Utilizing My Membership with NGS

I previously wrote a post on joining a genealogical society. The one I have joined that I get the most out of is my membership to NGS, or the National Genealogical Society. Based in Falls Church, Virginia, NGS has been around for 119 years. In the past few years, they have combined with the Federation of Genealogical Societies, where they assist local genealogical societies as a part of their mission

Membership

If you feel you want to join NGS, click here to go to their membership page. As part of your subscription, you receive the NGS Magazine that is filled with an abundance of great articles and often relays information about the upcoming NGS Conference, stories about the area where it is taking place, and food for thought on types of documents where you might find your ancestors living or working.

The other periodical you receive is the National Genealogical Quarterly, which presents members cases about how they have proved they are related to their people. It’s always informative as it could give you an idea on how to go about your own brick wall in your own family tree.

There is also a monthly email which provide you with articles pertaining to methodology and news dealing with genealogy.

Education

Were you aware that there are classes you can take if you have a membership to the National Genealogical Society? You can, and some are FREE! (Yes, it’s my favorite word again). Others do have a fee, but those are for more advanced learning or in regard to a specific topic. (If you do not want to join some of these courses are offered at a higher price to non-members).

I am presently working my way through the Foundations 101 course offered by NGS on the basics of genealogy. There are 5 modules detailing Getting Started, Home Sources, Family Stories, Traditions, and Interviews, Names & Establishing Identities, and lastly the Research Plan. Once completed I will move on to Foundations 201. You can purchase these classes individually or bundled together.

Books

The National Genealogical Society has published a number of books to help researchers find the members of their family tree. From beginner books such as “Paths to Your Past, An Introductory to Finding Your Ancestors” to books that deal with advanced topics like “Genetic Genealogy in Practice” or “Mastering Genealogical Proof” or “Genealogy and the Law”, NGS offers a variety of educational books to help you succeed with your research.

Forum

Forum is a newer feature to the NGS website. It is an interactive community for individual members, society, library, archive, and museum delegates, while they also have another area pertaining for NGS committees and workgroups. In order to use Forum there is an entire page of faqs detailing your username and password, how to update/create a profile, how to make contacts and connections, and how to join and subscribe to communities.

It is highly stressed that Forum is to be a safe place for members. And you must be an NGS member to participate. They have different communities relating to the NGS Conference, methodology and best practices, another specifically for Family History Month, and lastly one for societies and organizations. Once you join a community you can receive email’s relating to the current material in updates as it happens or a daily digest.

Conference

Each year the National Genealogical Society has a conference that is hosted by a different area of the country. Since I’ve been a member of NGS their conference has been in St. Charles, Missouri, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sacramento, California, and next year will be in Richmond, Virginia.

Each conference has a theme and respected speakers who share their knowledge with diverse programming. With the merger of NGS and the Federation of Genealogical Societies they now have a dedicated day to SLAM (Societies, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) and how to grow and maintain these essential organizations.

In recent years NGS has had both in-person and virtual offerings for their conference, and an “on demand” package can be purchased to view classes at your leisure once the conference has ended.

In Summary

As you can see the National Genealogical Society has a lot to offer individuals and organizations in their pursuit of their ancestry. If you have never checked out the website, I encourage you to do so, as I really feel I get a great deal out of my membership each year, between the publications, the emails, and the educational opportunities that the society provides.