Last Virtual Meetings for May 2022
Join our virtual meetings to meet your instructors and have your course and research questions answered…
Transcription Tip: Finding George
Our students at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies are encouraged to access original documents whenever possible. These are usually either fully handwritten, or have handwritten entries on forms. It is advised to transcribe all of documents we gather for our research projects. As we continue to explore developing our Transcribing Skills, we will discover the value of spending the time necessary to transcribe our original documents, especially those that are hard to decipher. All family history researchers, no matter what their level of expertise, should strive to acquire these core research skills. See below for links to our courses designed to equip our students with this vital ability. When we search original records, we will encounter many different styles of handwriting, even when they are using the same script of a certain time period. Just as today, we all have our own handwriting styles. We tend to always make certain letters in the same way, but for other letters it may vary, even depending on the word we are writing, or where the letter is positioned in that word. In the same way that other people become accustom to reading our handwriting, we begin to recognize the handwriting styles of those clerks and census enumerators in the documents we are accessing. Specific characteristics show up on the same page or for the entries for a district, like in civil registrations or church records. We can easily tell when the entries are made by a different person. Today’s Transcription Tip is the use of Transcription Cheat…
How Far Back Can I Go?
Everyone’s Research is Different One of the most frequently asked genealogy questions is “How far back can I go?” This is a very difficult question to answer. Everyone’s research is different. Accessibility and the availability of documents as well as the possible destruction of records means that the answer to the above question might be different even for the same person tracing two different families on their tree. There are so many factors involved. Some will deal with your own family’s history and other factors may include the impact of local events. For example, if your ancestors were from the southern United States, the Civil War may have led to the destruction of some records. Fires have affected many records throughout history including the 1890 US Federal Census. You will find that, as you get involved in your new hobby, your parameters may change. You should initially be concerned with documenting the generations closest to you such as your parents and grandparents which will eventually lead you to “jump the pond” and research an immigrant ancestor. It won’t take long for you to notice that both the study of genealogy and the study of history are very closely related. Some find it to be a lifelong pursuit and the challenge is, no matter how far back you go, you can always attempt to go further. Through our “Methodology-Part 1: Getting Started” course you will discover more about this common question and how you can achieve your objective.
New Eastern European Records Certificate
The National Institute for Genealogical Studies Announces a New Eastern European Records Certificate Features Courses Written by Lisa Alzo, MFA For Immediate Release 27 February 2018 The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is proud to announce a new addition to our Certificate Programs. The Eastern European Records Certificate features courses in researching various records and repositories in Eastern Europe. Course author and genealogy professional, Lisa Alzo, MFA says of researching Eastern European ancestors, “A vast number of immigrants came to the United States and Canada from various areas in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unfortunately, in the past, those with Eastern European roots have been reticent to begin research on their immigrant ancestors due to perceived barriers of language, geography, and difficulty with accessing and understanding the records. With the popularity of DNA testing, more people are discovering they have Eastern European ancestry and have a desire to know more. As more records become accessible with each passing year, it has never been easier to consolidate known facts with newly discovered information.” Courses in this new certificate program include: Eastern European: Locating Places in Eastern Europe Eastern European: Understanding Migration Patterns Eastern European: The Languages and Alphabets Eastern European: Chronological Considerations: The Austro-Hungarian Empire Eastern European: Civil Registration Records Eastern European: Church Records Eastern European: Other Records (Tax, Military, Land, Census) Eastern European: Record Repositories Eastern European: Onsite Research in the Ancestral Homeland Eastern European: Problem Solving Other courses offered include research, records,…