IGHR-Reflections

It has been a little over a week since I returned home from IGHR at Samford in Birmingham. Sadly, I haven't done as much writing as I would like. However, I have had time to reflect on what I learned. My expectations were met in the writing course. I expected to become a better writer. What little writing I have done has improved. The editing process I put my writing through is with a more critical eye. I have a better understanding of technical writing. Those numbers that you see when reading genealogical histories--well I know what those mean now.

What I didn't expect was to become a better critic. I participate in a study group that reads NGSQ articles, and meets online once a month to critique/discuss a specific article. I've noticed that I'm picking up details better when reading these articles. I dissect them better. Somehow it is a much more fluid process for me. This is a good thing and I'm excited about it.

Tomorrow both of my boys are at camp, and I will start writing a short biography on one of my ancestors. Sitting down with a blank screen is always a little daunting, but having a quiet house time limit will help motivate me. It will be the beginnings of a first draft, which means the end product may only have one sentence left untouched through my editing process.... maybe. I'll let you know.

IGHR-Day 5

Today was the last day of Samford and it was bitter sweet. Being around so many like minded people is thrilling. However, I don't think I could have kept up this pace of intensity for much longer.

Our first session today was with Craig R. Scott, President and CEO of Heritage Books. Craig is one of the leading publishers of genealogical literature. He presented A Strategy for Marketing Your Self-Published Materials. It was very interesting to hear Craig discuss the business aspect of writing and getting your product out there.

Our last two sessions were with Tom Jones, who presented Aesthetics of Writing. This lecture dealt with the layout of a page and how to make it visually appealing to the reader. He also covered the various rules of layout structure on a page. Then it was time for our certificates of completion. It was a proud moment for all of us, filled with a sense of accomplishment.

I am still in awe and somewhat humbled by my fellow classmates. Our class consisted of a Jean Thomason Scholarship award winner, 3 people who received awards from Elizabeth Shown Mills last night for their achievement in her class last year, editors, published NGSQ writers, and others who have numerous achievements. To be in their presence was inspiring and educational. I look forward to seeing them again next year.

IGHR-Day 4

Today has been a wonderful day. With the homework assignments behind us, we were a very relaxed and happy group. Although one could also say that we were all so exhausted from staying up late doing the assignments, that we were a little "slap-happy." Never-the-less we reviewed our homework with anticipation and I was very pleased with the outcome. It wasn't perfect (I didn't expect it to be) but it was close enough on point that I felt it was respectable. Phew!

After reviewing the homework Tom Jones presented, Writing Articles for Publicaton. He discussed different journals to submit work to on a national, state, regional, and local level. Each publication has its own focus of interest. He advised to review the journal before blindly submitting your work, to make sure it is a good fit. There was a lively discussion regarding genealogical societies needing and wanting article submissions. Write your family history and submit it!!

The next two sessions were presented by John Colletta, From Proposal to Product: Working with a Genealogical Publisher, and Writing a Narrative Family History: The Challenges, Pitfalls and Rewards.  John did not disappoint. His lectures are informative and entertaining. I would tell you more, but he swore us to secrecy. You'll just have to take this course and see for yourself.

Our last session for the day was presented by Elissa Scalise Powell, Using Micorsoft Word As A Writing Tool. This was very helpful for me. I'm not very technically inclined and now I have some instructions to take home with me to help.

Finally tonight was the banquet night. We all got to dress up, and have conversations without the looming pressure of homework. I was very lucky to sit across from Tom Jones, learn more about him and be inspired. The speaker tonight was David E. Rencher and he was very entertaining. David shared his adventures and misadventures in his genealogical work. Trying to track down ancestors for years with no luck, only to come across information by chance while researching another line. Kismet. Synchronicity. Whatever it is, it is part of what fuels us as genealogist. The thrill of the find.

IGHR-Day 3

Today was by far the toughest day yet. The morning started out pleasant though. Our first lecture was given by Elissa Scalise Powell on Compiling Source Materials For Publication. The point being that your writing needs to be presented in a way that is clear and makes sense to the reader.

John Colletta took over for the next session, Principles of Good Writing and Good Storytelling. I can't think of anybody who is more capable of giving a lecture on this topic. He doesn't focus as much on giving technical writing advice, but just as important is breathing life into the story. Making it engaging for the reader.

Then the afternoon sessions. We had back to back sessions with Tom Jones about Organizing Your Ancestors in Genealogical Formats. My head was spinning afterwards and I'm not sure it has stopped. Tom showed us how to use the genealogical superscript, the NGSQ format and the Register format. Whenever you read a genealogical piece of writing and you see all of those tiny numbers between names, then numbers and roman numerals next to names -- that is what he taught us. I don't think anybody was disappointed to see this particular session end.

After dinner I attended an evening lecture given by Paul Milner called Genealogical Wikis: A Personal and Customizable Research Tool. This lecture was enjoyable just to listen to Paul's Scottish brogue. In this lovely brogue he discussed the FamilySearch Wiki, Ancestry.com Wiki, WeRelate, and a few others.

