To The SLIG Fairy Godmother

Christy Fillerup,  who is the Head Honchess of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy,  announced that they were having a contest for bloggers and the prize is a waiver of the tuition for the upcoming SLIG 2012.

Like so many of you, I have to watch my spending. The way the economy has affected the budget at  Camp Fenley, I am  left with only being able to attend one big event per year.   However, if the SLIG Fairy Godmother shakes her wand at me and some magic dust comes pouring out giving me the opportunity to attend tuition free, then I will find a way to make an airline ticket and hotel reservations appear.

I almost did not enter this contest because I didn't know what to say that hasn't already been said.  But here it is - 30 minutes until the deadline and I have had an epiphany!

For the last month I have been stripping 12 layers of paint off newly found doors for my kitchen cabinets.  There were none when we moved in 3 years ago, or so I thought.  I found them in our newly discovered basement.  Remind me to tell you that story sometime!

Anyhoo, I have come to the realization that whoever said  "the right tool for the job  makes all the difference in the world" wasn't just blowing smoke up my skirt.  The 12 layers of paint were layered like strata - an oil-based olive green, then a water based brown, then another oil based robin's egg blue and so on and so on. So I had to use a combination of chemical strippers and constantly change the blades in the scraper.

Well, I think that SLIG is a tool for the professional genealogist.  If I were to attend, my research skills and knowledge of the holdings in the Family History Library would get the workout I need in this area of my skill sets.  At a first and quick glance, the courses seemed to be like ones offered at IGHR however after looking closer, I was wrong to make that assumption.

There is one course in particular that I am dying to take:


COURSE 10:  Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum


I have never seen a course like this offered anywhere.  As one might expect, the course was filled practically overnight.  But there is a waiting list and if I were going, I would add my name to the list.This hands-on course is an opportunity for advanced genealogists to put their research skills into practice. Participants will work on at least five complex genealogical research problems—a new one each day. Each case will require careful evidence evaluation and/or additional research to solve. The objective is to give each student experience in conducting research on complex problems, analyzing and correlating evidence, and reaching conclusions. The research problems will be varied, offering students the challenge of stretching their mind and skills in directions that their research may not normally take them.

Another choice :


COURSE 9:  Advanced Genealogical Methods


Students in “Advanced Genealogical Methods” will learn how to use and assemble evidence to rediscover ancestral origins, identities, and relationships that have been forgotten in the passage of time. The course will address advanced use of evidence from a variety of genealogical records and research in populations for which the usual records are in short supply (including female, enslaved, and impoverished ancestors). Students also will learn how to develop written proof summaries to show their conclusions’ accuracy and create a credible record of their findings for present and future generations of family historians.


Tom Jones is the instructor for this course and I am sure that this class is not for sissies.


One final choice I would make would be:


COURSE 7:  Principles of Effective Genealogical Librarianship

Now I know what you are thinking, "Sheri, you are not a librarian."  No I'm not but taking this course would educate me in the ways of those magical people and their secret coded language and the hidden rooms where they keep all the good stuff!  (Our librarian here in Stockton thinks she is a Harry Potter character so I have learned to humor her)

So with 5 minutes to spare, here SLIG Fairy Godmother is my entry to the contest.  The End.

UPDATE:  Congratulations to Annaleise Taylor Dearinger who has won the contest.