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Courses >
Personal Enrichment > Genealogy Basics
 Tracing your family's history is a fascinating journey. Who will you discover? Genealogy Basics
will help you understand the genealogy research process and the way we
interpret the information we find. This course guides you through the
search process for family names using several subscription-based Web
sites, which you can access while you're enrolled in the class. Along
the way, you'll learn through hands-on examples that help you dig
deeper into your family's past. You'll develop a strategy to accomplish
your objectives, evaluate the results, and share that information with
others. You'll discover, in simple terms, where to look, who to
contact, and how to make your family history come alive. Was it truth
or goof? Where’s the proof? Find out why close counts not only in horseshoes, but also in hunting your heritage.
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Syllabus:
All
courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two
lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course.
You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must
complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new
section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each
month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure
to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.
| Week One |
| Wednesday - Lesson 01 |
In
our first lesson, you'll learn how to gather family information and
organize your collection of materials. You will discover which sources
provide the best information and explore standard collection methods
and interview techniques. Your instructor will provide you with a PDF
toolkit that includes all the forms you'll need to get started. Each
lesson ends with a small crossword puzzle to help you remember
important genealogy terms.
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| Friday - Lesson 02 |
Today you'll answer the question, What’s missing in my family tree?
You'll organize your findings using research timelines, then determine
which records will be the most helpful. You will also use different
Internet search techniques including an online search of the Social
Security Death Index.
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| Week Two |
| Wednesday - Lesson 03 |
In
this lesson, you'll explore and analyze vital records such as Birth,
Death, and Marriage. You will also learn how to request copies for your
research and what to look for in those records. This lesson uses
several easy-to-follow examples for finding vital records in databases
on the Internet.
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| Friday - Lesson 04 |
This
is perhaps the most important of all our lessons. Today, you will learn
the value of census records and discover that spelling really doesn't
count! You will learn which census records are available, where to find
them, and how to analyze them. This lesson uses three hands-on examples
you can try for searching the complete 1880 US Census and the 1881
Census for Canada and Great Britain, without leaving your house or
renting microfilm.
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| Week Three |
| Wednesday - Lesson 05 |
In
this lesson, you'll hear some of the reasons why you may not be able to
find an elusive ancestor. Contrary to what you may think, they're not
in a witness protection program! You'll explore the Soundex system and
learn its value in solving some mysteries. You'll also learn how to
analyze old handwriting.
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| Friday - Lesson 06 |
Today,
you'll learn how computers search, both on and off the Internet. Local
and distant searches—when done properly—can answer many of your
questions. You’ll also learn how to use the LDS Library Web site to
find published information, saving you hours or days of research time.
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| Week Four |
| Wednesday - Lesson 07 |
In
this lesson, you'll explore writing styles, unusual resources, and the
value of e-mail. You'll discover the value of mailing lists and learn
how to subscribe, unsubscribe, and post messages. You’ll also learn how
to search past archives for messages that might help fill in missing
branches on your family tree.
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| Friday - Lesson 08 |
Today
you'll learn what resources are available for researching military
records and where to find them. The example in this lesson walks you
through a search of the US Civil War database and explains how valuable
pension records can be in learning more about your ancestors.
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| Week Five |
| Wednesday - Lesson 09 |
Today,
you’ll learn to research maps, deeds, and grants for genealogy. You
will investigate abstracting deeds and do a search of the Bureau of
Land Management Web site for Land Grants and Homesteading Patents.
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| Friday - Lesson 10 |
This
lesson explains how our ancestors immigrated. You will learn the
immigration patterns to America and discover how to use naturalization
and passport documents. Your class has an account already set up at the
Ellis Island Web site for you to use. The assignment will walk you
through a real example and eventually show you the actual ships
manifest.
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| Week Six |
| Wednesday - Lesson 11 |
Today,
you’ll learn about some of the exciting things that can come from
researching newspapers, city directories, periodicals, and wills.
You’ll also learn a great way to find collateral lines (cousins), and
perhaps fill in some middle names or reveal new locations by sharing
your work with others.
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| Friday - Lesson 12 |
In
our last lesson, we'll explore more genealogy tools, sources, and
software. Your instructor has narrowed down the best genealogy software
programs and will review each one. By using a software program, you can
discover how easy it is to put it all together. The assignments for
Genealogy Basics use easy-to follow-examples that walk you through
real-time searching on many superb Web sites.
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This
course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide
you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your
questions. The instructor for this course will be Bob Moyer.
 Bob
Moyer is a college instructor, graphic designer, and technical writer.
Bob has degrees in education, business, and Civil Engineering. He has
over 12 years of experience as an instructor and has developed
genealogy courses for several colleges. His passion for research and
family history has resulted in several genealogy-related books and
speaking engagements.
Requirements:
Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins
(two free and simple downloads you obtain at
http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and
Get Adobe Reader).
Student Reviews:
"Excellent course!! Held my interest and was very informative! Instructor was very knowledgeable, helpful and down to earth."
"Excellent course - way beyond my expectations. Great
explanations of historical records. Dozens of very useful internet
links. Enough information to keep me busy for years."
