One of the many announcements that came out of the NGS2015 conference was the appointment of the new FGS Forum editors (and National Institute course authors) Julie Cahill Tarr and Jennifer Alford. You can read more about their new editorial positions on the FGS Voice blog. Congratulations Julie and Jennifer!
The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is proud to announce their latest course, Research: South Africa Ancestors Including Military Records written by South African genealogist Audrey Portman. This course covers the history of South Africa, genealogical sources and repositories for searching your ancestors. General genealogical topics covered include birth, marriage, death, church records, cemeteries, newspapers, and more. Research examples are provided to give guidance on various types of research projects. In addition, the course looks at major wars and conflicts, and the records they produced. Starting with the Boer Wars, World Wars I and II, and ending at the Korean War. In particular, records of the South African Constabulary, South African Defence Force, South African Air Force and the South African Police are covered. This course provides researchers with the tools they need to research their South African ancestors. The first offering of this course is June 1, 2015. Learn more about it on our website.
By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Well, I have entered the realm of the Intermediate coursework. I decided that I am going to first take Methodology 3, 4 and 5 back-to-back to lay the ground work for the other courses that are coming in this section. Following those three, I will work on the rest of the required courses for the American Records Certificate and then a few electives. So, hang on to see what I am up to over the next few months. Methodology 3 is broken into six steps the instructor thinks you need to know to be successful. The first three steps are covered in Methodology 3 with the last three covered in Methodology 4. Which made me thankful that I was taking these two courses back-to-back since they really read as a part 1 and part 2 of the same course. These steps are: Defining your goals Learning the basics Deciding on strategies for research Effective searching and recording Documentation Presenting and preserving your research For this post I will focus on my takeaways from the first steps listed. The next post will cover Methodology 4 and the last three steps. To be honest, Methodology 3 focuses primarily on setting up your office space and further honing your research skills. Now “office space” may be too formal of a term. I started out at my kitchen table with boxes that I shifted around when we actually had to use it. Just recently I have moved into the ranks of a office with a door. No matter where you may be on that scale you will get valuable information here. However, the section on performing oral history interviews was, for me, the most valuable lesson in this course. Many people are nervous about doing this or have no experience performing any type of interview. The step-by-step instructions were great and I think perfect for anyone no matter their comfort level. I have done several interviews and I am very comfortable talking to people in general but I will be adding a few of the course suggestions in future interviews. Finally, the sections covering research strategies were excellent. Many newer genealogists are intimidated by the process and actually doom themselves to not doing complete research on the problems or getting caught going down rabbit holes. We have all done it, I still do it! But understanding the process of…
By Deborah Dale, student Whether or not three brothers on my paternal side really did make the journey from Ulster to Maryland during the seventeenth century is beside the point. The point is that I recently traveled to Yakima, Washington to attend several fantastic lectures hosted by the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society and presented by Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt of the Ulster Historical Foundation, who were winding down their 2015 genealogy lecture tour. I arrived just in time for the introductions of the speakers and the first lecture. After giving my name at the registration area, I picked up my conference packet, which included pages and pages in a spiral-bound book created by PRONI (the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland), which began with a section on How to Trace Your Family Tree and continued with sections on the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses, census substitutes, wills and probate, church records, valuation records, national education records, and much more. The room was full with only a few seats still open. I sat down at a table at the back of the room as Fintan Mullan started speaking, and as I noticed various flyers of family history resources lying on the table, which apparently complemented my conference packet and included a nice heritage map of the Ulster Plantation, large enough to hang on a wall. Also included was a flyer from the Irish Manuscripts Commission, a public body established in 1928 that promotes access to sources of Irish history and culture. At its website, one can find out of print titles and even digitized editions. I made notes of things I hadn’t known, such as the average size of a townland (about 325 acres) in Ireland and the size of the largest townland (over 7,000 acres) and the smallest (about 1 acre). I also didn’t know that the reason some townlands like Lower Aghaboy in County Tyrone is actually north of or above Upper Aghaboy is because their distances were measured from Dublin, so that lower Aghaboy appeared farther away. During a lecture by Gillian Hunt, I made notes on interesting, humorous tidbits found in Irish censuses such as the occupation of a 6-year-old as “He torments the house,” or the occupation of an 8-month old as “sinner,” or the reporting of a wife with a “loose tongue,” or the more serious occupation of a woman as “militant suffragette.” I also…
Looking for a course that adds to your understanding of your ancestor’s life? The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is proud to announce a new course written by genealogist and social historian Barbara J. Starmans, PLCGS, Research: Social History. About social history Barbara Starmans writes, “Social History is not concerned with politics and wars, or kings and presidents, but rather with the lives of ordinary people. It is a view of history from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. Looking through the lens of the past will enhance your understanding of how your ancestors lived, worked and played in their daily lives, and will add depth to your family stories. It is often the minutia of someone’s life that tells the story of who they were and what they believed in. Beyond the names and dates of genealogy, each of your ancestors has a story to tell, and by learning about their time and place and how they lived in it, you will add to your understanding of who they were.” Research: Social History is an introduction to social history that will provide examples and resources of subject matter from many areas of interest to the social historian. Rather than being a comprehensive discussion of social history, the material is intended to inspire your research into the lives of your people and the times and places they lived in. Your ancestors, their families, and the society they lived in may be different from the examples given but only by researching the specifics of their lives, their communities, the world around them and the forces and influences that shaped their environment can you begin to know who they were. You can learn more about this course by checking out our website.