Tuesday, September 15, 2009

My First ProGen Chat

I had my first chat with my ProGen group yesterday and it was neat to learn more about the other members of my peer group.

In case you are unfamiliar with ProGen, check out the post entitled The ProGen Study Group - An Online Genealogy Opportunity written by Amy Coffin of We Tree for the GeneaBloggers site. Amy did a great job of summarizing the value of participating in ProGen even if you aren't seeking to be a certified genealogist. ProGen is a great way to learn proper research and source citation techniques which should be a goal of every family historian.

My peer group (ProGen groups are broken up into sub-groups so that chats and feedback are more manageable) didn't have an assignment to discuss so it was nice to just relax and discuss where we lived, our past genealogy experiences etc. We have a great group and I know when we meet next month we'll be discussing our first assignment.

Have you considered signing up for ProGen or pursuing some other type of online genealogy education? Share your goals and methods in the comments!

5 comments:

Lee said...

To clarify, ProGen was *never* intended to be a gateway into certification. ProGen was created with the up and coming professional genealogist in mind. While some folks may wish to be certified, others may not or may go the route of accreditation instead. If it has moved away from the original intent, I am not aware of it, and if it has then it is no longer the program I created and they need to change the name to reflect that.

Thomas MacEntee said...

Thanks Lee for the comment. I don't believe that ProGen has moved away from its original intent as you had created. I probably could have clarified my point better. For me, I am using my participation in ProGen as a gateway for certification - a way to immerse myself in the various practices and procedures. I will be pursuing other avenues for actual certification.

Lee said...

Thank you for the clarification, Thomas. I won't deny you had me worried there. :-) I had no choice but to step away from the program when I did, but I am still just as passionate about it today as I was the day I pitched the idea.

Thomas MacEntee said...

Lee

You should be very proud of your creation - I think the concept is super!

Lee said...

Thank you, Thomas! I am proud and I am proud of Angela for all she's done to make the program grow.