Before coming to Spain I was clear on one thing that I wanted to do: Use my free time to get more serious about the BCG (Board of Certified Genealogists) process in order to submit a portfolio and await potential certification.
In order to prep for this process, I heard about a course via the genealogical community that could prove helpful when applying to the BCG. This course is known as the CDG series. So I wanted to talk today from a Puerto Rican perspective what the course was like and what I was able to learn from it.
What is the CDG Series?
The CDG (Certification Discussion Group) is a biannually (winter and fall) created group that meets in order to discuss the process of applying to the BCG. The classes are no more than 20 people and there are different times offered depending on the instructor’s availability. Jill Morelli and Margaret Fortier ran this fall’s sessions and taking my move to Spain into consideration, I was able to sign up with Jill Morelli in order to take the various sessions (seven in total) that went from late September to early October. You can check out the website for more information: https://thecdgseries.wordpress.com/the-series/
My group met on Zoom on Mondays around 11AM EST and when I moved to Spain it became 5PM meetings for me. What’s cool about the CDG series is that you gain access to other CG’s (Certified Genealogists) work that has gone through the BCG process. However, you are not at liberty to share any of this material with people outside of the course and once you finish you lose access, which means that if you are interested in seeing something after you are done you need to download the material with the understanding of not sharing it at a later time.
Also, once you finish the course you also gain access to a Facebook group of alumni of the CDG series who are in different steps of the CG certification process with which you can catch or stay in contact with.
There is a cost to attend the course but it is fairly minimal in comparison to other genealogical courses I have taken.
Workload
The course’s short time commitment was a nice change of pace and similarly its workload. In comparison to BU’s short but hearty content and ProGen’s long stint of a program (both of which have positives/negatives for people), the CDG series allowed me to learn about the portfolio in a compact amount of time while not having to dedicate many hours on end of research and work.
What is cool also is that it allows you to be introspective about your overall work as well as your genealogical strengths and weaknesses. Most of the “homework” we had made us take looks into various aspects of the work we have already completed and where it stands in reference to the BCG process.
One of my favorite assignments was actually one of the first ones where you have to create a sort of genealogical résumé. This is a part of the “developmental activities” portion for the BCG where you list out relevant coursework, learning experiences, publications, skills, etc. you may have had that allow you to demonstrate your readiness for the process.
This gave me a chance to inspect where I felt ready or where I thought I was lacking in regards to me being ready to apply to the BCG. Overall, I felt very confident writing my résumé and I will keep updating and tweaking it as I get ready to write my portfolio and as new relevant experiences come about.
Course Structure
I would consider the CDG series to be mainly lecture style. Every week there is a topic at hand to which you can do some prior research (provided links, articles, and CG portfolio elements) you can take a look at. One of the main things is looking at the instructions for that element and then dissecting what that means. Though this is not a BCG sanctioned course, the work Jill and Margaret do in order to demystify the process is super important. Jill mentioned common pitfalls, misunderstandings, and or clarifying what could be allowed for that piece of the portfolio.
During one of our sessions, Jill mentioned there was a lot of axiety even talking about the process for fear that it would be considered getting feedback on your portfolio which is not allowed. However, talking about the process overall is very different than asking specific questions on your research (this is not allowed).
Throughout each session, Jill allowed us to ask various questions, interact with our classmates, and would bring the conversation back to the topic at hand if it ever strayed too far into someone’s specificity given that we can not discuss their specific issue if it deals with what they will work with once they are OTC (on the clock).
There were various areas of focus amongst my classmates: Jewish, Nordic, European American, African American, Puerto Rican, and potentially others as well. This variety among us meant that there was not one specific ethnic group or set of records always being discussed and so a various topics would arise in our discussions.
One of the most important takeaways for me was that your portfolio should be able to show a range of skills and research that you are capable of. So though I am well rounded in Puerto Rican research, it might be useful to step outside of my comfort zone and work with other ethnic groups in order to show I am able to do wide genealogical research when it comes to showing I can use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standards) in order to complete my research. This was helpful for me because I was able to take a look at various sections of the portfolio such as the Research Report and reconsider what type of work I would want to present for that element.
Conclusions
Overall, the series was super helpful. There are people that take the course various times either before or during their portfolio submission process. This is a testament to how helpful this course can be for those that are working on the BCG portfolio. In my group there were a few of us who were new and some who were on their second (and maybe even third) go around of the CDG series. They mentioned that each time they took the course they were able to focus on something different or learn about another piece of the portfolio where they might have felt unsure or not confident submitting it when they first took the course.
Personally, I am not sure if I would take the CDG series again and that is only because I just took it, so I currently do not know if I will need it in the future again. I would have to check my notes, see where I am along in the process, and reevaluate when I get to that point in time.
Currently though, I did sign up for an accountability group that will meet in about two weeks. The goal of this group is to be with other genealogists who are like-minded in the thought process of going on the clock and helping each other stick to our plans. This is exciting because I hope that it will help me do what I want to do this year, to take the free time I have and use it constructively to work on my portfolio.
Here’s to using my time productively and carving out a good chunk of my portfolio!