Ron Doctor has been active in Jewish genealogy organizations since 1998 when he became a Board member of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon (JGSO). Later, as President of JGSO, he guided its growth from 15 to 75 members. In 2000, he organized the Kremenets Shtetl CO-OP under JRI-Poland.

In 2008, the Kremenets activities were incorporated as the Kremenets District Research Group (KDRG) which now has 553 researchers on its mailing list.

In 2011, Ron coordinated JewishGen Ukraine SIG‘s revitalization, restructuring it as a town-based user-oriented organization with a user-friendly website centered on acquiring, translating and posting archival record translations.

Belarus SIG Luncheon*: “Belarus SIG Luncheon: Ukraine Kremenets Project” (Mon-141), 11:45 A.M.-1:15 P.M.

The luncheon talk will describe the very large Ukraine project done in Kremenets. This talk with cover how the Ukraine SIG worked together with the Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People to obtain many record sets not filmed by the Mormons, how they created very detailed translation/transliteration guides, and how they created a search engine for their records which allows for both Russian and Hebrew name searches.

The talk will includes information about how the project was organized and how the Belarus SIG can create similar types of projects.

Topic: Belarus and Ukraine, Technology in support of genealogical research

*Note: Attendance at SIG luncheons requires registration for the event and an additional fee of $44 (non-Kosher meal) or $54 (Kosher meal) per person.

“How to Create and Manage a Town-Based Research Group” (Thurs-131), 4:30 – 5:45 P.M.

Cooperative town-based record acquisition and translation is less costly and more productive than trying to “go-it alone.” The Kremenets District Research Group, inspired by JRI-Poland’s successes, has been evolving these techniques for the past 15 years. Now, the group counts 550 people on its mailing list – 33% of them have donated to promote the research effort.

This presentation discusses ways individual researchers can join together to obtain and translate records for their ancestral towns. It covers methods for identifying prospective group members, contacting, and staying in contact with them, identifying resources to help you obtain records and documents, fundraising to pay for your efforts, ways to keep your group motivated, recruiting volunteers and translators, and handling myriad administrative tasks. It also discusses ways to expand your efforts to cover towns within a geographic district. Although focused on Eastern Europe, the methods discussed can be easily adapted to other geographic areas.

Topics: Ashkenazic research, DNA research and genetics, Holocaust research, Immigration and migration over the ages, Organization and preservation, Kremenets Distict, Technology in support of genealogical research