4 weeks till the start of virtual genealogy course “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills.

As I do each year, I have heard from prospective students for the GRIP Genealogy Institute course “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills. No, it’s not a basic level course. Yes, even novice genealogists can learn a lot, but if you have a bit more experience, you will become a better researcher and have a boatload of knowledge, skills, and records to investigate. We have so much to share!

While the other instructors and I work on new and updated syllabus materials and the presentation slides, we share with each other about what we see in and for the course.

Debbie said, “they will learn more than they already know.” I agree and I already learned about a couple new to me newspaper sites just from her syllabus section on that. Not only in that session, but throughout the week I always hear the “I didn’t know that” during discussions with the students.

We are a unique team of instructors and don’t provide the usual approaches to our varied sessions that really do flow together.

Debbie’s session on “Legal Savvy for the Genealogist” provides some hands-on activities that reinforce the process. That makes it stick in student’s brains along with the syllabus section reminders. She only teaches this topic for Digging Deeper.

Amy is happy that Cari is presenting about PERSI and shares that it’s an under-utilized resource where genealogists can find incredible information. Amy told me she recently did some research at a state archive. “I found some cool documents that I will share as never-seen-before examples of what genealogists can find in state archives and state historical societies.” Oh, I am looking forward to learning what she found for us and how she found them.

Cari will also explore probate records with the class, which are more than just wills and estates. “We will look at guardianships, apprenticeships, and other probate records.”

Every time I am investigating a website, I do some deep searching but maybe not deep enough? Cyndi’s session on “The Hidden Web: Digging Deeper” is tempting me with one part of the description “We will also talk about the importance of indexes that deep-link into websites online.” I’m ready! We do continue to learn.

For me, I love my Monday sessions about analyzing records and more, drafting a research plan, and what I call “Collaborative Genealogy.” The outcome of these two sessions and related work during the week highlight some additional help that might be close than you realize.

We do have some student spaces not yet reserved. Check the GRIP Genealogy Institute page for the course to learn more about the sessions and to find out who Amy, Cari, Cyndi, and Debbie really are under the Faculty tab.

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