My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 6

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It sure has been a long time since I have written on the old blog and even longer since I have updated my readers in my certification process. If you didn't know, I am "on the clock" for certification through the Board for Certification of Genealogists. This is a pretty big deal and if I "pass," I will have the letters CG after my name for the next five years.

[If you would like to go back and read my certification blog posts in order, here are the links: Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Entry 4, and Entry 5.]

Progress in 3 Easy Steps

I have made some serious progress over the last several months in completing the portfolio. I attribute this to three things:

1. I took out an extension. One year is just not enough time for a wife and mother of three, a person trying to work, and an active servant in the community and church, to still have time for sleeping and eating, much less working on the portfolio. If you think you are not going to finish within the designated year, you can file for an extension. An extension does cost you ($), but the good part is you have an additional year to keep working and keep learning. I found that very helpful.

The first year, I was a nervous wreck. I did not fully realize the amount of hours needed and I was easily overwhelmed. I felt I was going around in circles sometimes. The advantage to taking out an extension is to have longer to mull over your ideas and to learn with more focus. Let me explain.

Before you attempt the certification process, it is a good idea to already have an idea of what you want to research for your portfolio. It is also a great idea to start writing reports and working for clients. All this, I did. However, I couldn't have known how valuable the BCG Action Group would be. You see, once you are "on the clock," you are included in a Google Group called the BCG Action Group. Here, you are supported by the best and brightest genealogists in the field. Further, they send you regular action lists to keep you on track, descriptions of passing/failing portfolios, and lots of helpful articles. This was just one more reason I was glad I took out an extension. I feel better prepared having been a part of this group.

2. I try to work on the portfolio every day. I have written about this before, but I think it deserves to be said again. "A record a day keeps procrastination at bay." You can not keep momentum and clarity of thought when you are waiting weeks in between working on your portfolio. It takes too much time to "catch up" and pick up where you left off. Instead, working even an hour a day is better than doing nothing.

Along these same lines, you may not be able to work on your portfolio as often as you should if you have chosen to do research in a far away location. I had originally intended to do a report on my family lines in Virginia. That was plain silly. How on earth was I going to have the necessary time to visit the courthouse and other areas of importance to do exhaustive research? I live in Ohio for heaven's sake! Friends, I can't think of any exhaustive research that doesn't include a visit (more than one actually) to a local repository. If you can't get to your research location easily, pick something else. That's my 2 cents, anyway.

3. I watch the BCG webinars. Oh my goodness, friends. This has been a complete game changer. The BCG hosts regular webinars. You can see a list of titles here. These webinars are geared toward those working on their portfolios and some of the best and brightest in the genealogy community are our teachers. Some are available to view for free and others cost a small fee.

Also, if you have a subscription to Legacy Family Tree Webinars, they are presenting BCG webinars via their website as well. In fact, Judy Russell has an upcoming webinar on Dec. 20th, 2016 titled "No, no, Nanette! What negative evidence is...and isn't." You can register for her free webinar, here.

These webinars have been helpful and encouraging. They are an especially good way to gauge how you are doing and what you need to work on.

Conclusion

You are not alone when participating in the certification process. There are lots of resources and people to support and guide you. Here's to hoping by this time next year, I will have the title Certified Genealogist!

I have recently published three webinars of my own at Legacy Family Tree. If you would like to watch them, the titles and links are listed below:
"Crowdsourcing with Social Media to Overcome Brick Walls in Genealogy"
"Tech Savvy Journaling and Scrapbooking for Genealogists"
"Enriching Your Family History through Pictures & Stories"

My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 5

I have been spending many hours, especially Saturday's, at wrestling tournaments. Have you ever been to a wrestling tournament? You watch your kid wrestle for about 2 to 4 minutes, then you wait about 40 minutes until they wrestle again...for 2 to 4 minutes. About half way through the day, they have an intermission that is roughly an hour to an hour and a half. This schedule leads to a LOT of downtime!

Luckily, I have found wi-fi access at each school and was able to work on some research. At first, I was dragging a heavy bag along with me. I needed a computer, my notebook, my Genealogy Standards book, Mastering Genealogical Proof workbook, my Evidence Explained, and I wanted to bring my Professional Genealogy volume, but that nearly broke my bag AND MY BACK! The answer to an overloaded bag is getting digital versions of your books!

I have already purchased these books in hardback. I don't really want to buy them again. Evidence Explained in the Kindle version (found on Amazon) is $32.95. However, Genealogy Standards is only $6.99. Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas Jones, in Kindle edition, is $9.99. Unfortunately, I have yet to find Professional Genealogy by Elizabeth Shown Mills in a digital format.

