- GENEALOGIST - WRITER - OFFICE ASSISTANT -

Broken Branches

Hello. My name is Nanci Pattenden. Thank you for visiting my website. Here you will find out just a little about myself. Broken Branches is a "name in progress" for a part-time genealogy research business I hope to start some day. In December 2009 I completed my last course at Genealogical Studies and am now "Nanci Pattenden, PLCGS". I have become a member of the Association of Professional Geneaogist, and will be applying shortly for membership in the Ontario branch.

Click the graphic to visit the APG website.

In addition to the genealogy studies, I have completed several certification programs at three major colleges in and around the Toronto Area - Seneca College, Durham College, and Humber College. Most of the programs are office related. The most recent certificate program I completed was the Project Management Certificate at Humber, which I finished in June of 2006. In June 2009 I completed the Office Administration Diploma from Keyano College, Fort MacMurray, Alberta. Finally, a diploma. Without going to school full time, it’s hard to find a diploma. Most schools just hand out certificates for continuing ed or part time students.

All my certificates have been obtained through continuing education courses. Some were taken at the college, a few via correspondence courses, and the rest over the internet. I have been taking courses since 1981. There are not very many semesters in which I did not take something. I believe it is very important to keep up with the changes. Slowing down a bit though. I did take a writing course though a local high school, and a subsequent workshop with the same teacher/author. Currently I am part of a writing group. Our 'founding father' self-published a novel late in 2009. Which one of us will be next? The writing and the work for the genealogy group I belong to should keep me busy for a little while.

What work for what genealogy group you may ask? I am the Cemetery Co-ordinator for the York Region branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS). And no, I don't build or design cemeteries if that's what you're thinking. The Cemetery Co-ordinator is responsible for transcripts. What we do is find volunteers (which is very difficult) and go out with pen and paper, with permission of the cemetery of course, and write down everything that is on the headstone. Even the errrors, and yes, there are errors on headstones. We make mention of any distinguishing things on the stone, like a family crest or crosses, Masonic synbols, bingo cards, etc. There are some very creative stones out there. I've seen one 10 ft monument shaped like the Empire State Building. It's a marker for the building supervisor, who, by the way, is not mentined anywhere on the official ESB website - John Bowser. There is one cemetery with a large stone shaped like a butterfly. Another stone has the 4 Beatles carved on the back, and it is a beautiful carving. Another stone has Star Trek symbols on it. These are great clues about the lives and likes of the people buried there.

Anyway, back to the job description. After everything is written from the stones, including indicating the start of a new line, it gets entered into the computer. It's printed out, and back to the cemetery with the printout to proofread. Corrections are made, new additions to the cemetery may be added and the document is updated. Once that is done, we also need to create an index of every person listed, whether they are actually buried there or not. A history is written up, along with a map of the plots. A table of contents is created, and once it is all assembled, along with a few pics, it is published. This has been a major way for the branches to make money in the past. The transcripts are not expensive, and price depends on the size of the finish transcripts. With the electronic age, things are changing and we are not sure exactly what direction the transcripts will go.

The genealogy program I have been taking is through the University of Toronto. They have a program in conjunction with genealogicalstudies.com. As I said earlier, I have completed my program - Canadian Studies. With only a few more courses, I will also have the English Records course completed. I have purchased a smal course package, and can take those whenever I want. There are 3 or 4 left to complete the English program. Same designation PLCGS. When I finish the English, does that mean I will be PLCGS squared? hahaha

I mentioned writer at the top. I'm writing three books at the moment. My current BIPs (Books in Progress) are mentioned under the Writing link at the left.

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Visiter number since re-creating my website Jun 2009

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