The mission of ICAPGen is to advance family history/genealogy work around the world by accrediting and promoting genealogy professionals who are competent, ethical, and reliable, and to work to promote the preservation of genealogical materials. The central functions of ICAPGen are:
- Recruiting, encouraging, mentoring, and educating genealogists.
- Testing each applicant’s competency as a prerequisite for accreditation.
- Requiring periodic re-accreditation to assure currency of skills.
- Stipulating adherence to ethical standards.
- Maintaining a public directory of ICAPGen accredited professionals.
- Educating consumers about the value, process, and complexity of family history/genealogy research and maintaining good-will by working with clients and AG professionals if a dispute arises.
- Promoting the preservation of genealogical materials for future generations.
A Premier Credential for Family Historians & Genealogists throughout the World!
ICAPGen℠ 
Trying to prepare for accreditation and several people have advised different ways to acquire the 1000 hours required. Can you offer some specifies in this arena?
Paula,
I have a couple suggestions that apply to all regions.
1) Check out the Resource Pages on the ICAPGen website specific to your region of interest. (Select “Learn how to become an AG professional” from the home page, then select your region of interest from the map or from the links in the text.) Use this as a guide to the records for research practice.
2) Select an individual at random from a record or index for the locality (or records) for which you want more hours. (It will help if the individual was born prior to 1900.) Develop an objective (specific research question), determine a research plan, and conduct the research as if for a client. This will give you practice in budgeting your time and writing reports as well as acquiring the 1000 hours required.