Fall 2026 Virtual Putting Skills to Work
The BCG Education Fund is pleased to announce our Fall 2026 Putting Skills to Work event which will be held virtually over Zoom.
Research Planning Essentials: A Workshop
INSTRUCTOR: GARY L. BALL-KIILBOURNE, PhD, CG®, CGL®
INSTRUCTOR BIO
Gary L. Ball-Kilbourne, PhD, CG®, CGL®, is a researcher, author, and educator. He is a trustee and the secretary of the Board for Certification of Genealogists and serves as the editor of BCG’s publication, OnBoard. He was on the faculty for the genealogical courses offered online by Boston University and has taught at SLIG and GRIP. He holds a PhD in religion and ethics from Vanderbilt University. Gary lives in Fargo, North Dakota.
Detailed Workshop Description:
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.”
–Yogi Berra, When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball’s Greatest Heroes (Hyperion, 2001), p. 53
The first thing you need to succeed in genealogical research is a good plan. And the first thing you need for a good plan is a good question. In this workshop—Research Planning Essentials—you will learn how to develop a success-building research plan from start to finish. In one afternoon, you will encounter segments focusing on:
- Why Research Fails
- Anatomy of Sound Research Planning
- Skills for Effective and Efficient Research Planning
- Guided Practice and Feedback in Research Planning
This workshop will prove particularly helpful to aspiring genealogists considering or preparing an application for the Certified Genealogist® credential with the Board for Certification of Genealogists. It will provide insights and hands-on practice with skills necessary in the planning of several types of genealogy research projects and work products.
Recommended Preparation:
- Read Board for Certification of Genealogists, Genealogy Standards, second edition revised (Ancestry.com, 2021), pp. 11–15. (Genealogy Standards 9–18).
- Bring to the workshop: One research objective on which to practice. (Be sure to avoid any research objectives that you might want to involve in a CG certification application portfolio.)
Workshop Details:
To accommodate busy schedules, one three-and-one-half hour workshop will be held virtually on two different dates: Thursday, 12 November 2026, 1:00 pm, and Saturday, 14 November 2026, 1:00 pm. Times are U.S. eastern time zone.
Registration will open in September. Attendance for each workshop is capped at 30 attendees. The event will not be recorded.