We wish you success for whatever project you are working on this month. Check out our scheduled courses and see which ones will be beneficial to your research. Register and start today, or schedule them for a future date. Happy Researching!…
Our introductory course ‘Discover Your Family History’ will guide you through the steps for how to start your family history, from gathering information from Home Sources to finding records in online databases such as FamilySearch and Ancestry. …
Follow Transcription Tuesday for hints and tips about transcribing your ancestral documents…
Our students at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies register for our online courses for a wide variety of reasons. Many are seeking additional education to hone their research skills, and The Institute provides extensive genealogical education for professional genealogists, as well as those who are interested in beginning to research their family history. Included in our Basic Level courses are the foundational research skills needed to develop solid research methodology practices. Creating Transcriptions is one of those essential skills, however, it does not come naturally for every researcher. For this reason, our Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting Basic Level course has been designed to equip all of our certificate students with this vital ability. It is recommended for all family history researchers, no matter what their level of expertise, to strive to acquire this core skill. Once these skills are understood, reading and analyzing historical documents will become much easier. Assignments in the course material are designed to put into practice the concepts being taught. By accessing actual original documents, students will gain experience in reading historical handwriting, and they will become familiar with the types of records that were created in several time periods and for various purposes. Analyzing records is much more effective when these records are transcribed and abstracted. The skills learned in each course can then be applied to their own research, no matter where their research is focused. The principles and methodology will be the same, allowing researchers to develop specific research strategies for their regions. No matter which topic you study, it is important to put your new knowledge to work and practice your new skills. Experience comes with practice. The more you exercise your newly acquired skills, the more familiar they will become, and you will develop confidence in your abilities. We encourage students to look beyond their own research. There are many opportunities to expand our research. Helping friends or extended family members with their research, exposes us to new records and unfamiliar regions. We learn to think beyond our familiar resources, and seek out new strategies as we develop research plans for their family histories. Finding research projects can help you to develop your skills. Put your transcription knowledge to the test. There are many local genealogy societies or historical groups, who have projects to process their local history needing volunteers. Look for projects in your area. Below are two examples of opportunities to practice your transcription…
The National Institute for Genealogical Studies provides online genealogical education for those interested in a wide variety of topics, including those who are faced with reading records in a language that is unfamiliar to them. Whether you are just beginning to research your family history, or you are a professional genealogist, sooner or later, you will face this challenge. One of the foundational research skills to develop is Transcribing. However, it is difficult to transcript documents in other languages. Transcriptions still need to be created by family history researchers, and often in both languages. For this reason, we have created courses to address some of these challenges. Reading German Records There are two National Institute for Genealogical Studies courses from our German Records Certificate, which deal with German Handwriting and Transcribing Records written in the German language. The first course is German: The Language. This National Institute for Genealogical Studies basic level course introduces the key information needed about the German language so researchers can be successful in reading German records. Read Course Description here The second course is German: Reading the Records. This National Institute for Genealogical Studies intermediate level course provides a detailed discussion and explanation of the old style of German handwriting. Read Course Description here This course requires the purchase of a Compulsory Textbook titled: Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents: Analyzing German, Latin, and French in Vital Records Written in German by Author: Roger P. Minert (2001, 182 pp). It includes a short history of handwriting styles in Germany, detailed separate methodologies for deciphering German, Latin and French vital records, computerized alphabet for old German characters representing the old Fraktur and Gothic handwriting alphabets, and more than 150 illustrations with 131 sample texts. Book is available in our online Genealogy Store. Both courses are part of our German Certificate Program. This can be purchased as a 40-course package, which includes all of the compulsory and elective courses required to complete the Certificate in Genealogical Studies for German Records. Practical Resources for German Handwriting Germany Handwriting – FamilySearch Handwriting Guide: German Gothic – FamilySearch List of Names in Old German Script – BYU Script Tutorial A comprehensive list of German given names, written in old script, with possible variations. Old German Script Transcriber – Deutsche Handschriften This is a very useful webpage. See how your family names were written in the script of their era. Type your name or other word into the font generator tool. Click on one of the 8 different fonts. You can…