NIGS new Initiative

Many of us are familiar with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and it's managing director Louise St. Denis.  I'm pleased to see the Institute taking a new direction, as announced in a press release referenced by Randy Seaver.

(Toronto, February 7, 2011) Louise St. Denis, Managing Director of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, has announced that the Institute has acquired the website, GenealogyWise (www.genealogywise.com). The Genealogy Community Director of GenealogyWise, Gena Philibert Ortega, has also officially joined the Institute. She can be reached at (genwise@genealogicalstudies.com).

"I would say that GenealogyWise is a great fit with the National Institute's goals. GenealogyWise is a place to connect with new found cousins, share resources, and learn more about genealogy. As part of the National Institute, GenealogyWise members will benefit from the opportunities that the National Institute provides," said Gena.

GenealogyWise is the social network for genealogists. This is the place to network with other researchers, and make discoveries about your family history.

You can join or create surname, locality, or topic groups. The Group feature allows you to collaborate, share, and ask questions of other members.

You can also join the Chat Room for a quick question about research, a chat with fellow genealogists, or attend one of our educational presentations. As well, you can post a blog entry or a forum question from the GenealogyWise homepage. This is a great way to share your knowledge on a genealogy topic or to ask a question.

To date, there are over 23,000 members online.

A new feature will be added - the Live Meeting. GenealogyWise members will be able to access Live Meetings onsite, and this will open up more education opportunities to members that the Institute has to offer.

You can read the full release at Randy's blog.

I had an inking something like this was possible some months ago. As Randy points out GenealogyWise was formerly a companion site to WorldVitalRecords. That might be another site to watch as a possible acquisition.