International Institute of Genealogical Studies

Optional Print Course Material: Writing Your Family History Book

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

Recording interesting family stories is essential if you want future generations to read your family history book. This course will help you write the story of your life or of your ancestors’ lives. Techniques for researching the facts, remembering the events, writing the text, adding visuals with graphics or photographs, and finally reproducing your book will all be discussed. 

Course Length: 6 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Planning a Fabulous Family Reunion

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

Planning a family reunion is often something you have been thinking or dreaming of for years. But like most projects, at a certain point you must stop dreaming and start doing.

Let's not kid ourselves, planning a family reunion is a big job. It will take lots of hours, and many times you will wonder why you ever dreamed of this.

Yes, you can do this, just don't try to do it by yourself. If you've assembled a good planning team, your family reunion will be a success. This course will give you lots of ideas and suggestions to make the planning of your reunion a little easier.

Genealogy has been known to become a passion or become addictive. Well the enthusiasm in planning a family reunion is infectious, if you have the excitement, you will pass it on.

Course Length: 5 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Writing the Genealogist's Memoir

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

As a genealogy researcher for your family, you can enhance the results of your work, as well as realize personal satisfaction and value, by creating a memoir to enlighten those who read it. Your memoir can tell them about the story behind your research: your inspiration, motivation and/or interest in genealogy; your process; “aha” moments; roadblocks and disappointments; and successes. The professional genealogist or personal historian can also offer a service to help clients create such a companion piece for their family trees or histories. 

This course will explore the importance and value of memoir, a method for accomplishing one, and special issues to consider. Exercises will offer practical application of the material and opportunities to work on writing your memoir. The course will focus on writing as a method but will explore other options, such as audio and video, as well. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Electronic Resources: Organize and Publish a Family Tree

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

This course is designed to give students a wide view of genealogical organization systems available. Geared toward making a sound decision and investment in one’s genealogical software, this course will include cloud-based systems, online trees, desktop software, as well as a brief survey of alternative programs and systems for organizing and displaying genealogical research. 

Optional Print Course Material: Connecting Family: Online and Virtually

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

Computers and the Internet have revolutionized the way families communicate. This course will highlight a few specific ways to use your computer and the Internet to build and strengthen family ties. Topics will include using multimedia techniques to preserve and share family photographs, building an online family tree, creating virtual family history tours/videos, creating online family newsletters, digitizing scrapbooks, publishing an online family history and creating and maintaining family websites, using communication tools such as Skype, and using social media (blogs, Facebook, and Twitter) to find long lost cousins and stay in touch with relatives.

Optional Print Course Material: Research: U.S. African American Ancestors

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

Researching African American genealogy can be difficult but it is not impossible, as some believe. This course focuses on three aspects of genealogical research and how these relate specifically to researching African Americans: research skill, knowledge of records, and understanding of historical context. 

The course is organized into reverse chronological eras, beginning with the twentieth century and moving through the late nineteenth century and Reconstruction, the Civil War era, and the antebellum (pre-Civil War) period. In each module case studies and assignments demonstrate and test the skills being developed. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Materials: Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls

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

NOTE: This course is classified as Basic Level in the Professional Development Certificate Program. 

Developed for individuals who are at or working in the Intermediate to Advanced Levels in our other certificate programs, we advise you complete the Analysis and Skills Mentoring-Part 1 course or have a working knowledge of the topics taught in that course prior to completing this one. 

Brick walls are a reality in genealogy research, but fortunately there's hope. In this course, we look at a variety of strategies you can implement to help turn your research roadblocks into breakthroughs. We begin with a quick refresher of some key research concepts to help focus your research and prepare you for success. Next, we'll walk through some simple steps to get you prepared for the journey. Finally, we'll investigate four different approaches to do some brick wall busting. By the end of this course, you'll have some new ideas for researching brick walls and the inspiration to forge ahead. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Research: House and Farm Histories

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

Conducting research on property can be as rewarding as conducting research on ancestors. The goal of this course is to teach the student to understand the various documents and research necessary to develop and present a house and/or farm history. Throughout this course, the student will build their understanding of house and farm related documents from established text and assignments that will require the student to practice their skills.  

Course Length: 7 weeks

NOTE: Please be aware this course is classified as Intermediate Level in the Professional Development Certificate Program. Developed for individuals at or working in the Intermediate to Advanced Levels in our other certificate programs. If considering this course, you should have completed or have full knowledge/experience from our courses: Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting, Methodology - Part 3: More Strategies, and Methodology - Part 4: Effective Searching and Recording. 

Note: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered. These are available at GenealogyStore.com

1. Board for Certification of Genealogists, Genealogy Standards, 2nd edition revised (Nashville, Tennessee: Ancestry, 2021).
2. Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Third Edition Revised (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2017). 
3. Mills, Elizabeth Shown, Professional Genealogy: A manual for researchers, writers, editors, lecturers and librarians (2001; reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 2012).

Optional Print Course Material: Skill Building: Nuts and Bolts of Reporting Research

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

A professional or serious-minded genealogist needs to perfect core skills, whether they conduct research for clients, lecture, or write. These skills include source citation, transcription, and writing. In genealogy, there are some texts that are considered the standard by which professionals are judged ― these include:

*Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

*Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

*Mastering Genealogical Proof by Dr. Thomas Jones.

*Genealogy Standards by the Board for Certified Genealogists

These books help prepare the professional or serious minded genealogist for the day-to-day work of writing, analyzing, and preparing information for themselves or the clients.

In this course, the student will study portions of some of the above-mentioned texts and complete assignments and exercises to better understand the key elements taught within its pages. 

Course Length: 7 weeks