The Waiting is Finally Over

The hourglass has finally run its course leading up to our Second Announcement. Thank you for your patience. No more suspense, the details are now released.

A Special Announcement from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies:

20% DISCOUNT – words you like to hear…
REGISTRATION FEE INCREASE… words I am sure you don’t want to hear.

December 2007 was the last time the registration fees were adjusted. Yes, you read that correctly, 14 years ago! Remember 2008? That’s when the economy was hit hard. We froze the fees in 2008, and although we have tried numerous times since to raise the fees, the timing simply was not right. Nearly two years ago, in March 2020, we were in the process of again starting the process and then… Covid hit. People were losing their jobs; again, we pulled back and left the fees where they were.

The time has come; it must be done.

BUT it is not all bad news…
We know that for some, this will be more difficult than for others. Here are some OPTIONS:

20% DISCOUNT on ALL registrations (includes individual courses and packages). Use CODE at checkout. (We had originally planned for a 10% discount, but it’s the time of the year to be jolly!) Note: CODE has now expired.
Registrations must be received by midnight Eastern Time on Monday, December 20th.
Register Packages to complete your program. Save substantially: the more courses in the package, the bigger the savings. (Not sure what you need to finish your program? Contact us.)
Money is a little tight because of Christmas? Ask us to defer your payment.
PAYMENT PLAN: We do not charge interest nor service fees, and we can spread the payments over several months. We know Christmas is just around the corner; if it helps, we can start your payments in January 2022.

If you have any questions, or you would like to know the most economical way of completing your program, please contact me:

On our site: click on the button at the bottom of each page, leave us a message, we will contact you. Make sure to include your name, email address, and phone number if you would like us to call you.
Send an email: admin@genealogicalstudies.com
Call: 1-800-580-0165 ext 1

We are here to help you reach your genealogical goals…

Louise St Denis, Managing Director
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Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here.
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Our Recent Professional Development Graduate

Introducing our Graduate of the Professional Development Certificate between June 2019 and October 2021. What an impressive achievement! It took a lot of hard work, patience, and determination to reach your goal. It is time to celebrate the success of all our recent graduate. We are so very proud of you.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATE
Lynn Reesor, PLCGS

Warmest congratulations to our graduate, Lynn…

Our Team at the International Institute of Genealogical Studies
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Our Graduate has completed all requirements for our Professional Development Certificate

Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165 x1
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

Transcription Tuesday – Town Clerk

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies encourages researchers to explore various types of historical documents as they pursue their family’s stories. Our research must reach beyond birth, marriage and death records. There are many more to discover!

As the scope of our research project widens, we must continue to develop our Transcription Skills, becoming more and more familiar with the handwriting used in the time frame of our research. We may eventually begin to recognize whose handwriting is used in an entry. To discover your ancestor’s signature on a document is exciting, but even more so when you discover more of their handwriting than just their name.

Determining their occupation could lead to finding samples of their handwriting in other documents. A good example of this is to discover your ancestor was the Town Clerk. This could lead to revealing many records that he personally entered, including – his signature. There is a thrill to knowing that his hand wrote those words on that page.

Township Records

In Colonial New England, many towns kept Township Records. These are rich with genealogical information, with families often grouped together in the records. When the New England Planters came and settled in Nova Scotia in the 1760s, they established the same system of record keeping. The entries were recorded by the Town Clerk.

The following death record was found as one of the “Selected Items” in the Township Records for New England Planters at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia Archives – Truro Township Book – Register of Deaths
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives MG 4 vol. 150a

Transcription of the first entry of the page:
March The 8^th 1769
Lieu^t. Andrew Gemmel was Unfortunately killed
Falling a Tree in the woods —– Truro. WFisher.T.C.K.

Often, signatures can be a challenge to decipher, just as they are today. Fortunately, we know that William Fisher was the town clerk for Truro in 1769. His signature has a unique feature. The F of Fisher is joined with the initial W of his first name William. Written out fully, it would read: W[illiam] Fisher T[own] C[ler]k.

Knowing this, we can easily recognize his signature elsewhere. If there were two individuals with the same name (ie father and son) in the same area, signing documents, we would have an advantage to sorting them out by comparing their handwriting.

To find out more about the New England Planters and Colonial Township Records, please refer to these The National Institute for Genealogical Studies courses:
Research: Nova Scotia Ancestors
Research: US Colonial New England Ancestors
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As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday will share guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.
Transcription Tuesday previous blog post
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents
—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here.
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Transcription Tuesday – Italian Handwriting

On the first Monday of each month, the next rotation of our online courses begins. 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.

One of the foundational research skills for our students to develop is Transcribing. For this reason, we have created a compulsory Basic Level course (Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting ) to equip all of our certificate students with this vital ability. However, all family history researchers, no matter what their level of expertise, should strive to acquire this core skill.

