ProGen Revisited

 

I've just made an 18 month commitment.  That's quite a statement for someone with a busy family life and hectic schedule like me.  But I think this commitment is going to be worth it.  I've joined the ProGen 14 study group.

ProGen is a study group of peers who read and discuss Professional Genealogy, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  The group helps genealogists prepare for doing professional quality research and many people take it as part of their preparation for certification.

The thing that is more curious is that this is not my first time around with the ProGen Study Group.  I was actually in the ProGen 2 group at the very beginning when they were still developing the program and working out all the kinks.

I loved the program then and the group of peers that I was studying with.  Unfortunately, just before the very end I had to drop out suddenly because of an unexpected family situation.  I've always felt bad about that.  Now that life has settled down a bit I'm ready to make the commitment to do it again.

I have no problem at all with repeating much of the program.  Somehow it seems appropriate.  I find that when I do genealogical research I often need to revisit my research a second time. When I do, I see things differently because of all that I have learned in the interim.  This happens so consistently with my research.  I am constantly learning so as a result I constantly revisit my previous work to see if I can re-analyze it or find new clues to obstacles.

I'm a bit of an organization geek.  I like to learn what makes organizations run smoothly and what makes them succeed.  So in addition to learning about professional genealogy, I will be interested to see how the program has grown over time into the successful program that it is now.

I can't wait to get started on Monday.  And I'm really looking forward to getting to know the folks in my group. I'm sure I'll be blogging a bit about it in the future so be on the lookout for more posts.