Articles with Skill Building

Personal Historian Courses

Personal Historian Courses

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies offers over 230 online courses, but did you know that many of our courses are not country specific. The genealogy world has certainly grown over the past few years. We have seen many changes that have led to the emergence of new opportunities for genealogists and family historians. One of those areas is for a Personal Historian. You can take all four of our Personal Historian courses individually, or bundle them together as a 4 Course Package. Check the Course Calendar for the next time these courses will be offered. Personal Historian: Beginning Genealogy This is the first of the four courses is a Basic level course and is offered every month. It explores how you can add genealogical research as an income stream to your Personal Historian business, whether you conduct the research yourself, or you hire a specific researcher. Family history information enhances any personal history project by providing more in-depth family details. This introductory course will address the process involved, some tips on what to look for when hiring a researcher, and how to do the basic genealogical research yourself. Personal Historian: Oral History & Interviewing Techniques The second of the four courses is offered every second month. This Intermediate course examines how a personal historian uses oral history interview techniques to interview individuals about their lives or those of their family. Combining the interview, research, and additional items like photographs and documents, a personal historian can create a beautiful story for…

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Pursuing Research Strategies and Skills

The first week of a new month is always a busy time at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies as another rotation of online courses opens for our students, who are pursuing effective research strategies and looking to refine their research skills. Month, we welcomed many new students who registered for a variety of courses using the discount codes offered during the RootsTech 2021 conference this past weekend. Thank you to those who stopped by the Expo Hall to visit The National Institute for Genealogical Studies’ Virtual Booth. Hopefully, you were able to claim one or more our special offers before the deadline of Friday, March 5th. RootsTech2021 was an overwhelming success for their very first, totally virtual conference with over 1,000,000 attendees from over 200 countries and territories! Thank you to ALL who contributed to their success. Don’t forget to continue to use the resources on the RootsTech website and build your playlist. So much valuable content was provided to add to your genealogy research toolbox and sharpen your research skills. So many presentations to develop new research strategies to tackle your favourite research project, or topple that brick wall. Definitely a wonderful experience for all who were able to attend, and for those who will be utilizing this resource until RootsTech 2022! The good news is that you don’t have to wait until next year to expand your online education plans. Did you discover a topic that has piqued your interest? Did you learn about a new aspect of…

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February – New Month, New Courses

At The National Institute for Genealogical Studies, the beginning of a new month brings another rotation of online courses opening for our students. Hopefully, February has seen you returning to a more regular routine. Are you starting a new family history course this month? How are you doing with your education goals for 2021? Check the list of topics you wanted to pursue. Have you accomplished any of those goals? Remember, to make small, short-term, achievable goals that will lead to the accomplishment of your bigger goals. This will allow you to see your progress! Keep a log of your family history activities. Did you read a new book on a research topic? Did you watch webinars? Be sure to save those handouts. Does the topic require more in-depth study? How will you pursue that research topic this month? What online educational resources will move you closer to your goals for 2021? Actively make plans and add them to your calendar. Set reminders to keep you on track. Then record your activity and see where you need to make adjustments. Work towards successfully fulfilling your goals. Research + Strategies = Discoveries = Success! Make this the month to move your family history forward. Use your time wisely. Allow us to help you to accomplish those goals! The National Institute for Genealogical Studies offers quality online education with over 230+ courses to choose from. Some of our courses are topic/country-specific, or provide insight into research methodology, while others are skill-building courses…

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Italian State of the Souls Records

Every country-specific certificate program at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies includes courses for Religious Records. Continuing to research our ancestors and their family members through religious records, we will often discover unique types of records created within the church records for that region or country. Becoming familiar with these records will make it easier to understand the information we discover within them. The course Italian: Catholic Church Records-Part 2, begins with the State of the Souls Records and what they cover in Parish records. Let’s explore these Italian church records. State of the Souls Records in Genealogy State of the Souls records can be tremendously helpful in extending a family’s ancestry in those areas of Italy that did not keep civil registration between the years 1816-1865, and in the centuries prior to civil registration. What information they recorded varied depending on the time period, education level or age of the priest, and the location in which it was recorded. The records may be written in the Latin, Italian, and French languages, or in combination with regional dialects. However, they were predominantly written in Italian and Latin. Some records contained two or more languages/dialects within the same register or even on the same record. One such set of parish records had French, Latin, and Italian all mixed together in nearly every record. This made for a confusing translation process. The status animarum were created during annual pastoral visits to each household. In large cities or when the priest was elderly, one…

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Diocese and Archdiocese in Italian Records

Every country-specific certificate program at The National Institute for Genealogical Studies includes courses for Religious Records. As we research our ancestors and their family members, we will undoubtedly be faced with the challenge of locating their religious records within the communities where they spent their lives. In small rural areas, it may be easy as we locate the only village parish. However, it is not always as simple as we may think. As we continue in the course Italian: Catholic Church Records-Part 1, our next task will be to Understand Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions & Archives and how to access the Parish records in local archives. Let’s dig a little deeper. Diocese & Archdiocese Diocese, spelled the same in Italian and English, is a group of parishes within a particular ecclesiastical district. Each diocese has a diocesan archive, usually named Archivio Diocesano or Archivio Storico Diocesano. An archdiocese is a group of dioceses within a particular region (regione ecclesiastica). Some larger cities may contain the seat of the archdiocese as well as one of the dioceses within their jurisdiction. In these cases, the main offices are usually combined and the Archivio Diocesano located in the same building. These archives are usually quite organized, but their hours of operation are few. Often there is only one archivist who is also a priest with all the duties that come with that position. Many diocesan archives will have their own websites containing contact information, hours, and descriptions about their collection. Research in the diocese archive is…

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