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Skillbuilding: Taking a Peek at Requirement 3: BCG-Supplied Document Work

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 Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG, CGL
"Taking a Peek at Requirement 3: BCG-Supplied Document Work," OnBoard 28 (January 2022): 4–5.

 

Applicants submit required samples of their work to the Board for Certification of Genealogists® (BCG) for evaluation. The requirements listed in The BCG Application Guide are nothing different or new—they mirror and test the research and writing skills of everyday working genealogists.1 One requirement is the treatment of a document viewed for the first time by the applicant: the BCG-supplied document work.

Why does BCG ask applicants to name a place and time period with the Preliminary Application? BCG wants people to succeed and gives them the opportunity to choose an area with which they are familiar to showcase research knowledge and planning skills. The location and time period that an applicant chooses for this requirement will not limit the rest of the portfolio work to that same location and era. Most portfolios include work covering several geographic areas, inside and outside of the U.S.

How specific should I be about the place and time period? Can I ask for a particular culture or event in history? BCG has a library of documents that cover a wide yet limited range of places, dates, and languages. Not every county in every state is included.Asking for a single county within a 10-year span is too limited; better would be a state or region with a span of 50 years or more. A few documents are specific to large groups with significant research challenges, such as African Americans and Native Americans. Applicants who request specific events (for example, “the Chisum Trail to Texas”) will be asked to resubmit a place and time period. Please avoid broad requests, such as “1800–1900 U.S.” Be aware that documents are often typewritten after the early 1900s, and BCG will only send handwritten documents.

Why does BCG ask for a language? Only fill in a language if requesting a document in that foreign language. Leave it blank otherwise.

The document I received from BCG does not include a source citation. Why not? None of the documents BCG supplies contain source citations. Think of this document as one received from a client who could not tell you how it was obtained. The FAQs sent to preliminary applicants suggest you “craft a citation for the document that meets standards for documenting (see rubric DW 5 , Standards 1 – 6 ) . Demonstrate what you consider ‘best practice’ on a daily basis.”2

Should I look for the original of the BCG-supplied document? Ask yourself what you would do if this were a copy given by a client or found in family records without a citation. Applicants are not required to look for an original, however. Think about how the BCG portfolio mirrors highest standards in everyday quality genealogical research: What should be done for a client with this document?

How is this work evaluated? To know how this will be evaluated, consult the rubrics.3 With the rubrics, refer to Genealogy Standardsfor each standard listed. For example, the first rubric for the document work is “DW1. Accuracy of transcription.” “DW1” stands for Document Work, rubric 1. When judges look at the accuracy of a transcription, they will refer to Genealogy Standards, standards 23, 29,and 32.4 The rubric shows that meeting standards for DW1 means that nearly every word of the transcription should be “precisely rendered; obsolete letter forms are appropriately recorded; difficult or partially illegible words are transcribed; and transcriber comments are clearly identified.”5  Each rubric individually spells out on what applicants are evaluated.

The BCG Application Guide does not say how the transcription and abstract should be formatted. There is no right way to transcribe and abstract, but some ways fall short of best practices. Regardless of formatting style, transcriptions and abstracts should meet standards 29–33 in Genealogy Standards.6 The BCG website provides examples of transcriptions and abstracts, plus suggested reading:

  • The webpage, “Document Analysis Skills” at the BCG website has sample practice documents.7
  • The BCG Learning Center features an article by Elizabeth Shown Mills, “Transcribing Source Materials.”8
  • Applicants may consult Mary McCampbell Bell’s chapter on “Transcripts and Abstracts” in Professional Genealogy.9
  • View the lecture by LaBrenda Garrett- Nelson, “Transcribing Documents: There Is More Than Meets the Eye.”10

All these approaches have differences in format, but all yield acceptable transcriptions and abstracts when following Genealogy Standards.

What is a research question? The BCG Application Guide asks for a statement identifying a single research question, which is an important distinction. Pay close attention to the directions asking for a research question that proposes in only “a sentence or two” the who to research and what you hope to find about that person. Guidance for crafting an effective research question meeting Standard 10 is available on BCG’s website. One example is Harold Henderson’s article, “How to Ask Good Research Questions.”11

What does it mean to submit an analysis of the data in the document? Analysis should only relate to the research question you crafted. Ask what information and evidence in the document is relevant to the research question. Discuss the document’s reliability and background context. View the rubrics DW6 through DW9 for guidance. The BCG website has helpful free  OnBoard  articles,  such  as  Tom Jones’s “Focused Versus Diffuse Research.”12

How far should a research plan go? Several valuable guides for research planning are online and in print. At the BCG website, see “Planning Effective Research” by Laura Murphy DeGrazia.13 Planning is critical to success in research. The BCG Application Guide requires “a research plan (one page or less) describing the first steps.”14 The plan should fully identify logical sources to answer the research question, and then efficiently prioritize them.

Should I perform the research I planned? No. It is not part of instructions. This requirement measures the ability to plan research in an efficient and effective manner.

The BCG-supplied document you will receive may yet be a mystery, but the area you choose will not be a secret to you. Choosing the document’s geographic area will allow you to shine. Show that you can research in this time and place you have chosen with the skills and training gleaned from education and experience.

 

ENDNOTES

Links and publication dates as of 3 October 2025 have been updated from the original article.

  1. Board for Certification of Genealogists [BCG], The BCG Application Guide (Washington, DC.: BCG, 2025); Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/become-a-certified-genealogist#application-guide)
  2. Board for Certification of Genealogists, “BCG ACTION FAQs,” updated 1 January 2021. Given to Preliminary Applicants as part of their preparation packet.
  3. Board for Certification of Genealogists, “Rubrics for Evaluating New Applications for BCG Certification [Revised 1 July 2025],” Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/become-a-certified-genealogist#2025-new-application-rubrics).
  4. Board for Certification of Genealogists, Genealogy Standards, second edition, revised (Nashville: Ancestry), 17–20.
  5. BCG,“Rubrics,”
  6. BCG, GenealogyStandards, 18–21.
  7. ”Test Your Document Skills,” Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/learning/bcg-resources-key-skills#test-your-document-skills).
  8. Elizabeth Shown Mills, “Transcribing Source Materials,"OnBoard 2 (January 1996): 8; Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-transcribing-source-materials).
  1. Mary McCampbell Bell, “Transcripts and Abstracts, chapter 16 in Professional Genealogy:A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Teachers, and Librarians, Elizabeth Shown Mills, ed. (Baltimore:Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001).
  2. LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, “Transcribing Documents: There Is More Than Meets the Eye!,” recorded lecture, 16 April 2019; Legacy Family Tree Webinars (https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/transcribing-documents-there-is-more-than-meets-the-eye/).
  3. Harold Henderson,“Ten-Minute Methodology: How to Ask Good Research Questions,” 28 January 2016; Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/ten-minute-methodology-how-to-ask-good-research-questions).
  4. Thomas Jones, “Focused Versus Diffuse Research,” OnBoard 17 (September 2011): 17–18; Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-focused-versus-diffuse-research).
  5. Laura A. Murphy DeGrazia, “Planning Effective Research,” OnBoard 21 (September 2015): 17–18, 23; Board for Certification of Genealogists (https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-planning-effective-research).
  6. BCG, Application Guide, 4. Boldface added for emphasis.