Courses

New Course: Research: FamilySearch Resources – In Person and Online

Think you know how to use FamilySearch? Maybe you’ve never used FamilySearch? Now’s the time to learn more with the new course  Research: FamilySearch Resources – In Person and Online from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. FamilySearch is one of the important websites in the field of genealogical research. The FamilySearch, free, website is just one part of a larger network, provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. FamilySearch includes over 3 billion names globally, and provides digital images, online indexing, a library catalog, and online access to genealogy sources in a variety of forms. The services provided through the FamilySearch organization have proven time and time again to be invaluable to researchers of all experiences and levels of expertise. In this course we will review all aspects of using the FamilySearch website and how to use the website to find, learn, network, and share with other researchers. Course content includes:   Website Search Functionality Getting to the Records Indexed versus Non-Indexed Collections The Research Wiki The Family Tree FamilySearchCatalog Digitized Books Learning Center Family History Centers This course starts January 5, 2015. For more information see our website.  

Finishing Up My Writing Course

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Wow, what a course.  Not only is Writing for Genealogy: Articles, Blogs, Research Reports and so much more  great  for people who are considering putting their work out there for all to see, but its also very informative for those who want to stay private. It was full of information designed to take anyone’s writing to the next level. My mind is buzzing with ideas and projects. I feel like I need to write to the instructor and tell her that she is not helping with my to-do list. Thankfully I don’t actually have enough time in my day to do them all, but maybe one day. I was grateful for her clear instructions, ideas, and suggestions. At times I was literally smacking my forehead in disgust that I had not even thought to look at a particular resource. Once again, it just proves that no matter how long you do something there is always more to know. Of course, the list of resources for each module was extensive. I am still investigating and going through them all. The suggestions for helping with editing, finding writing groups, business advice, and more have proved beneficial to my future as a writer in this community.  Of course, some of the book suggestions are making my pocketbook, and husband, groan but that is why there are wish lists!

Celebrate 15 Years of Online Genealogy Education

[Update: The National Institute of Genealogical Studies merged into the International Institute of Genealogical Studies on 2 March 2022 and no longer uses the past name noted in this article.] Seventeen years ago, The National Institute for Genealogical Studies was founded. On October 4, 1999, Methodology-Part 1: Getting Started was the first online course offered to students. On December 1st, 15 years later, it started for the 185th time. We are celebrating! Now’s the time to sign-up for those courses you’ve always wanted to take. Give us a call toll free at 1-800-580-0165 ext 1 to learn more or for help with any registration. From the team, MERRY CHRISTMAS and  HAPPY CHANUKKAH, to you and your family…

Writing Reports

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student These last two modules of the course Writing for Genealogy: Articles, Blogs, Research Reports and so much more is chock full of information. It was very hard to pick which subject I wanted to tell you about since there is not enough room to talk about them all here!  However, I picked the information on writing reports from Module 5 to focus on and I am sure some of you are groaning right now. Trust me, keep reading. I can hear some of you now “I am never going to be a professional” or how about “no one is ever going to see my research.” Well, how do you know?  Besides, don’t you think the work you do for yourself should be the best you can offer?  I do. Creating professional quality reports for your own research is a great way to let future generations, or even the current ones, know you take your work seriously. In the introduction for Module 5 the instructor takes her time walking you through why knowing how to write reports are a good idea. One thing that I had not really thought about before was creating a report for individuals who request help from my genealogy society. I would expect a professional type report from a library or archive but I can see how it would make my society stand out from other groups if we took our answer one step further. Thankfully our instructor takes the time to go through the different types of reports that you can create.  There are four in total: narratives, standard report, letter, or formal report. In my opinion, narratives would be what most typical family historians would write. However, letters I think would be the next. I am sure you can guess what a narrative report is. These reports are told like a story focusing on biographical information more than the methodology. I have seen reports like these written and then collected together for sharing at family reunions or other functions after a person has completed their research. Letter writing is another common report people should know because of the amount of correspondence most people do in conjunction with their family history. Knowing how to create a good letter that contains all the information from your research can lead to a great correspondence chain.  Even if it is just an email, you can’t…

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German: Church Records

Bu Michele Simmons Lewis, Student Well that’s embarrassing. I just took the final exam for the German: Church Records course. I am not going to tell you what my score but I will tell you that this has been the hardest course (and exam) so far. I definitely need to go back over the material again. The text that accompanies this course is excellent. As a matter of fact, not only do you get the regular course materials but you also get German Church Books: Beyond the Basics by Kenneth L. Smith. There are 239 pages of text for this course. When examining church registers you can’t just skim through them looking for familiar names. This is a mistake that I have made in the past. You have to analyze every baptism, every marriage, and every death entry for the period of time in question and build all of the family groups. This is the only way you will be able to separate everyone out correctly. Sometimes the entry will have a first name and sometimes it will have a middle name or even a second middle name. At first glance you might think you are dealing with several people when you are really only dealing with one. The reverse can happen as well. “Anna” might be three different people and not just one. For the final exam, you are given a parish register with baptisms, marriages, and deaths. You have to put everyone in their proper family group after analyzing all of the data and then you answer the questions. It isn’t easy but doing it for real isn’t easy either. When you take this course I suggest you reread the entire text before attempting the exam. If you do well on this exam tackling a parish register on microfilm will not intimidate you. I am looking forward to doing this with my family. Several years ago I looked at a church register on microfilm from a parish in Köln (Cologne). I went through it and copied down the names and dates of the people that I knew belonged in my family and some that I thought might. After taking the German Church Records course I now know that I probably missed a lot of information. I will be looking at the same microfilm again but this time I will be copying down every entry during a certain time…

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