Now THAT's a lot of work!

I am currently taking an Independent Study class through BYU, "History and the Law." I was promised a genealogy class, but it is so much more in good & bad ways. Keep in mind that this is an undergraduate class.

Let me summarize one lesson of fourteen: 

Update family group sheets with information from last weeks exhaustive (& exhausting) survey of already submitted information on the web. Don't forget correct citations.

AND

Read the article in the Appendix.

AND

Read CHAPTERS 3, 6, 7, 18, 19, 20, 22, and review chapter 2 of one book.

AND

Read pages 81-193 in the boring book. (112 pages!!)

AND

Read another article in the Appendix.

AND

Read discussion material in this lesson. (only 4-5 pages)

AND 

Read the abstract of someone's property, reviewing each page for types of real property. Describe each transaction. If there are any undefined types, look up in Black's Law Dictionary.

AND 

Don't forget to submit your research log.

AND 

The Locality Survey. (the most fun but time intensive of the list!): 

Select a county. Prepare a research report for the county & towns in that county where the selected ancestral family lived. Include a brief description of your research status, a brief review of the jurisdictional history, a list of records from the FHL in SLC, a list of records from one of the cataloging systems like WorldCat (references to MANY libraries throughout US), also a Google search, Cyndi's List, & the US Genweb project; copies of maps both modern & ancient plus entries from gazetteers & atlases; a Bibliography of resources identified through searches above, in a specific $60 textbook format; a DETAILED RESEARCH PLAN with records to search & film numbers & addresses; plus copies of relevant items for future reference.

AND

"if you have time" haaahahaha - watch the movie Far and Away.

I am learning a lot while going through this process, but if I didn't really, really feel passionate about genealogy, I'd be throwing in the towel on this one!!! I am grateful that I have 25+ years of research experience. I am trying to learn & just take one chunk at a time, but I am trying to finish this class in 3-4 months. Ahhhh!!! 

Next entry I will include some links to helpful videos that I've watched to help grasp some of the concepts. Yay for YouTube, Ancestry, & FamilySearch.