Teach to Learn

-

Courtesy of Brett Jordan, via Flikr



WiredAlexandria, CC BY-SA 4.0

Have you ever heard that "if you really want to learn something, teach it to someone else"? I have, and have found it true. Mothering taught me that, for sure! 

I was lucky enough to attend the University of Washington for a year, and while there the most valuable concept I adopted was joining some study groups. This has lots of advantages, the biggest being that all participants want to be there, are pushing themselves to learn difficult concepts, ideas or skills, and are willing to both study and help others. 

I've found our special interest groups and study groups inspirational for the same reason. People attend because they want to learn more about how to use DNA in their family history research, or how to use new website features or applications, how to write useful citations, how to research like the professionals do, and more!

But most valuable of all, I see participants stepping up to demonstrate both how they successfully do something, or even better, the problem they are having, so that others can help them. This requires being secure enough to admit to needing help, which can be a skill in itself, and also provides others in the group the opportunity to help out. It always feels great to help - and to be helped, too.

Join TUG: https://skcgs.groups.io/g/TUG

Years ago, SKCGS started a group for the newest tech - computers! Back then, genealogists did their research in archives, libraries or by letter. Computers, even before the "World Wide Web" as it was called, could be used for communication, if it had a modem and a phone line, and some data retrieval and storage. Now our Computer User Group has morphed into the Technology User Group, TUG for short, and we have a great time exploring all aspects of tech that can further our research. Join at https://skcgs.groups.io/g/TUG. Some of our other groups below, at https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Society/subgroups


Our Family History Writing group is email-only, so far, and all the groups can be used that way if you can't attend the Zoom meetings. Please feel free to ask the "dumb" questions everyone else is too shy to ask! Remember, you will be giving someone else a chance to learn by teaching. And one of these days, you will know the answer to a beginner question, and get your own chance to learn by teaching too.


When you teach, you learn.


Editor's note: Another excellent opportunity for learning is manning a "Genealogy Help Desk" at a local library. Pre-Covid, we presented monthly help desks at Burien and Covington branches of King County Library System as well as the Auburn branch where our reference collection is located.

Help desk work is fun and rewarding; you meet very interesting people with research questions different from your own.  If you are new to genealogy, consider partnering with a more experienced member.

We have been able to re-establish a monthly desk at Auburn and have recently received requests for beginning genealogy at other south county libraries.  Watch for more announcements in the near future!


Valorie Zimmerman



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int
Read more