Come and Learn - GPS Lecute at SCGS Lunch & Learn

Tomorrow I am giving my lecture on the Genealogical Proof Standard at the Southern California Genealogical Society library in Burbank, CA as part of their monthly Lunch & Learn series. Lunch is at noon with the first lecture beginning at 1 pm. Charlotte Bocage will speak on "So You Thought You Were Organized." I will go on about 2:45 pm. 

Come and learn!

SCGS GENEii Family History Writers Contest

I recieved a reminder e-mail today and though I'd pass it along, This is open to everone:

The Southern California Genealogical Society sponsors one of the very few writing contests designed specifically for family historians that is open to the general public.  Membership in SCGS is not required to participate in the contest.

The GENEii Family History Writers Contest, now in its tenth year, offers cash prizes in two categories:

Category 1: Family or local history articles of 1,000-2,000 words in length, published or unpublished. If previously published, entries must be accompanied by the written permission of the publisher allowing article to be reprinted by SCGS.

Awards:
1st Place, $200
2nd Place, $100
3rd Place, $50
Honorable Mentions, certificate
Finalists, certificate

Category 2:  Family or local history articles of 1,000 words or less, published or unpublished.  If previously published, entries must be accompanied by the written permission of the publisher allowing article to be reprinted by SCGS.

Awards:
1st Place, $100
2nd Place, $50
3rd Place, $25
Honorable Mentions, certificate
Finalists, certificate

The deadline for submissions for the 2009 contest is December 31, 2009.

All of the details and contest rules can be found on the SCGS Website at www.scgsgenealogy.com.  The FAQs can be found at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/2009contest-faq.htm

You can read examples of some of the entries on the website as well. Look on the left-hand side of the screen for "Writing Contest" and click on that link.

In November, 2005, Heritage Books, Inc. published an anthology of some of the most memorable entries to our contest in the contest’s first five years. The anthology is called Celebrating Family History, and is available for $25 plus shipping and handling through the SCGS website.

The Genealogical Proof Standard, part 1

In a group of genealogist, how many can list all of the steps of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)?

• A reasonably exhaustive search;
• complete and accurate source citations;
• analysis and correlation of the collected information;
• resolution of any conflicting evidence; and
• a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion.

The GPS is not just for professional genealogist. Everyone should be following these steps. But the problem arises when people don’t know how to. This past Sunday I presented a lecture at the RootsMagic user group at the Southern California Genealogical Society on sources and citations. I covered steps 2 and 3 on the GPS. The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was getting everyone to understand the difference between a source and a citation. I was dumbfounded that researchers don’t understand this basic difference. From my lecture:

• Source - the information; e.g. death certificate, Bible, homestead file, census, book, necklace, website, interview, etc.
• Citation - the record of the source; what and where

Are these definitions confusing? Why aren't beginners being taught basic definitions? If someone does not understand what a citation is, then they cannot write one. I have not taken a beginners class in a while, but perhaps the GPS should be covered and stress?

What about those who are not beginners; are you following the GPS? Do you follow some of them? Are certain ones more important than others?

I'm issuing another challenge. The next time you spend any time doing research, keep track of exactly what you are doing. How many steps of the GPS do you usually follow?

As a beginner I had never heard of the Genealogical Proof Standard. As I am going back through all of my research (see this post) I am finding that I have a lot of information that I didn't know I had. For example: I was messaging a cousin of a cousin on Ancestry.com. She listed the information she had for William Eugene Rutter (a sibling of my gr-gr-grandmother, Dora Rutter-McCall). On the 1910 census his occupation is "farmer, homestead." I've transcribed this census multiple times, but it never clicked until she had written it out. The BLM database has a William E. Rutter listed in the same county as the census. If I had followed all of the steps of the GPS I would have discovered this information years ago when I first found the census.

So the Genealogical Proof Standard is for everyone all the time. Get the word out: use it!

Come and Learn - Sources, Citations, and RootsMagic

Sunday, November 22nd, the RootsMagic user group at the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) will be meeting from 2-4 pm at the SCGS library in Burbank. The user group usually meets the third Sunday of the month.

I will be the speaker at this meeting. The focus will be on sources and citations. I will cover: Why cite? How do you cite your sources? How do you analysis your sources? For the second part of the meeting we will break into two groups. One for beginners and one for more advanced users. I will lead the second group through how to use the source wizard in RootsMagic4. We will focus on figuring out which source template to use and how to write templates. Bring your questions.

I invite anyone who uses RootsMagic, is interested in the program, and/or interested in the lecture topic to join us at the meeting.


Disclaimer: I am not associated with RootsMagic beyond using their program. I am a member of the Southern California Genealogical Society.