SLCC Genealogy Course: Post #14 - Continuing Education

This week for the Salt Lake Community College Genealogy Course we had to post on two discussions threads.  The first one was on our mid-term project and telling others what is was about. My post was very similar to what I wrote on my blog last week.

The second discussion post was about our plans to continue our education.  There was a huge list of various ways to continue our education. The categories they fell under were:

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Webinars
• Genealogy Societies
• YouTube Channels
• Publications
• Conferences

I was tickled to see Renee's Genealogy Blog as one of the resources on the list. This is the comment I made on the discussion thread.

I was familiar with just about everything on the list, but I did find something I wasn't aware of. That is that APG offered free webinars. I looked at the webinars and was so disappointed that I missed some really good ones. I did sign up for the next one coming up. I have to make sure to keep coming back and checking when new ones are offered.

I was also reminded of one resource that I haven't taken advantage of, the Ancestry.com YouTube Channel. I love listening to Crista Cowan and was I shocked at how many videos they have now. I don't know why I thought Ancestry just offered videos on using their website. They have a lot of depth in what they offer. I need to get moving on watching those. This have taught me to check back on learning resources, you never know how they have evolved over time.

Over the years I have learned so much from attending genealogy conferences, reading blogs, and watching webinars, I don't see this changing for me in the future. The list reminded me that I need to listen to Podcasts. I tend to work in silence or with just music on in the background, otherwise I can't concentrate. Webinars I will sit and watch, but Podcast I've never had a great time to pay attention to them. You can't watch a Podcast. I just started exercising and listening to Podcasts would work really great during that time frame.

I've become a really lazy reader. I used to learn everything by reading and now I rely on other sources. Unfortunately when I do read it's summaries and quick blog articles. I think it was Warren Bittner that I once heard say there was a difference between genealogist that read the NGS Quarterly and those that don't. From what he described I want to have the skills of a genealogist that reads the Quarterly. I have to admit it's a struggle for me. I really need to start delving deeper into subjects, and stretch myself more. The SLCC Genealogy Course has been a great start in that effort. I really want to continue through the rest of the classes. Maybe when I'm done the Quarterly will be easier for me to follow.

The college class is coming near an end (Dec 10th) and I don't want it to. I contacted the Kathy Jonsson the Coordinator over Salt Lake Community College Continuing Education Department and was able to arrange auditing the next genealogy course is the series. "Intro to Genealogical Research" (CEGN 0010-001 Non-Credit) in exchange for blogging about my experience. I'm really excited about seeing what this class has to offer. The classes don't start until 13 Jan 2014 so you have time to register if your interested in attending.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!