Summit of Excellence Track Highlight: Getting Started

New to genealogy and family history research? Or perhaps it has been a while and you want to make sure you've covered the basics? We've got the experts to help you build a solid foundation and prevent self-constructed brick walls in your research.

Acknowledging UGA's 50th anniversary and our ongoing commitment to providing premier educational experiences, this track is FREE to the general public and to all registered Summit of Excellence participants. By giving back to the community, we honor the vision of UGA's founder, Jerry D. Wells.

Track Presentations

The following sessions run on Wednesday, September 15th:

Genealogy 101 with Crista Cowen: Brand new to family history? Join Crista Cowan as she guides you through the steps to getting started with building a family tree and shares some basic genealogy standards. 

Beginning Your Genealogical Journey with Katherine Willson: Build your family tree as you discover how to gather basic information, fill in common charts, locate public records, and navigate Internet resources. Overcome obstacles and avoid common pitfalls with these resources that will guide you towards excellence in your research.

Location, Location, Location! Surveying the Places Your Ancestors Lived with Jana Greenhalgh: This class will teach the importance and process of gathering geographical context to aid in our genealogy research.  techniques.

Records, Rules, and Repositories with Katherine Willson: Learn where to locate genealogical documents for your ancestors and his/her family members, as well as the methods for analyzing those records. Our discussion will include records such as birth, marriage, and death records; census forms; military draft registration forms; and passenger lists.

Beginning Strategies for Searching Online Records and Resources with Cheri Passey: Learn the best methods for searching online records. From how to get more out of your research results to locating record collections, discover strategies for searching online records and resources.

The full schedule of all presentations and links to presenter biographies may be found here. 

Join Us in September!

The 2021 UGA Summit of Excellence celebrates UGA's 50th year. This exciting virtual conference, held September 15-18, 2021, is a four-day event with multiple tracks offering a premier educational opportunity at an extremely reasonable price. Each track features a different record set or research area such as legal records, methodology, technology, or DNA. 

Learn more about the Summit of Excellence or register to attend. Questions may be directed to the registrar: registrar@ugagenealogy.org.

Summit of Excellence Track Highlight: Methodology

Challenged in solving a genealogical research question? It's all about methodology.

This track features some of the genealogical community's most in-demand methodology subjects presented by those who have taken their methodology skills to the level of fine art.

Track Presentations

The following sessions run on Thursday, September 16th:

Finding Ancestral Origins by Using Neighborhood Research with Melinda Daffin Henningfield, CG: The records that answer questions about an ancestor are sometimes only found by researching his relatives, friends, neighbors, associates, or enemies.

Finding Descendants in Your Family Tree with Diane Henriks: This presentation shows the process of fanning out to find descendants and living people in your family tree, which can also help break down brick walls.

Discovering Your Immigrant's Origins: Exhausting Every Resource with Rich Venezia: Pin down your elusive immigrant ancestor's place of origin using some well-known – and less-known – record sets, ideas, and techniques.

Analyzing and Correlating Documents: Essential Skills for Genealogists with Angela Packer McGhie, CG, FUGA: When there is little information to compare, or inconsistencies to resolve, the analysis and correlation process is essential to accurately identifying our ancestors.

Is My Brick Wall Really Record Loss? with Kelvin L. Meyers: Sometimes that brick-wall problem is due to record loss in the area where our ancestor resided. In many cases it's possible to overcome the problem. 

A full description of each presentation and links to presenter biographies may be found here. 

Join Us in September!

The 2021 UGA Summit of Excellence celebrates UGA's 50th year. This exciting virtual conference, held September 15-18, 2021, is a four-day event with multiple tracks offering a premier educational opportunity at an extremely reasonable price. Each track features a different record set or research area such as legal records, methodology, technology, or DNA. 

Learn more about the Summit of Excellence or register to attend. Questions may be directed to the registrar: registrar@ugagenealogy.org.

SLIG Announces Academy 2022 Updates

Concerns for the health and safety of participants during this program continue to be at the forefront of our minds. During the Academy, our smaller size makes it necessary to share space in the hotel with other groups, increasing health and safety risks during a second pandemic year.

Therefore, we are pleased to announce the following changes:

·         The SLIG Academy for Professionals 2022 will again take place virtually. Following the success of this year’s virtual program, courses will meet in a week-to-week format, beginning January 3oth with orientation and ending in April.

·         Two additional courses will be added to the already available options for 2022. These will be:

1.       Writing and Documenting for Peer Review with Karen Mauer Jones, CG, FGBS, FUGA

2.      Teaching Genealogy Classes in your Community with Katherine R. Willson

To view the newly updated line-up of all courses please visit the Academy webpage at SLIGacademy.ugagenealogy.org.

·         The Accreditation Course, Becoming an Accredited Genealogist Professional: The Why, the What, the How with Diana Elder, AG, and Lisa Stokes, AG will move to SLIG during the week of January 9-14, 2022. This transition will allow participation in unique course experiences and sample testing at the Family History Library.

·         Registration will still open on August 14, 2021, at 2:00 pm MDT. Enrollment will be limited to a single course.

·         Course lengths will vary to support the designed curriculum for each course.

Additional information may be found on our website, slig.ugagenealogy.org, as it becomes available.

We look forward to seeing you – safe and healthy – virtually at SLIG Academy 2022.

Summit of Excellence Speakers at NGS Conference

The NGS Family History Conference is fast approaching, and guess who is speaking? Several presenters from UGA's Summit of Excellence also appear at NGS Live, NGS On-Demand, and as part of the NGS Focus on Societies.

Crista Cowan

AncestryDNA: Putting Your DNA Results to Work to Further Your Research (NGS Live: 20 May, 11:05 am ET)

What's New at Ancestry (Bonus-Sponsored Session, available June 15

Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG, CGL

Besieged by Baxters: A Case Study for a Common Name (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Rare Revolutionary Bounty Land Scrip Act Applications (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

The Hunt for Maryland Vital Records (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Angela Packer McGhie, CG, FUGA

Strategies for Resolving Conflicting Evidence (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Homestead Records: A GOldmine for Genealogy (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Research Maryland Deeds Online Using MDLandRec.net and Plats.net (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Anne Merrell

Digital Marketing for the Modern Society (NGS Focus on Societies: 21 May, 4:00 pm ET)

Cheri Hudson Passey

Ancestors in Southern Claims Commission Records (NGS Live: 20 May, 12:15 pm ET)

Online Meetings: Helping Your Society Move Into a Virtual World (NGS Focus on Societies: 21 May, 4:00 pm ET)

Mary Kircher Roddy

Flying Under the Radar: Discovering Charles Olin's Alias (NGS Live: 20 May, 3:45 pm ET)

Really? Proving and Refuting Family Lore (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL

Wilde Beasts, Sabbath Breakers, and Incorrigible Roughes: Early Virginia Laws (NGS Live: 20 May, 2:30 pm ET)

May I Please Have Your Permission? Using the Work of Others (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

"To protect people who provide DNA samples": The Ethics of DNA Testing (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

The Common Law: From Mr. Justice Blackstone to Mr. Justice Tucker (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Richard G. Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA

Using Maps of the Mid-Atlantic Region to Further Your Genealogical Research (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Finding Military Records in Published Sources (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Research in Washington, DC (NGS On-Demand, available June 15)

Congratulations to all of these speakers, and thank you for continuing to support genealogy education!

Please visit our schedule page here to see these speaker's upcoming presentations at the UGA Summit of Excellence. Registration for the Summit of Excellence is open here.

You can also still register to attend NGS Family History Conference here.