I have lots and lots of books to tell you about in this new WIFFAC but I think we'll start with the ones I found furthest back--at
Who Do You Think You Are Live. Even though the world has shrunk so much with the advent of the internet, I'm amazed at how much we don't know about genealogists and genealogy resources in other parts of the world. Even going through the British course at SLIG, I was again blown away by all the resources at WDYTYAL which I never would have known about.
The first set of books that are such great resources are put out by the Society of Genealogists in London. Among other publications, they have the "My Ancestor Series" that is fantastic.
My Ancestor was an Agricultural Labourer by Ian Waller
My Ancestor was an Anglican Clergyman by Peter Towey
My Ancestor was an Apprentice by Stuart Raymond
My Ancestor was a Bastard by Ruth Paley
My Ancestor was in the British Army by Christopher and Michael Watts
My Ancestor Settled in the British West Indies by John Titford
My Ancestor was a Coleminer by David Tonks
My Ancestors were Congregationalists by DJH Clifford
My Ancestors were English Presbyterians or Unitarians by Alan Rustin
My Ancestor was a Fremason by Pat Lewis
My Ancestors were Gypsies by Sharon Silers Floate
My Ancestors were Jewish by Anthony Joseph
My Ancestor was a Lawyer by Brian Brooks and Mark Herber
My Ancestors were Londeners by Cliff Webb
My Ancestor was a Merchant Seaman by Christopher and Michael Watts
My Ancestor was a Mormon by Ian Waller
My Ancestor was a Railway Worker by Frank Hardy
My Ancestor was a Royal Marine by Ken Divall
My Ancestor was in Service by Pamela Horn
My Ancestor was a Studio Photographer by Robert Pols
My Ancestor worked in the Theatre by Alan Ruston
My Ancestors were Thames Watermen by James W Legon
How to get the most from Family Pictures by Jane Shrimpton
Tracing Births, Deaths, and Marriages at Sea by Christopher and Michael Watts.
Go to
http://www.sog.org.uk and take a look at these and all of the other books around. There is some fantastic research help there.
There was also another bookseller that made me wish I could take home suitcase after suitcase of books. Pen and Sword had so many British History books and they were all so detailed. Book after book of resources that you don't see at home such as:
Jewish Lives by Melody Amsel-Arieli
How Our Ancestors Died by Simon Wills
Tracing Your Irish Family History On The Internet by Chris Paton
Tracing Your House Hisotyr by Gill Blanchard
Air Force Lives by Phil Tomaselli
Tracing Your West Country Ancestors by Kristy Gray
Tracing Your Ancestors Through Death Records by Celia Heritage
Tracing Your First World War Ancestors by Simon Fowler
Tracing Your Royal Marine Ancestors by Richard Brooks and Matthew Little
Tracing Your Army Ancestors by Simon Fowler
Tracing Your Aristocratic Ancestors by Anthony Adolph
Tracing Your Lancashire Ancestors by Sue Wilkes
The Wills of Our Ancestors by Stuart Raymond
Tracing Your Merchant Navy Ancestors by Simon Wills
Birth, Marriage and Death Records by David Annal and Audrey Collins
Tracing Your Ancestors From 1066 to 1837 by Jonathan Oates
Tracing Your Service Women Ancestors by Mary Ingham.
And there are several dozen more at
http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk.
So if you have British ancestors, you'll want to take a look at the offerings from these two booksellers. There is fantastic stuff on all the details of your ancestor's lives. Enjoy.
Some of the country’s best genealogical educators are gathering to help you gain expertise in a flash at the Utah Genealogy Association’s Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, held 13-17 Jan 2014 in Salt Lake City. If you are looking for advanced skills, you can’t afford to miss this wonderful opportunity to learn from the professionals. Students are welcome to bring their own research projects and brick wall problems to work on during the week. Small classes and hands-on research with convenient access to Salt Lake City’s Family History Library guarantees that each attendee will receive excellent training to become a better genealogist.
So at 12:30 and 1:30 you'll know where to be to get the best ideas at NGS!
This piece of Royal Doulton china is indeed precious to me. This teacup was part of a set owned by my great-great-grandmother Ethel Amelia Williams Schwendiman She was born on the 15 February 1880 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She had a set of Royal Doulton that was separated upon her passing and each of her grand-daughters got a piece. When I married, my mother passed this teacup down to me and I keep it in my china cabinet along with the rose painting by my great-aunt Bernice Houser.
I don't remember Grandma Schwendiman but as you can see I did meet her when I was a little girl. In this photo my mother is holding me and my grandmother Eila Dana is with us as well. Missing is my great-grandmother Viola Thomas. These are the women of my matriarchal line, my mother, her mother, her mother (missing from the picture), and her mother. I don't remember Grandma Schwendiman but millions of little pieces of my family come from her--from her faith and work ethic to her recipes and traditions. Just like I talk about in my new book Zap The Grandma Gap, whether or not I recognize all the little pieces of me that come from Grandma Schwendiman, they are there. She is part of the nature and the nurture that has created who I am. And the little piece of her that I have in this teacup is precious to me. 
I took Dad out to my favorite place, the Somerset Heritage Centre and he agreed to be my assistant for some research there for a couple of days. The people there were so kind and generous to us. Phil Hawking was very attentive when we had questions and did lots of work to help us uncover more information about our ancestors. We came home with scores of images that I now get to go through. When Dad's grandfather first wrote the Vicar in Bradford on Tone around the turn of the century and the Vicar started sending him information about his family from the parish records there, he wrote that a "most enjoyable pastime" ensued as he tried to piece together the records of his family. I know just how that must have felt. 
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We've had such a wonderful response to the release of our first book.
Comments like "overflowing with valuable ideas and suggestions" and
"must-read for everyone who treasures family history" have been really
gratifying. This is the book that will finally help you involve your
family in their family history. 
We know these books will help you leave a strong and stable heritage
for the next generations in your family. We're excited to show you a 24 page excerpt of the new workbook.
With over 100 pages of amazing ideas and resources, the workbook will
really get the ideas flowing about what will work with your family. A 28 page excerpt of the book are on the website as well. Take a look. They are guaranteed to get ideas flowing about what will work with your family.
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. 
