The webinar “Enough is Enough. Or Is It?” by Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA was first given on 7 October 2016 at the BCG day-long seminar . It is one of the essential educational resources mentioned in “Educational Preparation for Certification: Many Paths to the Same Goal” by Angela Packer McGhie, CG given on 18 October 2016.
The presenter makes a number of great points. Genealogy standards are there to help us find the right family and to show others that they can have confidence in our research. We want to strive to be methodical cultivators versus hunter/gatherers who accept everything without considering sources. What is a reasonably exhaustive search? The place and time, and therefore the availability of records affects this. Often researching the neighbors too is part of the search. But we don’t need to search through every possible source everywhere, because that isn’t reasonable. We should search through the records someone with expertise in a certain place and time would search through. We develop that expertise by learning from the experts and over time with experience. Ideally we would like at least two sources for each conclusion we make. And look beyond the abstracts and indexes to see the original records whenever possible.
Writing our conclusions is important for everyone, not just the pros. The presenter showed examples of how she formats a research report, research plan, and research log.
In the second half of the presentation the presenter goes through a case study searching for the siblings and parents of one of her great-grandparents. She outlines the steps she takes. Shes uses both easily accessible records and those not so easily accessible. Overall it is a very worthwhile presentation. I see why it is recommended as a top learning resource.
The webinar is hosted at familytreewebinars.com here. The website requires a subscription or purchase of a digital download to see the webinar. Monthly subscriptions are available. The syllabus may be downloaded from the website for free.
Liane Jensen Research 