International Institute of Genealogical Studies – Page 125 – LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

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…

Writing as Volunteer Work

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Like many genealogists, I have a service heart. I like giving back to the community and helping others in any way that I can. Which is why I think that Module 4 of the course Writing for Genealogy: Articles, Blogs, Research Reports and so much more was a very important one. This module covered how to write for societies and ways writing can give back to the genealogy community. Let’s face it, sometimes it is easier to write if you are volunteering than if you are trying to actually work for yourself. Like me, you may be involved with a genealogy society. If not now maybe you will be in the future. After a while of being a “regular” at meetings you might find that some of the members want you to take on responsibilities. Trust me, it happens. That is why I loved that the course author, Jennifer Holik discussed ways to write for societies. She covered president’s reports and secretary responsibilities, but I had hoped she would write even more about newsletters. The secretary section covered a lot of the items a newsletter should have, but I think that working on a newsletter is one way people can really get their writing feet wet. It is much less intimidating to write for a local newsletter than to try your hand at a large publication. Trust me! Of course we couldn’t have a post about volunteer writing and not cover indexing projects. They are easy, fun, and essential for future generations. I helped out with the 1940 US Census project as an Ambassador and indexer. It was a great project, and similar ones are happening now, not only through national organizations but on the local level. Many people are nervous about doing indexing or transcription projects. I think this is a great way to not only give back but also to hone your skills. Oh, and get to know your area better. If you are a new transplant to your area, projects like these help you learn about the local records and make friends at repositories. Once again, as with all skills, the more you do the better you get. Jennifer includes guides on how to get started indexing, resources to read so they are not frightening, and suggestions on how to start your own project. She sets it up nicely so when you…

Grammar, Writing, and Writing Groups

By Shannon Combs Bennett, Student Alright, Module 1 of the course Writing for Genealogy: Articles, Blogs, Research Reports and so much more spoke to me. Remember how I confessed I am not a grammar person and spelling eludes me in the introduction post to this course? Well, yeah, guess what Module 1 covered? Yep, all that fun stuff. Oh, and education. Specifically education on writing. WIN! Our instructor subtly chastised those of us with poor grammar and who are spelling challenged. Yeah, I know it’s important, but for some reason my scientific mind just won’t let that stuff penetrate. It’s like my brain sees the rules coming toward it and an invisible field pops up bouncing it back and a blank confused stare comes across my face. I will endeavor to be better, and stop bothering friends to edit my work. Well, I will try to not do it so often. How about that? I was excited to see the large number of resources listed for further education. Pages in fact on so many topics that will help you write better. Currently I am trying to locate some of them either through the library or on sale. You can never have too many books. In addition to books there were also websites you can take to help with your writing education. I looked a few of them up and there was some really good websites listed. One that is mentioned that I have some experience with is Lynn Palermo’s The Armchair Genealogist. Lynn’s website is amazing and every year she has a month of prompts and writing guides to help you become a better writer. Everyone should check it out if they are trying to get started. To be honest I was fascinated by the section on writing groups. It is something that I know people do, and it’s a cool concept, but honestly I had no idea what they were for. After reading about all the different types and how they are supposed to work, it makes me want to run out and find a local group. Or heck, start my own. In particular I could see how a writing group of people from different backgrounds and writing styles who came together to receive honest feedback on their work could be very useful. I know I would benefit from getting criticism of my writing from people who could be honest,…

Practice Your German Language Skills

Michele Simmons Lewis, Student I have a tip for anyone working through the German courses. If you want some real life practice reading German documents I highly recommend that you volunteer as an indexer for FamilySearch. Not only will you be giving back to the genealogy community you will be putting what you are learning in the German courses into use and you will get feedback on how well you did. Don’t know what Indexing is? Here is some general information: The Family History Library is digitizing their microfilm. They need volunteers to index the images to make them more user friendly for researchers. You will download a small indexing program to your computer (FamilySearch will be switching over to a web-based indexing system soon). You can see what the program looks like and how it works HERE. You will need to watch/read all of the training materials You can then select a batch and off you go! “But I am worried that I won’t be able to read the handwriting and I will make a mistake!” All batches are indexed by TWO indexes. If the indexers disagree on anything the entire batch goes to an arbitrator who will decide There are batches for beginner, intermediate and advanced indexers If you ever pick up a batch and it looks too difficult you can throw it back into the queue and pick up a different one If there is something on a batch you need help with you can “share” your batch with another indexer or arbitrator for their opinion After a batch has been arbitrated you will have the opportunity to review the batch and see what the arbitrator changed You will be given your percentage of agreement with the arbitrators. As you gain experience you will see this number go up. This is a great way to monitor your progress The #1 reason an arbitrator has to change an entry has absolutely nothing to do with how well the person was able to read the handwriting. The #1 reason an arbitrator changes something is because the indexer did not read the specific instructions for that project. Each project has its own set of instructions and they can be very different from project to project. I have been an arbitrator for a long time and I have to say it is a bit frustrating when I have to go…

Beginning My Next Course: Writing for Genealogy

By Shannon Bennett, Student Until a few years ago I didn’t think of myself as a writer. Lab reports, I could write those, they were methodical and easy. Or at least I thought so. Too many times through my education I was told that I didn’t have “it” for writing. Mainly the “it” referred to the rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The bane of my primary school years were all those rules that made my head hurt. However, give me a good creative writing assignment and I was off. In fact in 9th and 11th grade I placed in school-wide writing competitions that didn’t necessarily care about the intricacies of the English language, but focused on the content of the prose. Now that I am researching and documenting my family history I write more and more each day. With the increase in my writing came a knowledge that writing for the purposes of genealogy was a whole new ball game for me. What in the world was I in for? At the time I read genealogy magazines and journals looking at them like they were a foreign language. Blogs on every topic were available, and I quickly fell into writing my own. My writing evolved and took on a life of its own. But, was there more to it than what I was already doing? I honestly didn’t know. Which is why I am here. This course, Writing for Genealogy: Articles, Blogs, Research Reports and so much more , looked fascinating to me. Secretly I hope that I will learn some pointers on becoming a better writer as well as learning more about what it means to write in the genealogy world. Really, any pointers would be great. From the syllabus it looks like our instructor, Jennifer Holik, covers many forms of writing that a genealogist could be involved in. Everything from small scale to large publications and society level to national. Students who takes this course should have a good starting point for any type of genealogical writing they may want to do. In particular I am interested to hear what she says about blogs (since I write one), marketing (because everyone should know a little about that), and her opinions on speaking (particularly contracts). I am certain I will pick up something new, and if you are just getting started the syllabus looks like a very complete…