I will be replacing some of my books with these digital versions, but for the more pricey ones, I have taken a photo with my phone of important pages. Then, I saved them to my phone. You could go one step further and save the images to your computer or to your Google drive. It will come in handy when you are on-the-go or at least until you have purchased them all as digital copies.

I would encourage any of you who have not yet purchased these books in preparation for certification, to consider buying the digital versions. It is such a blessing to be a genealogist in these days! Smartphones, apps, software, laptops, e-books: genealogists today have every advantage!

Read "My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 4: Power of the Cold Call

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My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 4

Sometimes, you just have to pick up the phone and call! That is what I learned this week as I worked on a certification portfolio report.

It seems that every genealogy road eventually leads to somewhere far away. Eventually, you are going to have to start researching in another state or even another country.

Online research brings those far away places within reach. The internet is a miracle really. It is amazing what information you can find by typing in a few keywords to Google. This week, I was reminded that not everything is on the internet.

I already knew I couldn't find all the sources I needed online. There are probably thousands of records still hidden in dusty old basements that haven't been viewed by human eyes in decades. Because of this, it is possible the records you are looking for have not even been microfilmed.

Yesterday, I picked up the phone and started calling places in my targeted area of research. I called the local library. I called the historical society. I called the genealogical society. I called the courthouse. I kept asking the same questions about all the types of records I needed. Finally, one woman says, "Just a minute," and then Jennifer answers with, "Hello, how can I help you?" Jennifer is a worker at the county courthouse. When I told her who I was researching she said, "Are you familiar with John [last name withheld] who is the family historian of that family? They have a large farm here in the county." WHAT!? She pointed out where I might find his contact information, as she was not able to give it to me.

Friends, this is the type of information you may only find if you start making phone calls (or visit the area). Some people call these "cold calls." When I phoned John, he thought I might be a solicitor. Remember to talk slow, but get right to the point. I said something like, "John, my name is Amie Tennant. I am a genealogy researcher in Ohio and am researching the [name withheld] family. I heard you were their family historian in the county."

And, there you have it. This phone call led to new information, new sources, and it didn't take long at all. I think this might be part of the exhaustive research we talk about in the GPS.

I would also add, I often learn about unique holdings when I call the history department of a local library or archive. There have been many times when I say, "I would really like to find ______. Do you have any idea where I might find that kind of information in your county?" Local historians have pointed me to unknown newspapers on microfilm, family books, and more. Talk to knowledgeable people in your targeted location. Someone somewhere knows something you don't!

Here's to more weeks of exhaustive research and a few more cold calls.

Read Entry 3 of "My Journey of the Certification Process" here.

My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 3

If you have been following along, you may have noticed that more than a week has passed and I have not written a blog post. This part of my certification process happens from time to time...it's life getting in the way!

For two weeks, my children and I have been fighting off colds and strep throat, and it has been awful. There was still homework and housework, and just to make things interesting, wrestling season started. Even with the help of my husband, there were just not enough hours in the day. Time dedicated to certification had to be put aside for a bit.

The Family that keeps me busy!

When this happens, I try not to lose my momentum. I know that I can't dedicate the hours I want to research on the "big" projects when I am feeling lousy. Instead, I watch BCG videos and read about genealogy. I might not remember all that I hear or read, but it makes me feel better to know that I have done "something" that will benefit my portfolio.

When I have been especially busy and have only small bursts of time or energy, I work on transcription and abstraction.

Transcription and abstraction of a provided document is part of the portfolio. BCG sends you one handwritten document that could be found in the region and time period you mentioned on your initial paperwork. You also will do a transcription and abstraction of a document that you provide.

Practicing the techniques for transcription and abstraction is important. Because abstraction had not often come up in my past research experience, I have had to study that more so than transcription.

One of the best resources for learning the ins and outs of transcription and abstraction is chapter 16 in Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills. 

I was still a bit confused as I read the chapter and compared it to other transcription and abstraction examples found in the document samples on the BCG website. I mentioned my confusion on the Google Group for those "on the clock." Judy Russell said it best when she said (and I quote), "There is No One Right Way. All together now. Repeat after me: There is No One Right Way." End quote.

I think the most important thing to learn during the certification process is this: There are standard operating procedures. As you learn and apply these standards, the finished product may look different than others. That's your style and that's okay. When it comes to transcriptions, the guidelines and essentials are pretty straight forward and Ms. Mills lists them in chapter 16 of the book I mentioned above.

