One of the best things about my affiliation with the Utah Genealogical Association comes this time every year. It has been another wonderful week at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. This is such a fantastic program for really digging in deep to learn all that you can about your family history.The country’s best genealogical educators--the rock stars of genealogy--gather to help you gain expertise in an amazing condensed format and in a fantastic venue. It is the most wonderful way to get intense genealogy education and experience. Different than a regular genealogy conference where you take one hour classes on a multitude of subjects, SLIG is an institute where you take 20 hours of in depth instruction on one topic, such as Advanced Methodologies, Researching in Washington DC, How to Write a Compelling Personal History, Advanced German, etc.
This year I've been taking the British Records course "Researching your British Ancestors: Beyond the Parish Registry." We've learned about everything from court and land records to the East India Company and Non Conformist church records. Apryl Cox, Barbara Baker, John Kitzmiller and Alan Mann have done such a fantastic job I've even loved the classes that haven't directly related to my British ancestors. I've learned alot that I'm going to put into practice when I go back to Who Do You Think You Are Live next month and head back out to the Somerset Record Office. I have all sorts of ideas about what I want to get done before I go and what I'm looking for once I get there. I've learned so much it is hard to sit still in class. You want to be trying out all these great new ideas. 
That's why it is brilliant that institute is so close to the library. There are so many things that I would have loved to have run over and tried out, but it was not to be this year. I have been needed at home for various things and my family needed to come first this year since I am traveling so much this spring. But I'm sure I'll be a SLIG attendee for life. I'll be there for many years to come and I'll have lots of opportunities to utilize the library to solidify my SLIG knowledge in the future. And best of all I'll get to see all my great friends that are all Institute junkies too. Everybody always makes good new friends at SLIG. The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy was established in 1996 by the Utah Genealogical Association, and has become one of the premier genealogy education experiences in the country. Classes are taught in the mornings and finish in the afternoons leaving time for research at the Family History Library. A dozen or so optional evening classes round out the offerings providing a deep educational experience in only five days. Evening Classes are included for conference participants but also available to the public for $10 per class. So, if you aren’t able to come during the day, evening classes provide a great option for learning the latest techniques in a quick and easy format.
The new classes for next year will be announced at the final banquet tomorrow night. You can watch for them on the UGA blog. The hard part is just going to be which one to choose. Registration opens the first week of June. I'm glad I've got until then to decide. Congratulations to Christy Fillerup and her fantastic team, Kimberly Powell, Luana Wentz Darby, Bret Petersen, Peg A Ivanyo, Sherry Stevens, Jill Woodbury, and Valerie Hansen for having everything running so smoothly.
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