Articles with Courses

Genealogy in a Package

What’s on Your 2021 Wish List? Tis the season for packages! We all love to receive them and to open them. However, some package contents are better than others. We have made our genealogy wish lists and dropped several hints, but what will we receive? Slippers and socks are fun (usually), but how much better if your package was genealogy-related? The National Institute for Genealogical Studies can make sure your package has just the right courses for your 2021 genealogy education plan. You can choose any of our 230+ courses individually, or one of our specific Course Packages listed below, but did you know that you can also create your own unique package? Choose 4, 7, 8, 10 or 13 courses and make your package with the exact courses needed for your own distinctive research project. See details for all Course Packages here. Special Genealogy Course Packages DNA Packages These packages include courses relevant to your understanding of DNA and how it can be used in your genealogical research. DNA and Relevant Topics: 8 Courses DNA – Understanding Testing and Research Strategies: 4 Courses Skill-Building Package The four courses included in this package will help you expand your research skills. Genealogy Ethical Guidelines & Standards Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls Skill-Building: Evidence Analysis and Evaluation Using Case Studies Skill-Building: Nuts & Bolts of Reporting Research Business Skills Package This package includes all the courses needed to give students a good understanding of how to start and manage a genealogical business, and what niche business opportunities are available to genealogists. Business Skills Package: 18 Courses Professional Learning Certificates At the heart of The National Institute for Genealogical Studies online education is our Certificate in Genealogical Studies Program. Each certificate includes the study of specific topics and record groups relevant to certification. For all certificates, students are required to complete 40 courses, which includes specific compulsory courses and a choice of electives. The Methodology Certificate is at the core of all of the certificates. The exception is the Librarianship Certificate, which includes only 12 courses. There is an option to combine the Librarianship Certificate with a country-specific certificate as the elective portion. The Professional Development Certificate program will benefit those who wish to pursue a career in genealogy, create a genealogy business or to augment their income potential by adding niche areas to their business plan. Skill-building courses are of high importance in this…

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Keeping in Touch

Keeping in Touch… Communication is so important in genealogy in order to keep abreast of constantly evolving information. The same is true within The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. As a student of The National Institute, there are various ways you can communicate with us and your fellow students (see below). We want all of our students to enjoy their learning experience. Please do not worry or fret over your courses by yourself. We are here to help you! **** NOTE: Our social media accounts are NOT monitored regularly. If you need an answer quickly, please do the old-fashion thing, pick up the phone. We can be reached at 1-800-580-0165, ext. #1 (North America) or 416-861-0165. Please leave a message if no one answers. #1 By email to The National Institute **** NOTE: When contacting us please INCLUDE your FIRST & LAST NAME and the COURSE TITLE including the COUNTRY, if a records course. It is also helpful if you include the module number and section title you are referring to. **** i) admin@genealogicalstudies.com –  for general questions; ii) alert@genealogicalstudies.com – to advise us of broken links in your course materials and assignments–please be specific as to where problem is; iii) exam@genealogicalstudies.com – questions pertaining to your course exam. #2 By email to a fellow student When you view a fellow student’s public assignment SUBMISSION/ANSWER and you would like to contact them about something in their posting, simply click on the envelope icon to the right of the student’s name. A new window will open where you can type your message. For privacy reasons, you will not see the recipient’s email address and they have the option to reply or not. #3 Attend a Virtual Meeting VIRTUAL MEETINGS ARE THE BEST PLACE TO COMMUNICATE with an instructor and fellow students. Anyone can participate! You do not have to be registered in the course to attend. When attending virtual meetings, please bring questions applicable to the topic being discussed. Watch for our emails outlining upcoming virtual meetings dates and times. Or visit our website at www.genealogicalstudies.com, click on Information in the top menu bar, and then Virtual Learning Room for the full schedule. #4 Follow The National Institute’s Blog Go to http://blog.genealogicalstudies.com/ and scroll down. On the right hand side of the page you will see Subscribe to Blog via Email. In the text box, enter your email address and click on the Subscribe button. Once subscribed, you will receive an email each time we post an article. Each blog article includes a link to write a comment or share via social media. Look for these options at the end…

