Southwest US Region Accreditation Preparation

Are you interested in learning more about genealogy best practices and working toward becoming an Accredited Genealogist Professional or AG? There are resources available to help you prepare. I’m working toward becoming an Accredited Genealogist Professional (AG) through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) in the Southwest United States region.

Several months ago, I learned that I passed the accreditation Level 1 by researching and writing a 4-Generation Project. The starting individual for the research and the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and 2nd great-grandparents researched need to have at least one major life event that occurred in the region. It was meaningful to research all the people included in the 4-Generation Project. I learned a great deal and worked hard to incorporate best practices in genealogy into the report.

I’m preparing to take the Level 2 and 3 exams by participating in the ICAPGen Level 2 and 3 Study Group, led by Alice Childs, AG, and Lisa Stokes, AG. One of the assignments was to create a presentation about our Research Reference Guides and our preparation to take the Level 2 and 3 written exams. The exams are open-book, and we can take all of the materials we wish to use for the exam. The key to preparation is to study the resources, record collections, documents, and research methodology for the chosen region.

The Research Reference Guides for each state in my region are called Locality Guides in the Research Like a Pro and Research Like a Pro with DNA methods. It’s been so nice to prepare these guides using the Locality Guide template created by Diana and Nicole. I include each category of records and resources in the Southwest U.S. Regional Resources guide provided by ICAPGen. If you are interested in resources for your area of research interests, you can find the list here.

You can see the video presentation I created that explains some of the things I’ve done to prepare to take the exams. Watch it on our Family Locket YouTube channel. You can access it through this post below. In the video, I highlighted the Southwest Regional Resources document from ICAPGen with a list of records in the Southwest region that I need to know how to access and use while researching. Also highlighted are my Google Drive Southwest region exam preparation folders and what is in them.

If you are considering Accreditation, I encourage you to participate in a Level 1 or Level 2 & 3 Study Group. The Study Groups will help you learn about and prepare for all aspects of becoming an AG.