Finished My Second Online Course in the National Genealogical Society's Home Study.

What a beautiful surprise! My certificate for my first completed course in the NGS Home Study.

After finishing The Basics (which I wrote about in my post "American Genealogical Studies: The Basics") I signed up for the next course in the National Genealogical Society's Home Study, Guide to Documentation and Source Citation.

I love the way the course explains the basic citation principles in a simple outline form:

Creator/Author
Title/Descriptor
Publication information
Internal Locators

Using this basic set up you can cite any source. They go on to explain the difference between footnotes (which most genealogists use) and bibliographies. From what I could gather you just leave out the internal locators when listing the citation in a bibliography.

Using Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Mills the course goes on to explain how to cite published books, periodicals, e-books, webpages, blogs, online databases, federal government records, such as census records, military records and immigration records, also local and state government records such as vital records, court files, court registers and then also privately created records such as church records and manuscript collections like letters and diaries.

It seems like a lot but using the basic outline it all made very good sense.   The challenge came with the quiz. They would give you a scenario of a source that was found and then gave you four choices for the citation. Each choice only had a few things different. It took me two tries to pass but I did it!

I think one reason a lot of people do not cite their sources on public trees is because they think it is too hard and takes too much time.  But if the genealogy community could convince everyone how important it is and how simple it can be there would be a lot less frustration when there is a fact but no one knows where it came from.

I am one more step closer to my goal of becoming a certified genealogist.

Until next time, happy hunting!

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5 Important Things to Remember When Filling Out Your DAR application.

So you have been invited to join Daughters of the American Revolution but you are not sure what is involved or what you need to do.  First of all congratulations!  DAR is not just a lineage society.  It is an organization that started over one hundred years ago to honor and preserve the legacy of our American patriots.  Today we continue this legacy by actively supporting historic preservation, promotion of education and patriotic endeavors.  But before you can join you must prove you are a direct descendant of an American patriot.

Upon your initial invitation you will receive a worksheet and booklet giving you all the instructions to complete your application.  However it is all kind of overwhelming if you have not done any genealogy before.  So here is a quick short list to help you get started.

1 Write down everything you already know.  You are the first generation on the worksheet.  Write down your birthday and place of birth and if you are married include your husband's information. Continue with your parents and then your grandparents.  Continue through the generations until you reach your patriot.

2 Ask your family (mother, father, aunt, grandmother, cousin) They are the most logical ones to help you fill in any missing blanks you may have. Don't forget to ask them if they know anyone else in the family that might know some of the answers too.  You never know mother may have a crazy aunt who loves genealogy!

3 You must have proof.  Just because mom says it's true doesn't make it so with the verification committee in Washington DC.  You need to not only prove where your different relatives were born and died but you also need to prove how the different generations are connected.  Most of the time it only takes a birth certificate, death certificate and marriage licence however if those are not available you can use other sources such as US census records, wills, land deeds or any other document that is on the approved sources list.

4 If you need help, please ask.  Each DAR chapter has a lineage research committee whose sole purpose is to help potential member fill out their application.  They won't do the work but can lead you in the right direction to get those proofs.  With today's technology a lot of these proof records can be found online and a member of the committee can help you search that way too.

5 Be mindful of the time. Once you have been invited to join DAR the National Society allow two years to complete an application.  However a time extension of one year may be granted if the applicant requests it.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution has a wonderful website too with a lot of answers to help with the application process.  You can find their site HERE.

Again congratulation on deciding to join one of the greatest patriot societies ever!

Until next time, happy hunting!
Kristina