Genealogy at the next level

Everyone who’s ever tried a hand at a video or computer game knows what it means to level up.

To bring the skills already learned — usually the hard way — and move one step up the ladder.

To face new tasks.

To take on new challenges.

To get out of the comfort zone of what we already know and push on into the unknown.

In genealogy, as in gaming, leveling up is scary.

And in genealogy, as in gaming, it can be one of the most rewarding things we can do, as we realize we really are ready for those new challenges.

Maybe this is where you stand right at this moment.

And so The Legal Genealogist is throwing down the gauntlet.

Come on out and join me and a stellar team of instructors this summer at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research — and challenge yourself in the toughest course offered: Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis.

Offered the last week of July at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel in Athens, Georgia, this isn’t a course for beginners. You can’t even get into the course without proving you’re ready — either by showing you’ve taken one of the prerequisite courses (IGHR’s Intermediate Genealogy and Historical Studies course, the SLIG or GRIP advanced methods courses, the 16-lesson graded NGS home study course, the NIGS Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies program, or completion of the Genealogy Certificate program from Boston University), or achieved certification or accreditation, or by writing a research paper that shows you understand and can apply the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS).

It’s an intensive course. It builds on entry- and intermediate-level courses to develop and foster advanced skills by concentrating on problem-solving techniques. Its focus isn’t so much on records, but on applying the GPS to a wide variety of record types to solve complex research problems — how to use records in ways that may be neither intuitive nor obvious to bridge the gaps left by time and record loss.

With instructors like Melissa A. Johnson, CG, Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, FASG, FUGA, FNGS, David McDonald, DMin, Angela Packer McGhie, CG, David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA, and Michael L. Strauss, AG, you’ll spend long hours in the classroom and then face homework to reinforce the lessons.

It’ll take effort and commitment to master Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis.

And you’ll grow more as a genealogist in this one week-long intensive program than you may have in months and years of learning on your own.

Registration for all IGHR courses begins Saturday, February 1, 2020, and for this class the kickoff time for registration is 1:30 p.m. EST (12:30 p.m. CST, 11:30 a.m. MST, 10:30 a.m. PST). Enrollment is limited to 30 students, and the class can fill in minutes. To be ready to hit the button when the course opens for registration, you need to read about the system beforehand and create an account in advance.

The Institute begins Saturday, July 25th, 2020, with the optional FamilySearch Family History and Genealogy Expo. Check-in begins at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 26, with orientation at 5:00 p.m. Classes get underway at 8:30 Monday morning and wrap up at noon on Friday, July 31.

The Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis course is one solid intensive week of challenge and effort and growth.

For those who — like you — are ready to level up.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Level up,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 29 July 2020).