International Institute of Genealogical Studies

Course Content

MODULE 1
STATE OF THE SOULS RECORDS
Introduction to State of the Souls Records
Where Can These Records Be Found?
State of the Souls Records in Genealogy
Working with the Documents

MODULE 2
CATHOLIC MARRIAGE RECORDS & MARRIAGE BANNS
Marriage in the Roman Catholic Church
Marriage Banns

MODULE 3
ECCLESIASTICAL MARRIAGE RECORDS
Introduction to Marriage Records
Working with the Records

MODULE 4
ECCLESIASTICAL MARRIAGE SUPPLEMENTS
Introduction to Marriage Supplements
Impediments to Marriage
Working with the Records

MODULE 5
CASE STUDY
Final Summary

COURSE CONTENT

MODULE 1
Introduction to Genealogy
What Genealogy Means
Why would you want to trace your ancestors?
How far back can you go?
What to Do Before You Start Your Research
Construct a Miniature Tree
Privacy and GDPR
Recording Your Information

MODULE 2
First Steps in Genealogy Research
Websites
The Family Group Record
How to Begin the Research Stage
What sources does your family have?
Finding Living Relatives: A Resource Not to be Missed

MODULE 3
Researching
Websites
Research Objectives
The Sources We Use
Types of Information

MODULE 4
Confusing Situations
Meaning of Words
Surnames
Changes in Boundaries
Changes in the Calendars

MODULE 5
Repositories
Websites
What Outside Repositories To Contact
Genealogical & Historical Associations
Archives
Public & Provincial/State Libraries
Newspapers
Indexes of Various Data
Periodicals, Magazines & Newsletters from Genealogical
Associations

MODULE 6
Case Study
OUTSIDE REPOSITORIES TO CONTACT
Private Libraries & Associations
Family History Centers
Churches & Religious Records
Cemeteries
Advice
Transcription of Documents
A Basic Genealogical Research Plan

COURSE CONTENT

MODULE 1
ORGANIZING & SKILL-BUILDING
Getting Started…Some Basic Points
Consistency
Abbreviations
Storage of Your Materials

DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
Research Skill: Transcribing Documents
Transcribing Standards
Punctuation/Diacritical Marks
Handwriting
Obsolete Letters
Dates
Square Brackets and Illegible Words
Comments and Interpretation

MODULE 2
ORGANIZING YOUR INFORMATION
Reference Numbers
Ancestral Reference Numbering System
Descendants Reference Numbering System
Forms to Organize Your Information
Pedigree Chart
Family Group Record

DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
Research Skills: Abstracting Documents
Abstracting Standards
Identifying the Document
Staying Faithful to Original Order
Quotes and Extracts if Useful
Spelling, Dates ...
Illegibility
Clarification

MODULE 3
ORGANIZING YOUR INFORMATION USING FORMS
Forms – Part 1
Research Forms
Research Log
Daily Journal
Address & Telephone Directory
Location
Research Checklist

DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
Research Skills: Sources, Information & Evidence
Sources
Information
Evidence
Proof

MODULE 4
ORGANIZING YOUR INFORMATION USING FORMS
Forms – Part 2
Information Request
Resource Centres & Websites
My Ancestors and My Ancestors’ Descendants
Difficult Searches
DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
Research Skills: Genealogical Proof Standard
“Evidence” and “Proof”
The Genealogical Proof Standard
Sample Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) Proof Argument
Research Planning

MODULE 5
ORGANIZING INFORMATION USING FORMS
Additional Forms
Expense Journal
Precious Documents Inventory
Special Family Memento
How Has Your Family Changed?
Personal Diary
Organizing Precious Documents & Photographs
Major Disasters
Summary of Getting Organized

MODULE 6
DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS
Research Skills: Citing Your Sources (Citations)
Core Elements for Original Sources
Core Elements for Derivative Sources
Core Elements for Online Sources
Structure
Example Citations
Vital Record
Civil Registration
Book
Chapter/Article
Online Family Tree
Database
Digital Image
Summary of Research Skills

Course Content

MODULE 1
TRANSCRIPTIONS
What is a Transcription?
General Rules for Transcriptions
Citation and Other Documentation
Method of Transcribing a Document
Method of Transcribing Directly from the Original Document

MODULE 2
WORD PROCESSING FEATURES
Auto Correction
Spell Check
Automatic Capitalization
Superscript and Subscript
Small Capitals
Lines Over Letters
Tables
Indentations & Margins
Large Bracket

MODULE 3
ABSTRACTING
What is an Abstraction?
When to Abstract a Document?
General Rules for Abstracting
Method of Abstracting from a Transcribed Document
Method of Abstracting Directly from a Document

