One of the many benefits of membership in Eastern Washington Genealogical Society is to receive (and part of the society's mission is to provide) genealogical education. Since January 2006, several members have taken turns in instructing classes on various computer- and Internet topics relating to genealogy, such as "The Boolean Method of Searching," "Using the GenSmarts Software," and "FindAGrave.com." We use our local library's computer lab which contains ten stations and an instructor's station with an overhead projector.
My friend and fellow EWGS member Ruby Simonson McNeill was the instructor for this month's computer class. Her topic was "State Archives," or more accurately, "Online Archives." Her syllabus is listed on her website (until June 30, 2007 only!) and from there we investigated links to a myriad of state, university, and regional archives. It truly is amazing what is out there on the Internet, and even for someone like myself who spends a lot of time online, it is good to have that sit-down time with a group to interact, share, and browse the web.
If your genealogical society is looking for a good educational program, I highly recommend something like this. We have had approximately eight people join our society in the last four months just because we offer these classes (visitors to our genealogy collection on the third floor of our main library branch see flyers announcing the classes).