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December Memories

Ready or not, December is upon us. Many people are happy to see the end of 2020 coming! It has definitely been a challenging year for many. At the National Institute, we have been continuing to offer quality online education with over 230 courses to choose from. The first Monday of the month means another rotation of courses will be starting on December 7th. December is also a time for Remembering Family Traditions. The Holidays are filled with a combination of memories of past celebrations and opportunities to create new ones. Our 2020 holiday plans will certainly be different than in past years, but perhaps, it is a unique opportunity to really examine our usual traditions and explore how they established their place in our own family. How have they changed from one generation to the next? Have you shared your holiday memories with younger generations? Have you asked the older generations about their childhood traditions and memories? This is the perfect time to initiate those conversations. The bonus is – if you do this in a virtual format, you will have the opportunity to record their memories in their own voices. What a precious family keepsake! It is a time for Preserving Family Origins. Many holiday traditions originate from our countries of origin. Watch for traditional holiday foods made only for this time of year. Special family recipes are pulled out and prepared with love. Grandma’s recipe carries on the family tradition, but it carries memories with it as well, not only for the tastes and smells, but also of the person who prepared it many years ago. They are not forgotten, especially when sharing with younger generations, so they know why we continue the tradition. Share those stories. Record those stories. Document their origins. Search out how they became your family’s tradition. You may discover parts of the story you have forgotten, but when a sibling or a cousin relays their memory and “the rest of the story” may be revealed. Look at photographs of past celebrations. So many stories are triggered by old photos, sparking memories and reminiscing with family members. These times are so important and pull the generations together. Investigate how your ancestors celebrated the holidays in their time, especially the immigrant ancestors. How was it different “in the old country”? Did they bring traditions with them, or did they embrace new traditions? Most families…

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Presentations Come and Go, but You Always Remember Your First

One of the truly valuable courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is our Lecturing Skills Including Preparation course. This course focuses on the skills needed to present genealogical-related lectures to a variety of audiences. It is a “hands on” course where the student will develop all aspects of the lecturing process including the proposal and biographical sketch; marketing; syllabus material; creating lecture slides; and much more. Linda Debe is one of our most recent students who has completed this course, and she shares her experience below. Presentations Come and Go, but You Always Remember Your First by Linda Debe, Student  On Saturday, Nov 14, 2020, I presented my first official webinar to fellow students, colleagues, friends, and family. This presentation was part of the National Institute’s course: Lecturing Skills Including Preparation. First, I had to decide on a lecture topic. I started my list, but none of the topics really gave me that warm fuzzy feeling. Adding to the topic dilemma, I only had 30 minutes to present, so it had to be interesting yet explained in the allotted time. A friend suggested, “Talk about what you love… maps.” With that, I decided to do an introductory presentation on Google My Maps. I have watched many presentations explaining Google Earth Pro, but not as many on My Maps. Once I had the presentation topic, I needed to decide on a title. I decided on “Google My Maps: Visualizing Your Ancestors’ Lives.”  It was to the point, yet kind of catchy. I have used Google My Maps for about a year, and I really like “seeing” my ancestors on a map as I track them from their origins and immigration into the United States to their migration across the country as they lived their lives. I can add photos of my ancestors, their homes, tombstones, or any other photo I have, to that location, to help bring it to life. For example, it’s great to find your family in the 1880 US Census, but what if you added that census record to a pin in the exact location the family lived on your map?  How cool would that be? Another nice thing about this app is you can color code your pins (places on your map). You can even change the pin icon, so it’s not the boring default balloon pin, but maybe a house, cow, hospital, castle, or piece of…

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Demystifying Culture and Folklore

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies’ course Demystifying Culture and Folklore encourages students to explore their primary cultures (race, ethnicity, nationality) and their subcultures (religion, family, occupations, etc.), to determine how these have influenced their ancestors’ generation, and how they have been influenced by the intergenerational folklore passed down from their ancestors. Check out these past Blog Posts to read more about how this course helps us to discover elements of our own primary ancestral cultures, and perhaps start to recognize and understand ways folklore and subcultures have influenced and shaped our families today. Part 1: Demystifying Culture and Folklore: Intro  Each component of Demystifying Culture and Folklore, will stimulate the need for deeper investigation to pursue “the rest of the story” to verify what was revealed. Part 2: Our Primary Cultures  As you work through the course, you will discover which cultures have influenced your family and identify the elements that have survived and are being perpetuated to the next generations. Pieces begin to fit together to reveal how race, ethnicity and nationality are uniquely interwoven in your family. Part 3: Our Immigrant Ancestors’ Culture  Our Immigrant Ancestors faced many challenges and their original root cultures traveled with them, embedded in their very being and preserved within the traditions they practiced. Their responses are often reflecting their culture’s beliefs. Part 4: Cultural Assimilation  Cultural Assimilation was challenging for our ancestors as they either embraced their new culture or struggled to maintain their folkways in the midst of conflicting social or occupational settings. The Demystifying Culture & Folklore course explores how your family embraced their new culture, or how they struggled to adapt. The final outcome from completing this course will be a richer understanding of our family and the lives of our ancestors – Demystifying its unique Culture and the Folklore that has been passed down the generations. Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. Contact information: 1 (800) 580-0165 Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION