International Institute of Genealogical Studies

Note: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered. 

The book(s) are available at GenealogyStore.com

Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian (1997; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2011). 

OR

Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Third Edition Revised (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2017). 

Optional Print Course Material: American: Census Records

This course is designed to give you a better understanding of the history, content, and uses of census records and related material. Much census material is available on computerized databases located in many familiar places—libraries, archives, etc. This course focuses your search for documents and information. We review common pitfalls and offer tips on how to avoid them.

Note: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered. The book(s) are available at GenealogyStore.com

Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian (1997; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2011). 

OR

Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Third Edition Revised (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2017). 

Optional Print Course Material: American: Vital Records, Understanding and Using the Records

Birth, marriage and death records in the United States are examined. The history and the depth of the information is discussed. The recording of vital statistics often done at the time the event means the information is often of high accuracy. Some problems with accuracy are explored. The objectives of this course include:

• Understanding the creation of vital records in the United States
  
• Locating vital records in the United States
  
• Evaluating information in these records 
  
• Creating a research plan based on availability of records 
  
• Securing documents needed to prove your family lineage

Optional Course Print Material: American: Religious Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Land Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Overview of the history and types of land documents in the United States with Colonial Records (English, French, Mexican, Spanish). We examine land grants, the history of homestead records, and the development bounty lands are discussed. Deeds and maps are examined. The availability of statewide and Internet land record sources and resources, where located ,and how to contact the appropriate repository are integral to this course.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Cemetary Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course will explore the history of cemeteries, the symbolism used, and the types of cemeteries. We will discuss the records created, how to locate a gravesite, and a summary of records published in books and online.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Religious Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

In this course we discuss American religions in the United States primarily after 1800, including the Orthodox, Easternrite Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, groups of the Restoration Movement, and others. The course will explore types of religious records available, how to use them, and where accessed. History of religious groups as relevant to their records is included.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Immigration and Naturalization Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

In this course we discuss how to trace your immigrant ancestors to the United States. Includes the various immigration and naturalization sources such as passenger arrival lists. Other sources and strategies for documenting immigrants are explored. Historical background of immigration to the United States as relevant to genealogy is covered.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Migration Patterns

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

The purpose of this course is to discuss and illustrate the history of migration across the United States. This includes particular routes individual ancestors would have followed in the migration westward. the time period of settlement of areas of the United States, and specifics about the common patterns of movement of people between areas and states through the decades.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Probate Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course discusses legal records created by the courts when an ancestor died. Some individuals had wills written before death, and in other cases “administration” records were kept of people who died without a will. Many other records could have been created depending on the time period, place, and prominence of the ancestor.

Optional Course Print Material: American Institutional Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Focusing on vital records and the census can yield a rather incomplete picture of our ancestors’ lives. Many researchers may avoid examining institutional records because they believe it is demeaning to the ancestor, or they believe the records will not shed any new information. Institutional records often contain a wealth of information. This course will introduce the student to records of institutions such as orphanages, prisons, poor houses, asylums, and schools. Students will learn how to determine the correct institution, how to find the records, and how to use the records to lead to new sources. The course also covers possible difficulties in records access.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Newspaper Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course will introduce you to newspapers as a genealogical resource; from an introductory overview of newspapers, and a look at the history of American newspapers to accessing newspapers online. A look at how you may already be using newspapers will be examined. The different kinds of information, from basic vital record details to local news and historical or biographical items will be discussed with emphasis on how to get the most genealogical information by knowing what types of news items will have what kinds of facts and what may require additional research. Finally, you will be introduced to the different ways to find and access newspapers including interlibrary loan, newspaper morgues, microfilm, and online.

Optional Course Print Material: American: Military Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Within this course, there is a discussion of the various types of records created by military service, such as service records, muster rolls, pension records, and draft registration. The content of the records and their usefulness for genealogy and immigration research are described. Records of conflicts of the United States and colonial America from the early colonial wars of the seventeenth century to the Second World War are included. The Army, Navy, and other branches of service are detailed. History of military action in America as it relates to records is also included.

Optional Print Course Material: American: Court Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course provides an overview of United States court records, selected finding aids to United States court records and strategies for gleaning the records of the courts. It introduces additional resources and strategies for documenting the interaction of your ancestors and the United States courts; and provides a brief historical background as is relevant to various court records.