MODULE 4
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
Transcription Exercise

MODULE 5
EXTRACTION
What is an Extraction?
Census
Church Registers
General Rules for Extracting

QUOTATIONS
What is a Quotation?
General Rules for Quoting

MODULE 6
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
Transcription Exercise
Abstraction Exercise
Transcription Exercise
Quotation Exercise

Course Content

MODULE 1
WRITING MATERIALS
PALAEOGRAPHY
Techniques for Reading Early Documents
Transcribing the Manuscript
Workbook Challenges #1-1 to #1-7

MODULE 2
EARLY FORMS OF SPEED WRITING
Reading Words Containing Contractions or Ligatures
Punctuation, Grammar & Literary Style
Creative Spelling
Common Spelling Variations
Workbook Challenges #2-1A to #2-7

MODULE 3
ROMAN NUMERALS
CURRENCY
Workbook Challenges #3-1 to #3-6

MODULE 4
CALENDARS, ANCIENT & MODERN
Dating Manuscripts
Regnal Year
Civil Registration/Vital Statistics/Vital Records
Workbook Challenges #4-1 to #4-7

MODULE 5
WEIGHTS & MEASURES
Length
Surveyors’ Measurements
Capacity
Common Usage in Home Therapy
Workbook Challenges #5-1 to #5-7

MODULE 6
THE CHURCH, THE MANOR & SOCIAL LIFE
Church Feasts & Festivals
Manorial Records
Court Leet
The Records
Workbook Challenges #6-1 to #6-7

MODULE 7
SURNAMES
Origins of Surnames
Naming Patterns for Newborns
Social Structure in Britain

OCCUPATIONS

Workbook Challenges #7-1 to #7-7

MODULE 8
LATIN TERMINOLOGY
Understanding Latin
Family Relationships
Latin Terms in Parish Documents
Latin Terms in Legal & Manorial Documents
Latin Terms & Abbreviations in Medical Documents
Apothecary Weight (Mass)
Fluid Measurement
Workbook Challenges #8-1 to #8-7

The enormous genealogical collection available on New FamilySearch and at Family History Centers is a veritable goldmine for family historians. The rapid development by the Family History Library of a variety of brand new websites associated with New FamilySearch to facilitate research online is explored in this course.

We describe the most important genealogical aids and derivative sources in order to efficiently plan and organize your research. You will learn how to access and efficiently utilize the millions of original sources available in microform at a Family History Center in your locality so you may obtain primary information and documentation. We explain the contents of online databases available free at Family History Centers through their new Portal, and other indexes and original records to be found uniquely at Family History Centers. New FamilySearch is explored as are many other new Latter-day Saints websites such as Record Search Pilot, FamilySearch Labs, FamilySearch Beta, the fantastic Wiki and many others.

While New France did not see large scale conflicts, as occurred in Europe, nonetheless, forts were established throughout the extensive territory, and not surprisingly they could be found along known transportation routes and lines of communication. Despite not seeing a lot of action, the forts became a repository of information storage, and are too often overlooked when searching for genealogical records.

In presenting what may be found at the forts, this course also presents a vignette on the early settlement of North America. Forts were built to serve a specific purpose, then, when a perceived danger subsided, the site may have served other uses or been abandoned and left to ruin.

Throughout the material are compilation listings of past and existing forts, which will leave you with a vital resource and reference list.

This course is designed to provide you with all the skills necessary to build genealogical web pages, from the basics of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the language of the web, to the details of making pages look appealing and easy to navigate, mounting them on the Internet for others to see and inviting the world in to visit.

The Internet has become one of the major tools for assisting family historians with their research and a personal genealogical web page allows a genealogist to take advantage of this electronic medium for disseminating information. It is often quoted anecdotally that genealogy is one of the three biggest uses of the Internet. This kind of potential audience is simply unimaginable for a paper-based family history.

By the end of the course, each student should have a web page or a series of web pages written, coded, and uploaded to a web server and accessible to the public.

The overall assignment for the course is to produce and mount a web site on a server that is available to the public. The web site may consist of just one main page or a series of pages. The course itself is four weeks long, but you will have six weeks to complete your web site.

Archived - Okee course credit

Throughout history Slovaks have been noted for their deep sense of family and community. If you are searching for your Slovak ancestors, networking with others can be a great way to gather information, share stories and solve common research problems. The missing piece of your research puzzle could be hiding in a small-town Slovak parish, a national fraternal organization, a local historical or ethnic society, or perhaps in other unusual and interesting places.

