Monday, April 25, 2016

Online Genealogy Courses at Salt Lake Community College: GEN1000 and GEN1014

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I've just finished teaching the first semester of my new course "Making Money in Genealogy" at SLCC and I want to tell you about the two genealogy courses I teach for the genealogy program at Salt Lake Community College.  They keep me fresh and focused on the needs of genealogists as I get to work with wonderful students.  The program teaches you to become an excellent genealogist and are all taught entirely online.  In fact the entire SLCC program is academically rigorous and you can receive college credit while you are sharpening  your family history skills.  Now is the time to sign up for summer term  if you are interested.  I'd love to have you join us. 

I've been teaching GEN 1000 "Computer & Internet Tools for Genealogy" for 6 years now and I think it is a fantastic way for anyone to bring their genealogy technology skills up to date.  Kelly Summers and I wrote it together and we came up with a program that works for beginners as well as seasoned genealogists who just need to brush up on their tech skills.  After learning about basic genealogy research and documentation standards and how to enter your research into genealogy software, students use census and vital records to carefully document their own lives, their parents and their grandparents.  There are lessons about picture tagging and restoration, oral interviews, and internet publishing and sharing, and then the midterm project is just to take 6 hours to do something that needs to be done in your family along those lines.  After learning about continuing education opportunities and watching a webinar, and then surveying software and mobile apps, the final project is simply to turn in the three generation research compiled into software generated reports with complete documentation.  Grades are based on methodology, not the amount of research completed.  Most genealogists I know haven't taken the time to completely document the first three generations of their family and by the time the student is finished, they are ready to move forward with excellent technology and documentation skills.

Then, the new course I've just developed is GEN 1014, "Making Money in Genealogy."  This is the course I wish I had had 12 years ago when we started Family ChartMasters.  I've poured all of the things I've learned into this course to save the students all the learning curve I've had to overcome.  We survey genealogy opportunities and the structure of running  your own business and then the second half of the course is all about marketing (something all genealogists can improve on.)  By the end of the course you have written a complete business plan, begun branding, and interviewed a professional genealogist.  I think the course has everything students need to get started on the right track to becoming a successful genealogy professional. 

You can take either course for credit or as an audit and seniors who live in Utah can take each course for only $10.  The entire genealogy program at SLCC is an excellent curriculum that unfortunately is not very well known in the national genealogy community.  Hopefully that will change soon.  The program is designed to prepare students for credentialing with ICAPGEN or BCG and has fantastic instructors. There are 13 courses and you can complete enough in one year to obtain a certificate of completion. I've really enjoyed working with Kelly, Karen Clifford, and Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.  They are excellent genealogists and wonderful people.  I can highly recommend this program to anyone who is serious about becoming an excellent genealogist. 

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Customer Testimonial By Geneablogger True Lewis From NoTeS To MySeLf


We love it when our customers are thrilled with our work.
At RootsTech 2016, we met geneablogger True Lewis who writes about her slave and European ancestors on her blog, NoTeS To MySeLf.  She set up an appointment with a personal designer at the conference and we were able to talk about different options for her custom chart.

True shared the positive experience she had with Family ChartMasters in a recent post from her blog and granted us permission to link to her blog in addition to sharing her thoughts here.

She says:
"I love looking for different genealogy products that will make my family history research stand out.  I'm always looking for something detailed and special for my family...I attended RootsTech 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I made my appointment to meet with a consultant 2 weeks in advance.  I met Ms. Janet on a Thursday...We discussed and went over ideas i had on how we could make this chart come to life.  This is the end product of what I had in mind."


She enjoyed how easy it was to work with Family ChartMasters. "I was able to choose every detail on this chart.  It was very personalized.  It came out to have a total of 35 pictures.  A Bible verse.  Trimming, edging and sepia background.  The size is 24" x 36" in stature.  There is no limit to what you can do for your chart...It arrived fast and in a shipping tube."

As we work with our clients, we are happy to help you get your genealogy chart exactly the way you want it and it shows.  True writes, "They were very patient with me in getting all the details from my tree I keep on Ancestry.com. I had a few revisions and they worked with every move I made...I'm excited about presenting this to the family. It feels so good to see all that I have come from....I can't even express my thanks to Family ChartMasters and their staff for making this masterpiece for me.  It will be cherished for centuries to come.  Thank you for all your patience, kindness and professionalism through the whole process."

True's experience with us made us smile. We would love to help you with your family history chart as well. Take a look at our gallery for ideas and inspiration and then visit our website for a free consultation.  We want to help you create the perfect chart for your family.