Putting Skills To Work is a unique full-day, hands-on workshop limited to sixty participants. The focus is skills needed by anyone practicing serious genealogical research whether as a family historian, librarian, dedicated hobbyist, or writer. The sessions are geared to intermediate and advanced practitioners and advocate professional standards.

Putting Skills To Work sessions occur the day prior to the opening of the National Genealogical Society Conference. It is not necessary to register for the entire NGS Conference to participate. The $110 registration fee includes two in-depth presentations, hands-on exercises, syllabus, handouts, and lunch. Sessions typically book to capacity before the NGS Conference’s Early Bird registration deadline.

The 2013 Putting Skills To Work is scheduled for 8:00 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 May, at Las Vegas, Nevada. The 2013 Putting Skills To Work is led by Beverly Rice, CGSM, and Connie Lenzen, CGSM.The two sessions, discussed in follow-up posts, will consider historical context and migration stories.

Standard 24 of the BCG Standards Manual will form the framework for the day. Within the Evidence Evaluation genealogical standards, Standard 24 focuses on context, an essential element to understanding documents.[1] The workshop will help attendees to find and integrate historical topics and transcontinental migration into their family histories.

The NGS online brochure discusses the workshop at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/bcgfund_workshop. Early bird registration ends March 19th.

The BCG Education Fund is a Massachusetts charitable trust that operates independently of BCG itself. The Fund creates educational opportunities for all genealogists.

Photograph courtesy of Microsoft Office.


[1] The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual (Orem, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2000), p. 10.