GENEALOGY AND HISTORY

Wrap-Up on the Fall Semester of 2008

I have just finished reading the portfolio’s for Genealogy and History and, as usual, it is one of the more fun grading experiences of the academic year.  For the most part, you did a good job.  I am certain that most of you are aware, if only in retrospect, that what might have seemed at first a fairly simple task—i.e. writing about your family—is really a difficult and challenging process.

A.  Grades

Most of the grades were either A’s or solid B’s, including two A+’s (oh giver of light and Pocahantas descendant!)

Only a couple of grades were lower than B, in each case, this was a result of some combination of the following factors:

1.  Inadequate research

2.  Poor Attendance

3.  Sloppiness in the portfolio (for example, sloppy pedigree charts due to the non-use of a genealogical software program)

4.  Lateness in submitting the portfolio.

In terms of submission, I gave you until Friday to get the portfolio in.  That represented an extension of four days from the original due date.  Anything submitted after that was penalized for lateness; no excuses accepted.  The later the submission, the greater the penalty.  Remember, you had all semester to work on this project.

B.  Problems with the portfolios

Notes:

The single worst mistake that ran through most of the papers, including even many of the best ones, was a failure to footnote adequately.   Clearly, I did not place enough emphasis on this aspect of genealogy, even though its importance ran through both my lectures and the video material shown in class.  (Don’t you remember Irene and Tony stressing this?!)

During the semester, many of you complained about the lack of verification accompanying those family trees posted on the web and asked whether or not you could trust them.  Apparently, you did not make the connection that failing to give clear source references in your own work was a very similar dereliction of genealogical duty. 

Some of you who failed to footnote/endnote, at least gave an indication in the text where the information came from.  That is not, however, adequate.  It is not enough to simply state in the text that such and such is based on the 1870 census.  You must have a footnote/endnote to show the reader exactly where in the 1870 census the information appears and through what source you tracked it down (for example, Ancestry.com or the National Archives site).

A number of you mentioned creating a genealogical website.  If you do so, which I strongly encourage, first go back and fill in those needed notes.  As a rule of thumb, every page of a research paper should have 4-5 notes; hence 60-75 in a 15 page paper.

Organization and Writing Clarity:

Another key problem had to do with organizing your material.  Many of you who did a good job gathering information about your families to a greater or lesser extent dropped the ball when it came to this important feature of research.  Admittedly, here too I share a large share of responsibility, the result of my not having given you greater guidance on how best to organize such an inchoate task.

There is a general rule that governs all writing:  “It is not worth doing if nobody will read what you write.”  This was a problem that affected many of you.  Even though you have an audience with a ready made interest in your subject (to wit, your family), you should not burden family members with confusing or boring writing.  Most of you need to go back and rethink parts of your presentation.

C.  Future Changes in the course

This year was my second time through the course.  And I suspect it will be the most valuable in suggesting changes I need to make in how I teach it.  The following are some of my ideas:

The DVD Ancestors:  The Research Process from the BYU series Ancestors will not be shown again as part of the class.  It is, as several of you said (quite correctly), tedious.  It is too bad because it does give people who are new to genealogy a good grounding in the subject.  Were one able to excise the endless repetition and summarizing, as well as several outdated parts, it would be a useful teaching tool.  

I shall lay out how to organize the paper and portfolio much more clearly than I have done before, in order to make both your task and mine easier.

Far greater stress will be placed on using footnotes/endnotes as part of the research process.  I shall expand the part of my website dealing with historical notation and early in the course devote an hour or so to dealing with the topic.  Finally, I shall make future A grades dependent upon having adequate notes to the paper.

I shall give a specific, systematic lecture on the best documentary repositories for doing genealogy, in particular, the LDS Library and the National Archives, but others as well, telling what can be found in each  This will help make up for dropping The Research Process from the required viewing.

I shall add as a requirement to the course that students visit the Austin Family History Center at least once in the semester.

I shall create a section of the website specifying the best places in and around Austin to find genealogical material, in particular those at the University of Texas that several of you used in your research.

I shall bring in material concerning genetic genealogy, explaining what it can and cannot tell us.  Included in this, I shall have myself tested over the Winter Holidays.

With Warm Regards and Best Wishes for a Fine Holiday Season

Dr. V