Family History Library Labs on 3 afternoons: one-on-one help in the FHL
• Greater Success through Source Citation
• Becoming Americans: Finding and Using Naturalization Records
• Homestead and Related Records: The Basic Processes
• The WPA Era: What It Created for Genealogists
• On and Off the Net: Locality Searching
• How to Avoid Being Duped on the Internet
• Homestead and Related Records: Maximizing the Bureau of Land Management Web Site
• Vanity Sketches: Sources and Truths Behind Mugbook Entries
• Genealogical and Historical Periodicals In Print & Online
• Finding Ancestral Places of Origin in U.S. Records
• Tic-Tac-Toe with Historic Legal Basics
• Newspaper Research: The Dailies, Weeklies, and Beyond
• Finding Immigrant Arrival Records
• The U.S. National Archives: The Nation’s Attic
• Wrap-up, Completion Certificate; Q&A

A genealogist on the move

Those of us who have the genealogy bug should never move. We have too much stuff. Over the next week, I am moving. Yes, again.

Since last August I have been living at my oldest son's home. There is plenty of room for me. I kept thinking that I would find a place to live sooner than this, so 90% of my many boxes of books were never unpacked. I also didn't need to unpack all my china and kitchen stuff for here. My son said that my couch and love seat will NOT be moving with me.

So, the bookshelves, printer, computers, back-ups, reference books, reference files, family files, client files, and a box of mysterious cables and cords will be traveling again.

I found a one level town home to rent. My commute to my main client's offices is now going to be 20-30 minutes instead of the sometimes 2 hours each way. I have loved the peacefulness of the country, the deer outside my office window, and being close to one set of grandchildren. The others are 2-1/2 hours away. I will be just minutes from a large shopping center, much closer to the airport, but still in a peaceful area with a park and woods nearby.

The main reason for moving is that my son is getting married in a month. I gain a wonderful daughter-in-law in the process. And 4 more grandchildren. I have known them for 3 years and love them all. The wedding will be in their large yard and has a Hawaiian theme. This means I can find a cool mother of the groom outfit.

There will be no change in my e-mail address.

Genealogy and today's newspapers

I love to read news stories, obituaries, and press releases that mention words such as archives, indexes, genealogy, genealogical . . . you get the idea. I will continue to pass along such articles when I come across them.

A long-time friend died this week. Patrick Chandler, along with his late wife, Dorothy, was a volunteer extraordinaire for the Minnesota Genealogical Society Library. Pat's obit in yesterday's St. Paul Pioneer Press did mention his genealogy involvement. The name of the society was not quite correct, but at least it did mention genealogy.

A recent issue of the Shakopee Valley News carried an article about a group of volunteers, led by Betty Dols, who gave many hours to index newspapers and other items for the Scott County (Minnesota) Historical Society. I recall Betty telling me that at one time, her dining room table was covered with Scott County records. Now, these are found at the SCHS's Stans Museum in Shakopee. If your family was in the county or in surrounding areas, you should check out their indexing results on the website.

Ancestry doubles size of newspaper collection

In a press release today, Ancestry.com announced that it has doubled the size of its newspaper collection:

"Ancestry.com has doubled the size of its newspaper collection - adding a billion names and 20 million images. Culled from a cross section of American newspapers, from large and small towns alike, this collection has newspapers beginning in the early 1800s and some extending into the 2000s. (Available years vary by newspaper.) As an example, the collection includes newspaper titles, such as:

* The Anniston Star (Anniston, AL)
* Modesto Bee and Herald News (Modesto, CA)
* Raleigh Register (Raleigh, NC)
* Odessa American (Odessa, TX)
* Xenia Daily Gazette (Xenia, OH)
* Panama City Herald (Panama City, FL)
* Chicago Daily News (Chicago, IL)
* Delta Democrat Times (Greenville, MS)
* Reno Gazette (Reno, NV)
* Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, PA)
* Northwest Arkansas Times (Fayetteville, AR)
* And many more

Now through June 19th, the Ancestry.com newspaper collection is open to the public for free. Search the Ancestry.com newspaper collection at http://www.ancestry.com/newspapers. (Please note: Users will need to register as members of Ancestry.com to access the free newspapers. This free registration does NOT require a credit card. Those registering for a free membership account will be asked to provide an email address.)"

