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Friday, March 6, 2015

My Top 10 Genealogy Education Resources

Cyndi Ingle asked a question on Facebook for discussion a week ago: 

"One of the new lectures is "Ten Resources I Use Every Day." Top 10 lists seem to be a popular thing. I remember being asked on many occasions to create top 10 lists of sites to present in lectures at conferences. Thus, this lecture idea was born. I've been adding to an outline for a while now. It is all the things I do and all the things I use during the day that make me more efficient, organized, and a better researcher. I have a lot more than 10 of them. It's 55 so far. So, I organized them into 10 categories. Ha! What are your favorite 10 resources?"

I responded on Facebook, but didn't limit my list of 10 to just Genealogy Education Resources. After some reflection, I think these are my top 10 Education resources (in approximate order of use):


1)  Local genealogy society programs and seminars.  Attending a genealogy society program three times a month (usually), plus several all-day seminars each year, keeps me in a learning rhythm.  I learn visually, so seeing Powerpoint slides is necessary for me.  In addition, societies have user groups, research help, etc. to augment learning opportunities.

2)  Webinars.  I try to watch webinars from Family Tree Webinars weekly (usually after the live presentation), and try to catch those of interest to me from the Southern California Genealogical Society (I'm a member, so can watch after the live presentation), the New England Historic Genealogical Society, MyHeritage, RootsMagic, and occasionally other websites and genealogical societies.  Find upcoming webinars at GeneaWebinars


3)  FamilySearch Learning Center Videos.  There are over 500 videos, ranging from 5 minutes to over 60 minutes on a wealth of topics and in several languages.  


4)  FamilySearch Wiki.  There are over 80,000 articles on this site on most genealogy topics, including country, state and county resources.


5)  Cyndi's List.  Cyndi Ingle has links to over 300,000 genealogy websites, arranged by category and sub-category. 



6)  YouTube.  I have subscribed to over 20 YouTube Channels with genealogy content.  Many genealogy websites, and quite a few individuals have a YouTube Channel where videos can be watched on a computer or mobile device.  

7)  Google+ Hangouts On Air.  I participate in the Mondays With Myrt conversation on a regular basis, and occasionally on other Hangouts, as part of the panel that contributes to the broadcasts.  Hangouts on Air are archived on YouTube.

8)  Multi-day Regional and National Conferences, and Genealogy Cruises.  I attend two or three of these each year, but I don't attend classes in every time slot (sometimes due to geneablogger duties or wandering the exhibit hall).  I do appreciate the syllabus materials because they are a useful resource.

9)  Radio Broadcasts and Podcasts.  There are several radio shows focused on genealogy - Genealogy Gems, The Genealogy Guys, Fieldstone Common, Extreme Genes, Research at the National Archives, etc.  I listen to these occasionally.  

10)  ProGen Study Group.  I was in ProGen I and it was excellent, exposing me to resources and methodology for becoming a professional genealogist.  

Note that I did not include courses like Brigham Young University, Boston University Certificate in Genealogy Research, National Genealogical Society Online Courses, National Institute for Genealogical Studies, etc. or weeklong institutes like Institute of Genealogy and Historic Research, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, National Institute on Genealogical Research, Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, etc.  I have not experienced them, but if I had they would very likely be near the top of my list!

This is not a comprehensive list of educational opportunities, but my subjective list of education resources that I have used over the past 20 years.

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Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver




6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the list... I see a few radio shows/podcasts I'm not familiar with and will check out. Though I use many of the resources you list, I don't use YouTube subscriptions. Can you tell more about the channels you subscribe to? Or your favorites? Thanks!

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  2. I agree with all of your and I would add:

    Blogs. I read as many as time will allow and learn so much from them.

    Rootsweb: Sign up for locations I am most interested in. In the questions other people ask about the area, I find new resources.

    Adult education classes taught at local colleges and high schools. Here I'm cheating a little bit. I attend them and I teach at them.

    Hope other people give their favorites.

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  3. I too subscribe to YouTube genealogy related videos. Can you lists the ones you subscribe to, would like to see if there are any that I am missing? Thanks.

    Melissa Barker
    Houston County, TN. Archivist/Records Manager
    Professional Genealogist

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  4. I'm a newbie with genealogy, so this is a page I need to bookmark. This is super helpful for me! Thanks.

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  5. Thank you for this list. I'm still sort of a beginner and just starting to do some of these things. I wanted to tell you that I've included this post in my NoteWorthy Reads for this week: http://jahcmft.blogspot.com/2015/03/noteworthy-reads-5.html

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  6. Thank you for this good list! But I think it's little bit outdated. I found some new resources which can help for educational process "10 Time-Saving Tools That Will Make You More Productive". I think these resources will be useful for you.

    ReplyDelete