I just have to let my favorite mailing list know about this. Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, has an annual Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. I have been there four consecutive times, and I will return again 2008. It is my favorite genealogy experience of the year. The quality of the faculty is top-notch, and the course offerings vary some from year to year, with the basics repeating, and with other choices alternating every 2-3 years. Check "Future Institutes" for that information. You might want to take a peek at this and see if you're interested: _http://www.samford.edu/schools/ighr/index.html_ (http://www.samford.edu/schools/ighr/index.html) Enrollment opened over the weekend, and I am one of the early birds who signed up as soon as the e-mail notice came out. Some courses will have slots in a few months, but the majority will fill up this winter. While I greatly enjoy NGS conferences, this is a wonderfully different kind of experience. It involves 4.5 days of classes on one central theme, with the main course coordinator teaching the bulk of the material, and other faculty taking turns in other courses for an hour or two to discuss their particular areas of expertise. If you have any questions, you can e-mail or call the IGHR staff. The course limits are firm limits. I can answer questions as a veteran student. I've taken the following courses: Intermediate Genealogy Land Records: Platting Metes and Bound Writing and Publishing Virginia: Her Records and Her Laws In 2008 I'll be taking the second part of Barbara Vines Little's series on Virginia: Virginia's Land and Miltiary Conflicts and Their Effect on Migration. Katherine Dick Benbow County Coordinator, Guilford County NCGenWeb _http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/index.html_ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncguilfo/index.html) **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)