This class will continue on from the basic research class, with emphasis placed on going beyond your own personal genealogy to form a mutually beneficial community-based research protocol through networking with other researchers and participation in professional groups, societies, village-based associations, etc.

A comprehensive traditional and online reference list will be provided. Suggestions for additional resources will be encouraged and welcomed!

Publishing and sharing information and research data with others will also be discussed in detail.

NOTE: The initial course start date is tentative. Please check back periodically as there may be some slight changes.

AFTER NOVEMBER 2012
SCOTTISH: CENSUS RECORDS (Sheena Tait)
This course looks at the history, structure and contents of the 1841-1911 censuses of Scotland. Strategies for searching and locating the records will be discussed together with the limitations of the various sources. We will then look at the research possibilities of earlier census returns, together with their survival back to “Dr Webster’s census” of 1755. We will also look at the National Identity Register of 1939.

BEFORE JANUARY 2008
UNDERSTANDING SCOTLAND (Arlene Eakle)
This course represents the Jurisdictional Approach to Scottish Research. This approach makes it easier to find and access records themselves. It also emphasizes the context in which ancestors lived their lives. The importance of knowing the structure and relationship of government units to each other and to the population of Scotland cannot be overemphasized. Each unit had its own governing rights and created its own records. These records often paralleled or overlapped coverage of the people subject to that jurisdiction. In times of local chaos, loss of records by one unit can be compensated in the preservation of records in another.

NOTE: The initial course start date is tentative. Please check back periodically as there may be some slight changes.

AFTER JUNE 2012:
SCOTTISH: STATUTORY REGISTRATION (Sheena Tait)
Birth, marriage and death certificates are the fundamental building blocks of genealogical research in Scotland. This course looks at the development of the Statutory Registration system in Scotland. It will provide the practical details needed to understand the system of civil registration, where to find and how to use indexes and certificates. The course looks in detail at what the certificates can tell us and at the legislation which affected what was included in certificates at the different periods of time and in both copies of the registers and certified copies of the certificates.

BEFORE JANUARY 2008
BASIC SOURCES (Arlene Eakle)
The usual approach to building a pedigree is to begin at the local level, where records closer to the family members are kept. Tracing a Scottish family in 2004 requires a more efficient access to data. The General Register Office for Scotland (GRO-S) received official and mandated copies of many of the records we consider "local" (because they were collected at the local level). These records have been entered into a digital database, centrally and directly available to you—so, we begin here.

Jurisdictionally, we orient ourselves to the parish (district) and the county. Practically, we search the central database for these parish and county records. This will happen with several record categories required in your research because of the need of government officials to report, account for, collect, and preserve the records of your ancestors.

This course provides detailed information about search engines, general genealogy sites, Jewish genealogy sites, JewishGen, Holocaust research, archival research sites and many other resources accessible from the comfort of your home. You will learn how to go about searching these sites and what to expect from the searches. New resources continually appear on the Internet and the lessons will be updated accordingly.

Four ''Live Online Meetings'' will be offered during this course.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit, or an exam to complete.

Adoption often creates a painful void in the lives of all affected that only resolution via a reunion can heal. Learn successful methods for gathering information from those who hold the keys. Once contact information is attained, you will be gently guided through your important first contact. This course provides not only instructions of how to search, but addresses the emotional aspects that affect such a deeply personal and poignant endeavor.

Due to the sensitive and confidential material in the majority of your searches, in lieu of a public forum of class chats, the instructor will be available to each student via email for the duration of the course for questions and concerns. A limited number of one-on-one instructor/student assistance by email will be available during this course. If more in-depth assistance is required, private consultations can be booked at an additional fee.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit, or an exam to complete.

Although this course is indicated as a 6 week class, you will have access to the instructor only during the first four weeks. The materials will be available to you for an additional two weeks.

TESTIMONIALS

I cannot say enough about you and your class. Your experience, insight and humor made the course so pleasant. I found my half-brother and we are meeting this weekend. Our first toast is going to be to you.

