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 b...

Developing Foresight and Creativity I'm reading a thought-provoking book called The Rise of the Creative Class: Revisited by Richard Florida [1]. How does this relate to genealogy and family history? Think of how much our field has changed in the past few years, and even more in our lifetimes. These immense changes, from microfilm and copy machines to online records and virtual meetings, are the result of creativity in action.  When I attended the NGS (National Genealogical Society) Conference in Sacramento last spring, genealogy society delegates met in person for the first time, and spent a morning discussing and learning how to practice foresight . Not predicting the future, but instead, thinking with the future, to better prepare our selves and our societies for the changes that are coming. Did any of us, on New Year's Day 2020 see what was coming and how it would change all our lives?   Many public health experts all around the world had been worried even before Co...