Transcription Tuesday – Practice with Projects
Follow Transcription Tuesday for hints and tips about transcribing your ancestral documents…
Transcription Tuesday – Projects
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 Once these skills are understood, reading and analyzing historical documents will become much easier.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…
Transcription Tuesday – German Handwriting
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…
Transcription Tuesday Dutch Handwriting
The National Institute for Genealogical Studies offers 230+ online courses on a wide variety of topics, providing genealogical education for those interested in beginning to research their family history, as well as professional genealogists. As we continue to explore developing Transcription Skills, we realize that most researchers will eventually discover immigrant ancestors whose original language was not English. This can make transcribing their documents a challenge when the language is not familiar. Our Basic Level course: Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting was created to equip all of our students with this essential ability, but how can you start transcribing when you can’t even read the documents? DUTCH Research Our course Research: Dutch Ancestors in the Netherlands is an excellent resource for those who discover that they have Dutch Ancestors. It will guide you through the records that contain details about your ancestors’ lives. But how can you overcome the language barrier? Here are a few resources to assist you with translating the documents in order to prepare them for transcriptions. The FamilySearch Research Wiki is always a good place to start. FamilySearch – The Netherlands Genealogy FamilySearch – The Netherlands Online Genealogy Records FamilySearch – Netherlands Handwriting FamilySearch – Learning to Read Dutch Handwriting FamilySearch – Dutch Genealogical Word List Look for websites that provide tips and tutorials, created by those with experience using these records. Webinars and special collections will provide useful information for your research. BYU Script Tutorial – The Dutch Documents The Warehouse – Handwriting: Dutch Old Alphabet Dutch Genealogy – Quick tip – Mind…
Genealogical Education Goals
Most of the major holiday celebrations are coming to a close. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to have opportunity to visit with family, and even to interview some of your family members, or browse through family photos. Be sure to record any family stories you were able to discover over this holiday season, as well as recording your own annual memories. It certainly was another year to remember! Now it is time to get ready to plan for new genealogical adventures. What do you hope to discover? Do you have a research focus? Making Realistic Genealogical Goals is key to successful research, both in the short term, and with long lasting rewards. Knowing what you want to accomplish is not enough. You need to make definite plans. Are you planning to apply to a lineage society? Do you need to get your files and documents organized? Implement a system that works for you. Have you lost where you left off in your research? Review the notes for your findings and make a proper Research Plan. Forgot where you found that information? Be sure to always cite your sources at the time of the discovery in order to review your work and make sure you will be able to find that source again. At a time when the accessibility of many repositories is uncertain, and possibly closed to in-person visits, work on what you can achieve at home and stay organized. Make a detailed list of what has been left undone and needs…