Students will be encouraged to share their findings (including additional sources and strategies) while studying the interaction of their families and the courthouse.

Students enrolling in this course will have successfully completed the International Institute of Genealogical Studies’ courses United States: Land Records, United States: Probate Records, and United States: Immigration & Naturalization Records, or have a great deal of experience researching land, probate, and immigration & naturalization records.

At the end of this course, an exam will be provided to evaluate your understanding of the course materials.

Optional Course Print Material: American: Occupational Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Genealogy and the study of family history are more than just the gathering of names and dates. To understand our ancestor, we must look at all aspects of their life, including what they did for a living. This course will focus on occupational records and what they can reveal about our ancestor’s lives.

To learn more about an individual’s occupation the researcher must utilize more than one record. Once the researcher has searched familiar records like the census, city directories, and newspapers, they must continue on with archival records that may document the ancestor’s specific occupation and activities surrounding that occupation. This requires the researcher to access data from many different sources and then analyzes the data to gain the most complete picture of an individual and their occupation or life’s work.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Census Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Census records are a pivotal source in trying to document our ancestry. They are among the most useful and commonly utilized records available to genealogists. By documenting the individuals and families in each census year, they provide a snapshot of what was happening at that time. This course will instruct the student in how to access Canadian census records and how to analyze the information provided. Differences between rural and urban censuses will be examined. Suggestions for using census substitutes, census finding aids, and resources will also be provided. A short history of census records in Canada is included.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

The recording of an individual’s vital statistics was most often done at the time the event occurred. This usually means that the information is considered accurate. Unfortunately, vital statistics records can often be very difficult to find. This course will concentrate on the vital statistics gathered by the provincial governments and the various churches. Birth, marriages, and deaths records will be examined to determine how much information is actually available and helpful for the genealogist. How and why the information was gathered as well as when it began will be discussed.

Suggestions for using the Internet for researching many vital statistics records will also be provided. A short lesson in the history and geography of each province is included.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Wills and Estate Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

It’s exciting finding an ancestor’s Last Will and Testament and a great deal of valuable genealogical information is available in these documents. These records are often overlooked.

 Whether the deceased was testate or intestate, this course will show where to search for wills and estates keeping in mind the historical era and the geographical location in Canada. We will also show you what kind of genealogical information you will find.

We will examine how these documents will reveal not only the distribution of the property and possessions of your ancestors but also what other relevant historical information is sometimes available.

Wills & Estates records can lead to new clues in your research.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Land Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course provides an overview of both early Crown land records and private property registrations in Canada. Major record groups, such as Land Petitions, the Ontario Land Record Index, and the Abstract Index to Deeds will be examined with particular attention to their genealogical significance.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Census Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course is a continuation of Canadian: Census Records-Part 1. Both courses are required for the Certificate Program in Genealogy. 

This Intermediate Level course will build on the basic skills developed in Canadian: Census Records-Part 1, with emphasis on interpreting the information found in census records, analyzing the information and formulating a research plan to prove or disprove the hypothesis formed in your analysis.

 As the Intermediate Level course is a compulsory portion of the Certificate Program in Genealogy, skills required by professional researchers will be developed. Students should bear in mind that assignments submitted should be clearly written, with appropriate explanations and suggestions. Not all students will have the same timely access to actual census records. In order to provide each student with the necessary information for every Case Study, the information will be based on a hypothetical family and census records, and all pertinent information will be supplied to the student with their Course Notes and Assignments. The census information will follow the format of an actual census for the year indicated, and all data that might be found in an actual census record for that year will be included. The names of family members and their personal information will be hypothetical, as will the documentation of the census page. However, it is expected that by now the student has consulted some actual census records in order to familiarize themselves with the process of locating and using these records.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

You were probably surprised by the amount of information included in the Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 1 Course. You will recognize that some material in Part 2 was included in the basic course. It is being repeated in order for the student to focus on this particular facet of present day documents. The Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 2 course will continue to describe the whereabouts of the records that are available at government archives as well as government offices and court houses records, i.e.: government present day registrations for births, marriages and deaths; adoption records from government offices and divorce records from both. The other area we will cover is that of adoption records and their accessibility. An adoption search is quite different from any other search you will ever undertake and should be done with great care. It affects the lives of the living more profoundly than you would ever imagine. We will also be examining the procedure for finding and using divorce records in genealogy.