Finally time for the homework. I buddied up with a fellow classmate (two tired brains are better than one) and we muddled through it together. We spent hours hashing out this assignment in the library and I think we have something that we won't be embarrassed about tomorrow. Now I'm off to get six hours of sleep and start this whole crazy process over tomorrow.

IGHR-Day 2

This morning in class we got right down to business with a review/discussion on the citation homework. I am happy to say that I did okay, which makes me pleased. The rest of the morning and a portion of the afternoon Tom gave lectures on Creating Prose, Analytical Writing and Editing Yourself. Some of this brought back memories of high school English and sentence diagrams. I suppose it sounds rather dry and possibly boring. However, technical writing is, well...technical. It doesn't include flowery prose that is poetic.

By the afternoon break I think we were all a bit cross eyed. Fortunately, John Colletta was our next speaker. His lecture was Turning Biographical Facts Into Real Life Events: How to Build Historical Context. John is a theatrical presenter and injects a lot of humor into his talks. I've always heard glowing reviews of his lectures and I agree that if you have the opportunity to see him, go!

I didn't attend the evening lectures tonight. Instead I went to the library and did some research on my Kirby line. I didn't have much success. Argh. So it was back to the dorm to work on my homework. Tonight's assignment was to edit a 500 word piece of my own writing. I started out with 524 words (sshh...don't tell) and managed to get it down to 278 words. I hope it still makes sense and isn't completely awful. I'll find out tomorrow.

With my remaining time tonight, I'll try to get a jump on tomorrow night's homework. It looks long, complicated, and I've already heard horror stories about this assignment. Then I will set my alarm for 6:15 a.m. and try to get some sleep.

IGHR-Day 1

On Sunday I drove down to Birmingham, which was an uneventful and pleasant drive. Once here I went through the whole registration and checking in routine. This always takes longer than I think it will. The exciting part of the day was attending the ProGen study group gathering. I met Angela McGhie who coordinates and runs the whole program, and one of my fellow group members.

Today, Monday, was sunny bright and hot. Tom Jones' writing class started at 8:00 a.m. and the theme for today was footnotes. Perhaps not a scintillating topic for some, but it is very important to genealogical writing. The point being if I cite my sources properly and well, five generations from now my descendants will not have to do the amount of work that I currently am.

We also had a session from Elissa Scalise Powell called Write As You Go! The premise of this session was not to wait until you have completed your research to write it up, do it along the way. This is a weak area for me and one that I really must focus on in the future. After all, the notebooks, binders, and file folders will mean nothing unless I put it all together in a narrative format. Write your family history!!

Finally, we got to the portion of the day regarding homework. The assignment tonight is time consuming and hair pulling. We have ten sources that we need to write 3 different types of citations for... each.  Technically that is 30 citations. From what I understand this isn't even the heavy homework night. Yikes!

The highlight of my day was having dinner with Dear Myrtle. I really enjoy reading her blog and it was such a pleasure to meet her. I'm still excited about it! I wish I could have talked to her more, but we were all attending the evening lecture on Google Earth, presented by Rick Sayre and Pamela Boyer Sayre. This lecture was amazing! They showed how to take old maps (such as Sanborn Maps) from the 1800s and overlay them onto Google Earth. By doing this, you are able to compare the property your ancestor lived on back in the day, to present times. It was pretty cool.

Overall, a very full first day. Now I have to tackle my homework and somehow get enough sleep to pay attention for tomorrow. Oh boy.

Samford, Here I Come!

I've been preparing this whole week for IGHR, held in Birmingham, Alabama. The Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR) is held at Samford University every year in June, otherwise known in my house as Genealogy Camp. There are ten different courses offered and I was lucky enough to get into Tom Jones' writing class. I am very excited about this. However, my week has been somewhat chaotic. Summer camps for my two boys are in full swing, so I have been shuttling them around, and prepping the house for my departure.

I'm staying in the dorms, so my list of things to pack is lengthy, and there is a growing pile of items being collected from around the house. My husband is a good sport about this collection and doesn't say too much other than to make an occasional observation of said items, some of which have been pilfered from my sons. Other preparations have been to have on hand a 500 word writing sample of my own (check!), pre-read two articles written by Tom Jones (check!), and prepare for my own personal research at the Samford library (in progress).

The branch that I am focusing on during this trip will be the Kirby line. Delila Caroline Kirby was born 6 August 1838 in Birmingham, Alabama. She is my gggg grandmother. There have always been rumors about this line having Cherokee Indian connections to it. My mother remembers hearing whispered conversations about it as a child. Various people descending from this line, that have never met, also say there is a Cherokee link. None of us have been able to prove it. Maybe it is true and maybe it isn't. This is not an uncommon rumor for families to have in their oral traditions. My goal is much more simple, or at least it would seem to be. I want to find primary evidence of who Delila's parents are. By the 1850 census Delila is living with her older brother George W. Kirby age 22, and other siblings. Presumably their parents are dead. What happened to them you may be asking? I have no idea. Another mystery in this line to figure out. Hopefully the Genealogy Gods will smile down upon me in Birmingham, and I'll get some answers.

Meanwhile, I'm off to the grocery store to stock up the house, type up my two boys' itineraries for the week, do laundry, and finish up my packing. Samford, here I come!!