Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2008/2009

I'm just back from a wonderful learning-intensive week at the UGA (Utah Genealogical Society) sponsored Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. This was truly a college-course week of learning. There were ten tracks from Welsh Research, to Using Digital Media, to Advanced Problem Solving, to French Research to U.S. Methods and Research........... and I attended the Western States Research track. I spent Monday-Friday, 8:30-3:30, in a class learning almost more than anybody needs to know (just kidding) about research in the western United States.

One over-arching thing I learned, we all learned, was this: You CANNOT expect new answers or new findings when you keep looking for the same things in the same old places in the same old way. Attending Institute was a way to really broaden my genealogical researching horizon.

The 2009 roster will include:
American Records & Research
Gulf South States Research
English Research
Germanic Research
Colonial American Research
Effective Use of the Internet
Teaching Skills for Instructors, Speakers & Mentors
Beyond Libraries: Using Archives, Courthouses and Manuscript Collections
Advanced Problem Solving

Institute is always held in early January at the Radisson Hotel (one block from the dear-old Plaza where I stayed) and costs about $300 just for the course. For more information, stay tuned to the UGA website.

And keep in mind our old Washington State Genealogical Society maxim: You won't know if you don't go."

Donna