<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16890" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Excellent point, Barbara.  We need the wisdom of those who have worked the area and are familiar with the records, and that often is not to be found outside the knowledge of experienced researchers - which makes the national conferences tremendous resources.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>While it may be true that there are very few topics on which volumes have not been written and people have wonderful opportunities for self-education, it is often preferable to sit in classes and actually hear the speaker's perspective.  It provides another exposure and often a new viewpoint.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>It goes without saying, of course, that the lecturers should be carefully selected based on their presentation skills, teaching ability, knowledge, and experience.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Wanda Samek</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=660040117-02102009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> apgpubliclist-bounces@apgen.org [mailto:apgpubliclist-bounces@apgen.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Barbara Vines Little, CG<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, October 02, 2009 11:27 AM<BR><B>Cc:</B> apgpubliclist@apgen.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [APG Public List] National Genealogical Meetings<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>I'm curious. Just how many lectures at the national level cover material easily found in a book (or even books)?<BR><BR>Many (perhaps even most) of these lecturers bring a perspective  to the records  about  which they are speaking based upon  hundreds of hours of work in the records. They know the history, the quirks, what's missing, what the records can and cannot tell you, what access points are helpful or whether there are any. With the possible exception of North Carolina, I don't know of a state that has such a published resource. Nor do I think that you will find a book(s) that will provide the in depth knowledge of NARA military records of a Mechiori or a Scott (or Bettag on federal land records). And, if you listen carefully, you will also learn something about research techniques in the process. <PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">Barbara Vines Little, CG Dominion Research Services PO Box 1273 Orange, VA 22960 540-832-3473 <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:bvlittle@earthlink.net">bvlittle@earthlink.net</A> CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board-certified genealogists after periodic evaluation; the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. </PRE><BR><BR><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:PLHGenealogy@gmail.com">PLHGenealogy@gmail.com</A> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:000e0cd242809d90610474f59f7f@google.com type="cite">I agree with Jay that I'm much more interested in hearing problem solving scenarios than in attending lectures that give content easily found in books. I would love to see the type of situation Suzie has told about. I think it's safe to say that something like that would take more than one conference session.:-)<BR><BR>Patti <PRE wrap=""><HR width="90%" SIZE=4> _______________________________________________ APG Public Mailing List <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/">http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/</A> </PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>