The Villages Genealogical Society

Best Practices SIG

 
General Information
 
Annette Burke Lyttle
Coordinator
 
Pat Adams
Co-Coordinator
 
Hello, my name is Annette Burke Lyttle and I am the coordinator of the Best Practices Special Interest Group. Pat Adams is the SIG'S co-coordinator. We meet on Zoom the third Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m. If you have a question about the SIG, or would like to attend the next meeting, send an email to me –– click HERE –– and I will respond as quickly as I can.
 
This SIG focuses on learning and using the best research practices in our genealogy work. Best practices can make our research more efficient and effective, and can help us keep from making mistakes about the identities and relationships of our ancestors. We don't want to accidentally attach the wrong person to our family tree and end up researching folks who are not our ancestors. This SIG uses a combination of presentations, guided study, and discussion.
 
In 2026, the Best Practices Special Interest Group will focus on building stronger, more defensible genealogical conclusions by learning how to extract all relevant evidence from documents and then correlate evidence across multiple sources to answer clearly defined research questions. Together, we'll practice identifying explicit and implicit details, spotting conflicts and gaps, weighing reliability, and integrating negative and indirect evidence. The goal is a repeatable, standards-based workflow that helps members turn documents into sound, well-reasoned answers – and greater confidence in the conclusions they share with others.
 
 
 
You must be a member of The Villages Genealogical Society to participate in our meetings.
 
 
 
 
Zoom Meeting Schedule
 
 MEETING DATE  TOPIC
  19 Jan 2026   Review of Evidence Evaluation
  16 Feb 2026   Evidence Analysis Practicum – Part 1
  16 Mar 2026   Evidence Analysis Practicum – Part 2
  20 Apr 2026   Evidence Analysis Practicum – Part 3
  18 May 2026   Collaborative Research
  15 Jun 2026   Evidence Analysis Show & Tell
  20 Jul 2026   AI for Genealogy
  17 Aug 2026   TBA
  21 Sep 2026   TBA
  19 Oct 2026   TBA
  16 Nov 2026   TAB
  21 Dec 2026   Sharing Projects
 
 
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