As for abstracts, I found them...well, more abstract! Abstract examples can have different styles. Some may be written more like a list and another may be written similar to narrative format. I decided to not choose one style over another, but let my gut direct me. I ask myself, "Who is my audience? Will this be logical to my reader?" If a numbered or list abstract would help my reader to understand the document best, I use that style. If I think the narrative format might be best for the reader, I use a narrative format.

As I have said before, these are just my impressions as I go along. Please don't use these words as advice for your portfolio, I may be doing it all wrong! We shall wait and see.

In the meantime, when my life gets busy,  I do something. Read, watch a video, or practice a paragraph or two of transcription/abstraction. The important thing is to not lose your momentum! Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming!

Read "My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 2" here.

My Journey of the Certification Process: What's the Cost?

So many of you have written your best wishes to me in my endeavor. Thank you for reading My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 1.

I have had several comments regarding cost of preparation and cost of the certification process itself. I want to share with you today some ideas on preliminary preparation and the overall costs involved.

Suggested Preparation Ideas

The very first society (other than my local county society) I joined was the National Genealogical Society. The cost of a membership is $65.00 (as Nov 2015). This membership was my first step to preparing for certification.

Once you have become a member of the NGS, you will begin to receive the NGS Quarterly and the NGS Magazine. The NGS Quarterly is a great example of scholarly works. If you are unable to purchase a membership right now, you can enjoy these publications at many local libraries and Family History Centers. In fact, ask around at your next county genealogical society meeting to see if anyone is getting rid of their old ones. That is how I stumbled across the first NGS Quarterly I ever read.

This NGS publication was vital to my learning how to properly compose proof arguments and summaries. It also gave me more experience with proper source citation techniques.

Source citations are really important in putting together a portfolio and for me, the most difficult. I use Elizabeth Shown Mills Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace as my reference volume on how to write a source citation. [PS...this book is now in its third edition.] As I read the articles in the NGS Quarterly, I make notes all over them. On the front cover, I put important things that can be found in that volume. For example, if I find a fact that required TWO source citations, I look to see how that was done. If I find an article in which someone sourced a fact where they found nothing (called negative evidence,) I look to see how they cited a negative source. I mark the page, then write on the front of the volume "Negative Source Citation" or "Two Source Citations Together."

If I find a great Kinship Determination Project, I write so on the front cover. This makes for easy reference later.

If I find a well thought out case study that is clear and easy to follow that reminds me of something I have researched myself, I mark it. Then, I go back and write my own article taking cues from their train-of-thought as practice. I find I am not very organized in my actual thinking, but one thing I learned from my mentors is that it does not really matter in what order you researched, but it does matter in what order you WRITE about that research. In other words, you might be all over the place, but when it comes time to write your case studies, you need to be organized. That organization can be learned by reading these NGS articles.

As of 2016, the requirements for certification have changed slightly to include a resume of your enrichment activities and education. In other words, they are looking for what workshops and course work you are taking. I mentioned that I took the NGS American Genealogy: Home Study Course. At that time, it was a CD course and cost $500 USD. Today, this course has been revised, updated, and moved to the Cloud. The course is now in a series of three. The classes are American Genealogical Studies: The Basics; American Genealogical Studies: Guide to Documentation and Source Citation; and American Genealogical Studies: Beyond the Basics. To take this last course, you must complete the "Basics" and "Documentation" courses. A course syllabus for the "Basics" course can be seen here.

You do not need to be a member of the NGS to take these courses, however the price for members is discounted.

The breakdown in USD as of Nov 2015:
"Basics" course is $45.00 for members, $65.00 for non-members
"Source Citation and Documentation" same as above
"Beyond Basics" is $175.00 for members, $200.00 for non-members
"Basics" and "Source Citation and Documentation" bundled together are $75.00 for members, $100.00 for non-members

Want to take the courses for free? NGS offers the John T. Humphrey, CG Memorial Scholarship Award each year. The scholarship covers the cost of all three American Genealogical Studies courses. You can read more about the requirements by clicking here.

There are many other great preparation courses out there, so take a look.

Certification Fees

Once you have decided to start the certification process, you will need to send in a $75.00 application fee. This puts you "on the clock" for one year. If you do not complete the portfolio in a year's time, you can file for an extension for another $75.00 fee.

After you complete your portfolio, you will send it in with a $300.00 fee.

My Week in Review

This week I worked more on my "Report for another person" portion of the portfolio. I read over all of the examples suggested in the rubric and the BCG Action list. The rubric and BCG Action lists are very helpful and give you a breakdown of what each report should include. 

I found myself second guessing as I realized the example reports were more lengthy than mine. However, I noticed that one example report included that the research had been commissioned for 30 hours. My client hired me for less than half of that! Less hours of research will likely equal a shorter report, so I think I'm okay. I used the hours the client gave me and did some great research with that time using a variety of sources. Best of all, we found the answer to her question.