Everton’s Genealogical Helper Adds New Online Edition!

Leland Meitzler asked me to post this press release for my readers.

New Online Edition of Everton’s Genealogical Helper will debut July 1! Subscribe today for only $10.00!

LOGAN, Utah, June 12, 2008. Genealogy Online, Inc., publisher of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, today, announced the publication of the Genealogical Helper in an Online Edition. The Online Edition is an identical copy of the 176-page paper edition – complete with hotlinks to the hundreds of website addresses found therein.

Launch Date – The new Online Edition will launch on July 1 – simultaneous with the home delivery and newsstand date of the paper edition of the July-August issue.

Free Access – Subscribers to the traditional Genealogical Helper will have 100% FREE online access to the magazine – with no extra fees whatsoever. See http://www.everton.com for sign-up information.

Online Edition subscriptions – Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will sell for just $12.00 per year! That is only $2 per issue! And it’s only $10.00 for subscriptions made before July 1 at http://www.everton.com or phone 1-800-443-6325.

Net Family History – An important feature of Everton’s Genealogical Helper is the magazine within a magazine entitled Net Family History. New information specific to using the Internet for genealogy is always found in this portion of the bimonthly publication. Extensive website reviews are always located here, as well as articles dealing with Internet-related activities.

Why an online edition? – Every issue of Everton’s Genealogical Helper now contains hundreds of website addresses. The Internet is where some of the most exciting genealogical resource advances are taking place, so it’s required that information about these resources be disseminated to the Helper’s thousands of readers in every issue. Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will allow readers to go from their paper edition to the hotlinked Online Edition and access any of the websites with just a keystroke or two – no more typing in those lengthy website addresses! The Online Edition offers more than just the links found in the magazine – it is the entire magazine itself!

Format & hosting – Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will be in pdf format, readable by anyone, with any computer running an Adobe Acrobat Reader (Available at Adobe.com as a FREE download.) The Online Edition will be hosted by FamilyLink.com, Inc.

Why subscribe to the Genealogical Helper? – Subscribe to have access to the Helper’s how-to & historical articles, Net Family History (see above), genealogical sharing, extensive book and CD-ROM reviews & announcements, queries, the most complete event calendar available anywhere, and hundreds of ads detailing new products and services. In addition to these day-to-day features, you will also have access to the NEW updated, hotlinked Directory of Genealogical and Historical Societies – to be published in the Sept/Oct and Nov-Dec issues! Edited by Leland K. Meitzler, the Helper is guaranteed to help you extend your lines and fill in those blanks in your family tree.

WHAT A DEAL! – Your cost for a full subscription (the paper magazine & online access both) is less than 3 cents per page – delivered to your home, and now accessible online. Subscribe to the Online Edition alone for just over a penny a page! Subscribe by July 1 and it’s less than a penny per page!

Subscribe NOW at: http://www.everton.com or phone 1-800-443-6325.

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About Genealogy Online, Inc.

Genealogy Online, dba Everton Publishers, is the publisher of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, now in its 62nd year of helping genealogists find their ancestors. Genealogy Online, Inc. also publishes the Handybook for Genealogists, 11th edition, a top-selling guidebook for family historians. Their website is found at: http://www.everton.com. Also see: http://www.GenealogyBlog.com.

Amazing libraries around the world

A colleague from Massachusetts, Christine Sweet-Hart, posted an amazing link on a professional genealogists' discussion list. That link is to Curious Expeditions and the pictures of libraries and books is literally thrilling. I have only been to six of those libraries.

Christine warned that viewing this site would make us grab our passport and run to the airport. That is putting it mildly. Real libraries. Real books. Real art. Real craftsmanship. Wow! How many have you been to?