As always I am on the lookout for ways to continue my
genealogy education and advance my knowledge in the field. Recently I have seen all the commotion
around the upcoming release of Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones. Of course, I have ordered a copy.
If you are not familiar with the title it is a new NGS
publication (shipping date estimated as May 20th) aimed at being an essential research guide for those in the
field of genealogy. It is designed as a
text book with problems at the end of each chapter for the readers to answer by
applying what they learned in that section.
Best of all, I understand that the answers are in the book.
Study groups have popped up too so that people can learn these
new concepts together. There may be
more, but as of right now I am aware of two such groups that you can sign up
to be apart of. If you do know of more, I would love to hear about them.
First is Dear Myrtle’s study group. She is hosting a 10 part series meeting on
Sunday evenings using a Google Hangout system.
People can listen and watch the live, or the recorded version, with a
panel of experts talking about the chapters.
Participants may ask questions on her G+ community page which will then
be answered by the panel.
Second, is a more structured learning group called Gen Proof and is spearheaded by Angela McGhie. It too has a G+ community page where you
can sign up to interact with other participants; however those who wish to join
a study group need to sign up on a wait-list for a group assignment. These groups will consist of 10 students lead
by a mentor who will go through the text and exercises with them. These sessions are estimated to go for either 8 or 16 weeks depending on the group mentor and needs.
My book is on its way and I am excited see what is in
store. Personally I am seriously looking
at the Gen Proof sessions as I think I will get a lot more out small, close
knit, working groups. If I am left to my
own devices in a loose framework I tend to go off task and get lost.
So… anyone going to join me???
This sounds so exciting! I do wish I could join you. Thank you for sharing with us the news of these groups and Tom Jones's new book. Sundays with Myrt, especially, sound idyllic.
ReplyDeleteToo many family issues are crowding around us right now, and we are going to be hard pressed to deal with them this summer. I hope the genealogical world & the hangouts are still out there when I extract myself from all this business, and I can participate later.
Have a great time!
The Sunday sessions would be good for you once you have time. Since they will be recorded you can go back in the future and watch them.
DeleteI will do my best to learn a lot and report back!