Well friends, this week I hope to finish up the "Report for another person" entirely and maybe have time to put some hours into the Kinship Determination Project. I have just received some key evidence in that case and I am anxious to dig into it more!

Follow along on my journey of certification by reading:
Entry 3 of the Certification Process: Keeping Motivated
Entry 4 of the Certification Process: Power of the Cold Call
Entry 5 of the Certification Process: Absolute Must-haves

My Journey of the Certification Process: Entry 1

I have debated back and forth as to whether it would be helpful for me to blog about the certification process I am going through. I am currently "on the clock" for the Board for Certified Genealogists certification program. I might be putting myself on-the-line here by sharing the fact that I am attempting to become certified. Let's face it...I might not "pass." But, I do not want to let this time pass by and not keep a record of it.

Many years ago in college, I let several teachers convince me I would never pass the certification process to become a licensed interpreter for the Deaf. It was expensive and difficult, they said, you'll never pass the first time. So, I simply decided I would not try.

Ten years later, I was older, wiser, and had nothing to lose. I studied and practiced for five months and took the test. I passed with no problem at all. Why had I waited ten years and allowed other people to convince me I would fail?

The process of genealogy certification has been completely opposite. I kept hearing things like, "You can do it," "You are ready," and "You'll do great!" I still have fear of failing, but those voices are in my own mind.

To begin the process, I started with a five year plan. Not absolutely necessary, but I always like a well thought out plan. I watched an interview with Elizabeth Shown Mills about her genealogy journey. She suggested (this was in 2010) anyone wishing to certify should take the NGS American Genealogy Home Study Course. It was a $500 graded course, a little too expensive at the time. But...NGS offers a yearly scholarship! I applied and was granted the scholarship in 2011. The course was wonderful. I was graded by certified genealogists for each assignment. I did not always pass the first time I sent in an assignment. Sometimes, they would send me suggestions and say "do it over."

I was so busy. A stay-at-home mom with three children, active in my church responsibilities, and babysitting children before school and after, left me precious little time to work on the course work. Looking back, I do not know how I did it, but I finished the course in just under 3 years. That was a loooong time! It certainly would not take most people that long by a long shot. The point is, it did not matter how long it took. I was learning.

The next step the BCG (Board for Certified Genealogists) suggested was to find a mentor who had already gone through the certification process. At the time, I was living near Chicago. I searched the BCG website for a certified genealogist in my area. I found Teresa Steinkamp McMillin. I sent her over an email. I peppered her with all sorts of questions, which she quickly answered.

From Teresa, I learned that it is a good idea to do some client work and report writing before attempting your certification. Boy, was she right! I started calling around to some friends and asking if I could do their family history for them. There was no shortage of willing people!

I worked and eventually people started hiring me for more difficult research. BCG and Teresa reminded me to look at every "client case" as a potential piece of my portfolio. For your certification, you turn in a portfolio of several reports. A kinship determination paper, a transcription and abstraction of a supplied document (as well as one that you provide,) a research report for another person, and a case study involving conflicting, indirect, or negative evidence. If I found that my client work would make a great report or had some interesting conflicting or indirect evidence, I would ask the client's written permission to include it in a future portfolio.

Over the last four years, I have started speaking to groups about genealogy, writing blog articles for RootsBid.com, and have written A LOT of client reports. Last spring while attending the Ohio Genealogical Society Annual Conference, I finally met Teresa Steinkamp McMillin. It was so good to meet her in person. She gave me that final push to "go for it" and turn in the paperwork to get "on the clock."

"On the clock" means that you have sent in an application to the BCG. They send you further information and helps to start the portfolio and you have one year to complete it and send it in.

It has been five months "on the clock" for me. I have finished the applicant supplied document portion, the resume, and have only a few tweaks left on the report for another person. I have a good start on the kinship determination project and the case study. I think I am right on track.

My learning has not stopped just because I am in the certification process. I think I am learning more now than I ever did! I have purchased all sorts of books and read the NGS Quarterly and other scholarly works every chance I get. I highlight, I scribble notes, I attend seminars and watch webinars.

Will I pass, I do not know. I do know that if I don't pass the first time, my friends and mentors will work with me and help me try again. If you want to become certified, YOU CAN DO IT! Create a plan and start today!

Follow along on my journey of certification by reading:
Entry 2 of the Certification Process: What's the cost?
Entry 3 of the Certification Process: Keeping Motivated
Entry 4 of the Certification Process: Power of the Cold Call
Entry 5 of the Certification Process: Absolute Must-haves