American Records & Research: Focusing on Families

Starting off our new series of blog posts about the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), today's guest blogger is Course I coordinator, Paula Stuart-Warren.

Are you at a point in your research where you need some in-depth education about evaluating records, research, and U.S. resources in the 19th -21st centuries? Would you like five days of learning from some of the top experts in the field of family history? How about one-on-one consultation time to work on your own family history with some of these experts? What about working on a project in small groups that provides insight into the research process?

Then this is the course for you. Maybe you have already done basic searches online or in a library, but know there are more records to check and more to learn about those records that are online. This intermediate level course provides all that and more for strategies that take you beyond basic research tools both online and off. On-site consultations at the Family History Library from course instructors on three afternoons provide one-on-one assistance and guidance with your own research. The instructors don’t just lecture, they interact with you. This is the perfect course to take before you venture into other SLIG courses.

We’ll delve deeper into probate, vital records, guardianships, manuscripts, passports, lesser used federal records, school related records and church records. The records of births, deaths, and marriage will be scrutinized more closely along with substitutes for them. Civil war related records (other than pensions) will be discussed. All of these are goldmines for family details.

This course helps you extend your research skills with light, optional homework assignments to immediately apply the classroom information to research on your own families. There is ample time for open research in the afternoon and evening. The 2011 the Intermediate Course focused on localities. In 2012 this course focuses on individuals and families.

Click here to see the 2012 Course I lineup of excellent classes and "top-flight" instructors. See you next January!


Thanks, Paula! And, for those of you still debating about coming to Salt Lake in January for Course I, decide quickly. As of this evening there are only 17 seats remaining in this course.


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This article reprinted with permission of the Utah Genealogical Association. To learn more about the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) or the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), please visit their website at: ugagenealogy.org.