Author name: Ruth Blair

Online Education with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies

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Have you ever considered taking genealogy courses to help you with your research, to expand your knowledge base or to begin your preparation to become a professional? I was looking for all of these when I found the National Institute for Genealogical Studies in October of 1999.

I had read an article about the program in Maclean’s magazine and was very excited to find a program on offer in Canada. I had been researching different programs to see what would best suit my finances and what I wanted from this type of education. My post secondary education already included two diplomas from Sheridan College for Research Techniques and General Arts and Science.

To be honest I had all but given up taking genealogy courses to expand my experience. They were very expensive and if they were available by correspondence I would still have to go to the educational institution to do my final exam. Since most of the institutions offering these programs were in the United States this was out of my budget range.

So you can imagine my excitement in reading about the online courses that were going to be offered by the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. The article in Maclean’s said they were affiliated with the University of Toronto. I was at the “Word on the Street” festival in Toronto and the University had a booth. The people manning the booth had not heard about the program, it was that new. While at a one day genealogy conference I found a flyer on a table about the program and grabbed it up. This was a Saturday and I had to wait until Monday to call.

First thing Monday morning I called and they had just started their very first course so I had to wait until the beginning of November to start my course and then I was off! I have completed my Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies (PLCGS) for Canada, England, Ireland and Methodology and was in the first graduation class for each program.

The NIGS offers a variety courses. You can take a single course or you can take a full certificate course. Do you have ancestors in Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, United States or Scotland? Are you a Librarian who would like to take genealogy courses so you can better serve the patrons coming into your facility? The National Institute can help.

You not only take your courses online but you upload your assignments and do your exams online as well. They also offer chats with instructors that are audio and video. You will see the instructor but if you do not have a webcam that is not a problem. Everyone is welcome and it is a chance for students and instructors to meet. If students have questions, need clarification or just want to connect with their classmates this is the place to do it.

There is the choice of printing out the reading material on your own printer or ordering the material already printed and getting a binder to store it in. If you get the pre printed material it comes all at once. If you do it yourself you have to wait for each week to be released before it can be printed.

You can basically custom make this program to suit you, your schedule and your price points.

Want to do one course on how to research your Slovak, Scandinavian or Polish ancestry? How about a course that tests your analysis and skills for each level of the program you are taking? The National Institute can help you with that as well.

I have risen through the ranks at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I started as a student and then became an author and instructor. Are you planning a genealogical research trip to Ireland? Consider taking my course “Planning a Research Trip to Ireland”. I also moderate the chat sessions for the Irish program.

You can start slowly with a single course and then build upon that baseline. Or you can jump in and take a full certificate course. One thing I can say is that I am very glad that this program was on offer when I was looking to improve my genealogical knowledge base.

Check out their website or give them a call and have a chat. You will be glad you did.

©2010 – Blair Archival Research

Irish Research and the fight for Independence

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Recently I came across a new blog called “On a flesh and bone foundation: Irish History” and found it very interesting. Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman is researching her Grandmother and her family who lived in Dublin at the start of the 20th century. The Magee family was also involved in the Irish War of Independence.

Jennifer’s blog provides a good description of how family and history come together. She shows the effects of the Irish War of Independence on the family and how the death of a beloved son affected them.

Jennifer shares her trials and tribulations of doing research in Ireland as well as the joys and sorrows of seeing the places that played a big role in her family’s lives.

I would suggest that you visit the blog and have a great read.

©2010 – Blair Archival Research

Have you ever tried the Scotland’s People website?

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Have you ever tried the Scotland’s People website? This website is run by the Government of Scotland and overseen by Brightsolid who also own “Find My Past” and may soon own “Genes Reunited”.

This is a genealogist’s dream website as it has the complete civil registration and census records online. They are indexed and there are digital images available. You can also find copies of probate records as well as Old Parish Registers for baptisms, marriage banns and burials. The burial records are not complete so please check the reference to OPR burials on the website that tells you what years and places are available.

There is a fee involved and it is 6 GBP which at the current rate of exchange is approximately 9.30 CDN. You get 30 credits for this price. Theoretically to view the index page and one image would cost you 1.86 CDN.

To view an index page of 25 entries will cost 1 credit. A search may come up with more than twenty five entries but they tell you how many search results there are. You then have the option of narrowing down the search before opening the index page.

Once in the index page if you find the correct entry you click on view image. This will cost you 5 credits per image viewed. If you decide to search to either side of the original image remember that will also cost you 5 credits per image. They clearly make note of this on the website.

The search process is the same for all the documents available except for the Wills and Testaments. You can search the index and see the results of the search for free. If you find a document it will cost you 5 GBP (7.75 CDN) to view the entire file. The file could be one, two or eleven pages the price would be the same.

Scotland’s People also have several places that can help you with your research. If you are having difficulty reading the handwriting there is a section to help you with this problem. Check under Help & Resources to see what other reference materials they have that can help you with your research.

In my experience if I have ever had a problem with the images it has been rectified very quickly. Once I clicked on an index entry that was supposed to be for my ancestor in the census. When the page came up they were not there and no one with the same surname was on the page. I emailed Scotland’s People to let them know and a couple of days later I got a response and the credits were put back into my account. Once I even got a few extra credits as an apology which was very nice indeed.

One thing you must do with Scotland’s People is read the directions and descriptions on the website very carefully.

The Registers of Corrected Entries for example. These show up if the page you have downloaded has one attached to it. There is a little red box at the top and it costs you 2 credits to view this entry. The only problem is that it can be for any of the people listed on the birth, marriage or death entry. Read the entry carefully as you should find a reference to the RCE in the right hand margin of the entry page. This will tell you if the RCE relates to your ancestor.

Educate yourself on the counties and parishes of Scotland to help you better identify your ancestors in the indexes.

Remember that the Old Parish Registers deal only with the established church in Scotland. Scotland’s church history is too complicated to cover here but you can find a good reference to it in “Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry” by Kathleen B. Cory, Third Edition, Revised and Updated by Leslie Hodgson, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 2004. In the Illustrations section, figure 7, is a copy of “Burleigh’s Chart of Scottish Churches” which outlines the complicated history. If you do a Google search for “Burleigh’s Chart of Scottish Churches” you can find it in Google Books.

You can let the purchasing of credits and searching get away from you if you are not careful. Too save a little money you can always search the Scottish Civil Registration Indexes on microfilm at some Mormon Family History Centres. I know my local one has a complete set but yours might not so check it out.

Ancestry also has indexes to the Scottish census records but no images. Check these census indexes to help narrow down your search on Scotland’s People.

You will still have to view the index page to get to the image at Scotland’s People but you will know what you are looking for and may not have to view as many index pages.

My Scottish blood insists that I find the best way to save a penny no matter what I am purchasing!

©2010 – Blair Archival Research