Louis, New York

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A million variables. But by following your advice, following thru and not giving up, we found our needle in the Haystack. 200 million Americans and we found one. If only the Katrina families/agencies had your know-how.
T.D, Chicago, IL

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Dear Linda Rakita,
The month of February 2006, will always be a special memory for me, as that’s when I began your class on adoption.
Having reunited years earlier with a childhood friend who’d been given up for adoption in 1955, who expressed a strong desire to find out about her birth family, and myself being ignorant of this type of research, it made sense to find someone who was not only a professional in this field but one who cared about her students and the class.
Looking back over the years and remembering all of my teachers, I can count only three who were outstanding & as a consequence, I did very well in those classes. Outside of the public school system, it is obvious to me that you also display high standards of excellence in your teaching.
I can’t remember when I’ve had so much fun with an instructor. You immediately sensed my passion for research. You responded to my questions in a very timely manner and sometimes you threw in what I’ll call, a treat—something you found on your own about a possible birth family member connected to my project. Of course this served to whet my insatiable hunger for deeper digging on my own!
This quest for answers on behalf of my friend at times, became emotionally charged and particularly so, the closer I reached the mark. I felt very comfortable pouring my heart out to you and am so thankful for the sensible as well as compassionate responses and advice from you. At times you sprinkled your messages with humor and your efforts did not go unnoticed and were most welcome.
In closing, I’d like to say that based on my experience with you, I know you’ll continue to be a beacon of light to others in whatever direction you travel. Thank you for enlightening me!
Sincerely,
Sandy, Tracy, CA

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Linda is very experienced in her field. She is intelligent, intuitive, resourceful and extremely competent - all important qualities needed for any successful searcher. In addition, she is an honest, sensitive and compassionate person who is passionate about her work. In my opinion, this makes Linda truly special.
Linda is someone who has total respect for the feelings and concerns of others. And she is experienced and wise regarding the complicated nature of human interaction and reaction.
Nancy, New York

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In this course, you will learn the basics of genealogical research, with a focus on how to apply these standards to African-American ancestry. You will learn about the unique history of African-Americans in the United States, from the colonial period to the present time, and understand the impact of this history on your research. Finally, you will learn how to investigate enslaved African-Americans using the records of their owners.

Four ''Live Online Meetings'' will be offered during this course.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit, or an exam to complete.

Although this course is indicated as a 6 week course, you will have access to the instructor only during the first four weeks. The materials will be available to you for an additional two weeks.

A vast number of immigrants from came to America from various areas in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This course will show you how to begin researching your Central and Eastern European roots using both traditional and online sources. Learn how to identify your ancestral village (whether in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, the Ukraine, or other areas), locate and interpret vital records, contact possible relatives, trace your ancestors through census and immigration records, organize your research, and much more!

Four ''Live Online Meetings'' will be offered during this course.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit or an exam to complete.

Although this course is indicated as a 6 week course, you will have access to the instructor only during the first four weeks. The materials will be available to you for an additional two weeks.

You donʼt have to be a prize-winning novelist to capture your familyʼs story on paper! This course will cover how to document your familyʼs story in simple manageable steps. Learn how to conduct an oral history interview-including what questions to ask, when and how to record an interview, how to handle privacy issues, how to write from family photographs and documents, and how to blend genealogical and historical facts with family stories to produce a compelling and lasting narrative.

Four ''Live Online Meetings'' will be offered during this course.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit or an exam to complete.

Although this course is indicated as a 6 week course, you will have access to the instructor only during the first four weeks. The materials will be available to you for an additional two weeks.

If you’ve hit a brick wall in your family history research, you’re not alone. Whether it’s incomplete or “missing” information, an undetermined maiden name, unknown ancestral village, or locating foreign records, the dreaded dead end is the genealogist’s worst nightmare. Learn research techniques to turn your roadblocks into breakthroughs.

Four ''Live Online Meetings'' will be offered during this course.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit or an exam to complete.

Although this course is indicated as a 6 week course, you will have access to the instructor only during the first four weeks. The materials will be available to you for an additional two weeks.

Prior to the twentieth century, it is typically difficult to locate and trace a woman. Most historical records have been created for and/or about men. If you’ve hit a brick wall in the quest to find information about your female ancestors, this course covers strategies and key sources to assist you with your research, and will guide you in the process of writing “her” story.

Four ''Live Online Meetings'' will be offered during this course.

This course does not qualify as a Certificate course in the Certificate in Genealogical Studies program. It will not have assignments to submit or an exam to complete.

Although this course is indicated as 6 week, you will have access to the instructor only during the first four weeks. The materials will be available to you for an additional two weeks.

This course consists of eight lessons spread over four weeks. It will show you how to start researching your English ancestors using both paper-based and online resources. You will learn how to find the “bones” of your family using birth, marriage and death records, census returns, parish registers and wills. You will learn how to organise and retrieve this information, draw up standard descendant and pedigree charts, and produce an outline of your ancestors’ lives. You will also learn how to find out more about where your family lived and the times they lived in.

You will have the opportunity to discuss the course and any research problems with your instructor and fellow students during the four “live online meetings” which are part of this course.