Scouting America Genealogy Merit Badge
I am working on getting my merit badge for genealogy. One of my requirements is to contact a genealogical or lineage society, a surname organization, or a genealogical record repository and report "what genealogical services, records, or activities this individual or institution provide." Can anyone help me?
Answers
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Would this be of help? It's the starting tutorial, pretty much.
Getting Started with FamilySearch: Create Trees & Find Resources
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@Jamie60801 Couple of thoughts for you if you are within U.S …
1. See if there is a FamilySearch Center or Affiliate location near you
2. Use the FamilySearch wiki. Navigate to your particular County and look under the Research Facilities subsection
3. Contact your County courthouse and ask about what records they hold and how you can visit. By being able to 'touch' actual genealogical records is pretty neat and it gives you an idea of where alot of the online records come from…
I'd opt for Number 3… Kind of like as a Cub Scout visiting the local fire department
Have Fun!
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@Jamie60801 Well, if I was your Merit Badge Counselor, I'd count contacting us here as fulfilling that requirement!
What can we do? Well, you've seen a couple examples above. Here on Community we answer questions!
What do we have available? Well, we have the whole FamilySearch Catalog; thousands and thousands of images of records from all over the world. Most are accessible through the internet! Some of those are indexed so you can type a name into the Search and find records about that person—usually a date and a place will help you narrow down to the right person! (Think about requirement #4.)
Some images are not yet indexed, but there is a new tool called Full Text Search that can actually read the handwriting (cursive!!! not just printed) and search records for your ancestors' names or other information.
We also have the Family Tree where you can enter your own and your ancestors' information in a connected tree format, saving your information for your children and grandchildren. (Use this for requirement #6. Information that you log for living people is only visible to you!) The Family Tree is a shared family tree, everyone works on it together, so it also makes it possible to connect with other family who might be researching on the same ancestor and share your work on that ancestor.
And if that isn't enough, we also have the FamilySearch Wiki which can help you locate the specific record sets that might have the particular information that you want. It has links to beginning research in countries all over the world and specific examples of what kinds of information is given in each of the record sets. There are links to handwriting examples and genealogical word lists that tell what common words appear in genealogical records all over the world.
If you'd like a little more personal help, you can reach out to one of the FamilySearch Centers that @Mark McKenzie_1 linked to in his message. There are folks in person at the FamilySearch Centers that can help you learn about genealogy and there are computers available for you to access all these wonderful resources.
You can even save pictures and audio clips to the Family Tree Memories! So have fun while you're at it and get whatever stories and pictures that you can from your parents and grandparents!
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@Jamie60801 Yes…. 'technically' it does but as you can tell I lean more towards a real word contact. When I have taken a group to the County Courthouse, both they and the staff, really get energized. Nothing quite like touching one of those 20 pound deed books and leafing thru the pages. Seeing the handwriting alone is worth the trip!
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@Jamie60801 I think recording your story is also important you may want to go to the page titled Record my Story It is a great place to learn some FamilySearch techniques. I would also go to the Get Involved page and see what you can do to assist the millions of people waiting to have their name double checked so they can be searched on-line.
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@Jamie60801 Kudo's to you! I use the local FamilySearch Center to digitize audio cassettes, VHS video tapes, reel to reel tapes, and 8mm movie film - old stuff my mother/father recorded telling family stories and making home family movies. It is all Free! And when done, you can finally listen to your ancester's voices and really see what they were like in the movies (not the AI generated stuff that is not real)!
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I suggest you take any opportunity to interview/record your own elderly relatives telling stories from their lives. We did this with my elderly aunt and have some fantastic stories - but we didn't get round to it with my grandfather, who would have had even better ones.
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@MandyShaw1 Actually, that is one of the several requirements for the Merit Badge and I personally think it is the BEST part of the whole process. Time is fleeting….
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I encourage the Scouts to visit one of our local public libraries. I point them to one that's close to their home that I know has helpful info and staff. They have a treasure trove of information and excited librarian/historians who love to share with the youth what they can find. To prove to me they visited, they share a selfie with the staff, the books, etc. They also have to report on what questions they asked and what kind of information they learned. I also ask them to report on stuff they thought was cool vs boring. So far, no one will share what was boring about their visit.
FWIW, I teach a group class at one of the yearly merit badge super saturdays type events. We have either 2 or 3 times in class with a few weeks in between for the scouts to work the requirements.
—a Genealogy Merit Badge Counselor
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