As we research our family history, many of us will eventually encounter immigrant ancestors. As we document their arrival, we gain clues for their country of origin. Many times, this will involve a change of language and introduce us to records in an unfamiliar country. Time needs to spent learning about what is available and where to find more information. It is recommended to consult the FamilySearch Wiki as a launching point. Choose your country of interest. We will be using Italy Genealogy for examples today.

One of the first challenges we are faced with is different languages, but also the handwriting that was used in various historical time periods, for specific record types, and even in locations or districts involved with their homeland. Be sure to study everything you can gather about the location where your research will be focused.

We have developed an essential basic level course for Italian research: Italian: Language and Location to guide you through many of these challenges. From the course description: Understanding, or being able to decipher, the languages found with Italian genealogical documents is an essential skill needed to effectively research your Italian ancestors. While most records are in Italian, you will find other languages within the records depending on the history of the town or region you are researching. Emphasis is placed on reading the handwriting and how to translate and understand basic Italian records.

This course is offered monthly, and is just one of the courses included with our Italian Records Certificate.

Additional Helpful Italian Research Resources from FamilySearch.org:
Italy Language and Handwriting
Italy Handwriting

Italian Genealogical Word List
Italian Birth Document Translation
Category: Italy

Researching in records from other countries can be challenging, but utilize the tools that have been developed for your success. Italian Handwriting can be studied and transcribed. Use the FamilySeach Word Lists and resources, along with what you will explore in our Italian Record courses. Document your immigrant family’s story, including every document you discover – transcribed and translated. Preserve your Italian heritage!
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As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday will share guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.

Transcription Tuesday previous blog post
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here.
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.

Contact information:
1 (800) 580-0165
Email: admin@GenealogicalStudies.com
Website: www.GenealogicalStudies.com
Blog: blog.GenealogicalStudies.com

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION since 1997

Transcription Tuesday – Scottish Handwriting

As you pursue your family history research, you will at some point, encounter difficult-to-read handwriting on a document of interest. Therefore, transcriptions should become a regular part of your research projects. Transcription Skills are developed by transcribing; there is no shortcut. Transcribing documents gives opportunity to make a clear and easy-to-read transcription for future reference and analysis. The National Institute for Genealogical Studies offers a variety of course topics for developing these skills through record groups from various countries.

To become familiar with the handwriting of a certain time period, and in particular location, take some time to find out what script was being used. It may surprize some new researchers that not only were there different handwriting styles, but also scripts used only in certain settings. Finding these general rules will save a lot of time.

Our Basic Level course: Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting is a great place to start to develop your Transcribing Skills. As you go deeper and further back in time, you will encounter unfamiliar text and handwriting scripts. Our Advanced Level course: Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents will help you to meet these challenges and to eventually master the handwriting you will encounter in historical documents.

If you have Scottish Research, you will need to spend time exploring this website: Scottish Hanwriting.com, hosted by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). It is an online resource that provides tutorials for palaeography in the Scottish documents you will need to access.

In our Scottish Records Certificate program, we have courses that will examine topics requiring you to develop solid transcription skills. Here are a few examples.

Scottish: Old Parish Registers – Handwriting in OPRs will challenge you!
Scottish: Wills and Testaments – Legal Terminology and Inventories
Scottish: Special Aspects of Scottish Research – It is recommended to complete the Palaeography course before registering for this course.

Some helpful websites for Scottish Handwriting challenges:
ScotlandsPeople – Reading Older Handwriting (Palaeography)
Check out other Research Guides on the left-side menu of this page.
ScotlandsPlaces – Learn about Old Handwriting
FamilySearch – Scotland Handwriting

Remember – there are no shortcuts. But the more you practice, the easier it will become. Transcription Skills are learned by practicing. Become familiar with the handwriting of the time period and location where you are researching. Take the time to develop your skills and then discover what is really in those documents!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As researchers, we have found that there are many skills we need to employ in order to achieve success in our future research projects. Transcription Tuesday will share guidelines and practical suggestions to help our readers to develop the skills for making effective transcriptions, abstracts, and extractions.

Transcription Tuesday previous blog post
Transcription Tuesday Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These three core courses demonstrate Transcription principles. They are offered monthly, beginning on the first Monday of every month: Register today!
Methodology-Part 2: Organizing and Skill-Building (Basic Level)
Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting (Basic Level)
Palaeography: Reading & Understanding Historical Documents (Advanced)
—————————————————-
Visit our website for a complete list of online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Check our Course Calendar here.
Follow us on Social Media: Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.
*Note: Please be aware our social media accounts are monitored regularly, but NOT 24/7. If you have any questions, please contact the office directly.