OnBoard, Volume 3, Number 2, May 1997

Application Strategies: Organizing Your Materials

Gale Williams Bamman, "Application Strategies: Organizing Your Materials ," OnBoard 3 (May 1997).
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The physical appearance of your portfolio is the first impression BCG judges have of you. If you organize your materials to be esthetically pleasing as well as functionally practical, that first impression can be to your advantage.

The portfolio you assemble will be a hefty stack of papers. What is the best way to present those materials so they focus on your expertise and your ability to do quality work?

ARRANGEMENT OF MATERIALS

There is no one particular way that your portfolio must be arranged. Even BCG judges have differing approaches, but there are some practical measures you can take to enhance your presentation.

Loose papers

Keep separate the papers that are to remain at the BCG office. Those include:

• your final application form;
• your signed copy of the Genealogists' Code;
• any cover letters you enclose.

The rest of your materials will be returned to you, once the evaluation is completed. If you separate the papers that remain with BCG, our office will not have to rip sections from your nicely bound packets.

Bound materials

You will be submitting a variety of materials to demonstrate your abilities in the category you have chosen. Do arrange those in the order in which they are requested in the application guide and on the specific requirements sheet for your category. It will be helpful if you will label each of those with the item numbers specified on the instruction sheets.

It is your choice as to the product you use to hold your materials, but the three listed here seem to work best:

• lightweight three-ring binders with flexible covers and ring diameters of no more than 1-1/2 inches;
• accordion files with labeled sections;
• pocket-type folders (without clasps).

However you fasten or bind your documents, make sure it will be easy for judges to pull out (and replace) sheets they need to lay side by side — as when comparing a transcription with the photocopy of the original document.

Keep in mind your portfolio's two-pound limitation. The use of large and bulky binders or the inclusion of spiral-bound booklets will quickly eat up much of your allowed weight. They may also be difficult to fit into the priority envelopes furnished by the post office or any but the largest of padded bags.

CONTENT STRATEGIES

Please include only the most-appropriate information, to make best use of your allotted space. Choose items that will best demonstrate the breadth and depth of your expertise as a genealogist. The ability to make judicious choices is an important aspect of professionalism.

Education and activities

In this part of your application, you do not need to submit proof — nor is it advisable. If you have received an award, you need not include a copy of the official notification, letters of congratulation, the award certificate, and the newspaper write-up. Simply state that you won the award.

Focus on genealogical activities. Details of your high school education and a list of all jobs held are usually not relevant. If your background enhances your skills as a genealogist (e.g., attorney, genetics counselor, land surveyor, etc.), state that briefly. But your emphasis should be upon genealogical activities.

List the genealogical seminars, workshops, institutes, and conferences you have attended — distinguishing any you taught from those that exposed you to the expertise of others. Attendance is not mandatory, but evidence of continued education does suggest that you are dedicated to attaining or keeping abreast of current standards in the field. If you cannot attend these functions, but regularly order conference tapes for private study, do mention this.

A list of the journals you subscribe to or regularly read at your local library will also reflect your level of commitment to ongoing education. However, the judges do not need to know every book you have purchased or every society to which you belong.

Publications

When you send sample pages from your publications, the following will usually suffice for analysis:

• title page;
• table of contents;
• acknowledgments;
• introduction or preface;
• sample text pages (including corresponding footnotes or endnotes);
• sample index pages.

Specialties

You may specialize in up to four geographic areas — states, culturally or politically unified regions such as New England or Colonial Mississippi Valley, or foreign countries. You may also choose ethnic or religious specialties. In each case, however, your research reports, discussions of sources, and supplied documents should demonstrate your expertise in those chosen specialties.

Supplied documents

Please return the BCG-supplied documents along with the requisite transcript, abstract, etc. The documents you are asked to supply from your own files should be of the area and general time period of your requested specialty and should be ones that enable you to demonstrate your expertise in analysis.

Describe in your research plan the specific records you would search as a next step, based on the clues presented in each document under discussion. The judges look for evidence that you understand records such as those provided in the document samples, not for long lists of records and sources available. Comment on the types of information you would anticipate finding in the records you suggest searching.

Discussions of derivative works

The judges need to see the values and degrees of weight you place upon published material. They need evidence that you recognize shortcomings in published data. Book reviews published in major journals are excellent models for discussions of derivative works.

Research reports

Quality, not length, is the important consideration. Your reports need not be dozens of pages long, but they should demonstrate investigations with more than a narrow focus. Again, it is your expertise at analyzing and pursuing a research problem that should be visible here, not your ability to locate a census or to identify all resources available in an area.

Research reports prepared for clients should be accompanied by a copy of the clients' letters of inquiry and assignment. Research reports for your own files should explain the status of your project prior to the research upon which the report is founded. It also helps to include the research plan you outlined prior to beginning the work.

If the report reflects work begun midway in an investigation, briefly explain the earlier work so judges will not wonder why you seem not to have investigated certain possibilities.

Include also all supporting material that went to the client or to your files — appended documents, abstracts, photocopies of maps, etc. Make sure all photocopies bear proper citations.

Further suggestions for well-organized research reports were presented in the May 1996 OnBoard. BCG does not require that your reports duplicate one of the two illustrated formats; but your style should appear professional, be easy to follow, and address the points covered in that article.

Four-generation genealogies

Genealogies generated with genealogy software programs are rarely (if ever) of acceptable quality. Preferable are the formats used in major genealogical journals and the NGS Family History Writing Contest. BCG needs to evaluate your thought processes, not text strung together by computer software.

"Documenting" your genealogy for BCG does not mean sending photocopies of every source you use. Just cite all sources fully so your judges (and other readers) can locate them.

Lineage applications

Submitted lineage-society applications should include a listing of your proofs. Cite all sources fully, as you would for a genealogy or a client report. Include photocopies of all documentation.

Extraneous items

Other materials may be submitted with your portfolio, but judges will mainly focus on those requested by BCG. Examples of extraneous materials are:

• more reports or genealogies than the number requested;
• extra generations in your genealogy;
• society applications, when you are not applying for CLS.

Include such extra materials only as your space allows. These generally do not enhance your overall evaluation. (Renewal applicants, of course, are allowed considerable latitude in choosing the number of submissions of each type, provided they demonstrate expertise in their category and specialties and stay within weight limitations.)

SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS

Attention to the appearance of your portfolio demonstrates your ability to arrange materials coherently, present a professional-quality package, and follow instructions.

Your application can be prepared without the use of a computer; however, today's word-processing programs provide a finished pizzazz not obtainable with a typewriter.

Your judges will begin their evaluations of your portfolio with an examination of its general appearance, but that will be only the first of many steps in the detailed evaluation process necessary to determine your competence. A portfolio with a professional appearance can put you one step closer to certification.

Gale Williams Bamman, CG, CGL

This article was originally published in OnBoard, BCG's educational newsletter and is protected by copyright. Individuals may download and print copies for their personal study. Educators are granted permission to provide copies to their students as long as BCG, OnBoard, and the appropriate author are credited as the source of the material. Republication elsewhere is not permitted.