Genealogically Busy

I don't have time to write a typical blog post this week. Life is just so busy. Too busy. But that doesn't mean I have not been actively involved in genealogy stuff. This is what I have been working on genealogically speaking:

1. Teaching - I’ve been teaching a weekly 90-minute continuing education class for a dozen retirees. They’re a great group. We’ve just passed the halfway point, so tonight we’ll have an in-depth check-in to see how they’re feeling about their progress.

2. Prepping to Teach - I’m scheduled to teach my summer graduate course in genealogy again this year. I’ve been updating the readings and lining up guest speakers, and I’ve now reached the stage of reviewing past course videos to decide which need to be re-recorded and which can be reused. Recording videos takes a lot of time.

3. Clients - I’ve been working long-term with a few individuals on their research, both family tree building and DNA analysis. Lately, we’ve been meeting less frequently, as their projects have reached a point where there’s relatively little left to uncover.

4. Friends - Recently a few friends have reached out for help with their genealogy. They have sort of filled in the gaps created by the lack of new discoveries for long-term clients.

5. Family - I have been in touch with a few of my new DNA matches and have been actively sharing family stores and photos with them. 

6. Library Programs - Although I’ve scaled these back recently, a former student invited me to give a presentation tied to America’s 250th anniversary. In May, I’ll be speaking on “Finding Where Your Family Fits into America’s Fight for Independence.” It’s a brand-new topic for me, so I’ve had to build the presentation from scratch, which has required a significant amount of research.

7. Conference Presentations - I’m honored to have been invited to participate in this year’s National Genealogical Society Family History Conference (NGS 2026), taking place May 27–30 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

I originally applied to speak because a former student is now a genealogy librarian at the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center near where this is happening, and my proposal was accepted, so I'm going! 

I’ll be presenting on the final day, Saturday, May 30. My spotlight talk called, “From Broken to Belonging: Replacing Victor’s Headstone Reconnected My Family,” which focuses on my pandemic project to replace my third great-grandfather’s headstone.

I was also invited to open FOCUS Day, the preconference event formerly known as Librarians’ Day. For the FOCUS Welcome and Opening Session, I’ll be presenting “Critical Thinking and Empathy: Preparing Librarians to Meet Genealogy Patrons’ Needs,” a topic that draws on the material I teach in my summer graduate course for St. John’s University. I really also want to gain some insight from attendees as to what they want their future colleagues to know about and be prepared to face.

So yeah, I'm not exactly sleeping on the job but I am not feeling especially inspired to blog this week. I'm hoping something will present itself as a good topic to explore and report on next week. Please stay tuned...