"For a beginner just starting your course has given me
confidence that I will succeed! Thank you for a multitude of
information so easily presented online another first for me."
"I began family research in the early 1960's. When I moved
away from sources I put everything away. I can't tell you how valuable
this course has been in renewing my desire to again work to find
information and to think I can do it from home."
"I can not tell you how much I really enjoyed this course.
It gave me so much useful information and I was able to find
information I could not find before. I would strongly recommend this
course and instructor. Thank you for a really great class."
"I enjoyed the class very much. I was able to find family
information that, without the class, I would still be looking for. I
hope to continue to use the sources provided in the class for much more
information in the future."
"I enjoyed the course. Thank you for making it so thorough.
I just need more than 24 hours in a day to do research. I have found my
Grandmother but not my Grandfather who died at an early age prior to
Social Security. I found my Grandmother in the 1920 Census you taught
us how to use, but Grandfather had already passed away. I will keep
looking and maybe take a trip to the Archives in the locality where
they lived. Thanks. I am looking forward to a follow-up class."
"I enjoyed the course tremendously. It provided me with valuable insight and information. The instructor was great!"
"I enjoyed this class and learned a lot. Thank You!!"
"I have been working on my family for five years. I never
knew my father, with the help of the internet I was able to locate him.
Although he had died two years earlier I was able to trace his sister
and brother. I have since visited my family and with the help of a
cousin who had a family tree to give me have learned much. This has
lead to a life-saving and happy hobby. I will have a journal for my
children and grandchildren, and will always be a part of a family.
Thanks to this course, I was able to access a wealth of useful
information on the NARA site. The best thing for me this week in the
1880 census, which I didn't know was on the web until I took this
course. I have just located several new members that I thought would
never be found. Looking forward to a new class in the spring."
"I have enjoyed this course very much. It was easy for me to
fit into a busy lifestyle. My thanks to the instructor for "infecting
me with Genealosis"! This course has helped me in my quest to learn
more about my family and it's history! Will be looking for follow up
classes."
"I have learned a lot, both about genealogy and about my
family, in the weeks we have been in this course. I have a long way to
go, but the journey is the part I love. While it is great to document
that these are MY ancestors, once I know that, I want to know so much
more about them, and this class has shown me ways to find that
information."
"I learned a lot about how to do research and to look in
places that I did not know about before this class. Now I just need to
find a way to make more time to do the research that I want to do!"
"I learned much from this course. Will be volunteering at
our local library in the Genealogy Dept and feel more confident in that
capacity. Will recommend this course to one and all. Thanks for having
such a course available."
"I loved the course and learned so much and am excited to
use what I learned and to follow through with putting my family tree
together for my future generations. I loved taking it on-line because I
am one that stays up late and working on the course at 1 am suits me
fine."
"I'm glad I finally took the time to take this course, I had
been putting it off the last several times it was offered! I have
gathered a lot more useful information on how to go through the process
of researching my ancestery than I ever would have been able to find at
the bookstore or on-lne on my own."
"I really enjoyed taking this course. I learned a lot about
researching my family that I didn't know. Through this course, I
discovered ways to research that I hadn't even thought about before or
that I hadn't heard of. Thanks for a job well done!!"
"I really liked this course. Website info is outstanding. I
have been working on my family genealogy since 1971. I wish I had this
course back then--and that there was an Internet then!"
"I thought the information and supplementary material was
very informative. What a rush of adrenalin when I found my first
ancestor with your guidance. All my ancestors have passed away without
my knowing to ask any questions of their heritage so my task is quite
difficult. I work full time now and have made sure to copy everything
so the material will be available to me as I have more time to work on
our genealogy. Thanks for all your guidance, and I look forward to
taking additional internet courses."
"I was very pleased with the entire course experience!!! I
would gladly take any course from Bob Moyer! Not only is he very
knowledgeable--- HE CARES!!!"
"Loved this class, it was perfect for me, a budding genealogist!"
"Provided me with excellent sources."
"Really felt it was an excellent course! Have already
recommended it to others. Was my first on-line course and I didn't know
what to expect. Was really pleased with the high caliber of the
teaching and lessons. Learned much more than I ever imagined I would.
Teacher was especially helpful in response to questions & linking
you with resources.Enjoyed the teacher's writing style & manner of
presentation -he drew me in & got me interested even in topics that
didn't initially appeal to me. Feel I have an excellent/really solid
overview of topic, and a lot of current/up-to-date resources to tackle
research on my own now."
"Thanks for a great class. This hobby is much more involved than I imagined."
"Thanks for the great course. As I have been doing my
research for about 5 years, I was heartened to learn that many of my
means of research fall in line with your teaching. Moreover, I have
learned several more methods to add to my cache.Again, thanks for the
course and thanks to my fellow classmates for their posts on the
discussion site. On to the final."
"The content and benefits of taking this course exceeded my
expectations. I wanted a refresher course with a very great emphasis in
online research information and sites to use as I am very weak in the
online research area. This course did that, and more. I'm very pleased
with this course."
"The content and benefits of taking this course exceeded my
expectations. I wanted a refresher course with a very great emphasis in
online research information and sites to use, as I am very weak in the
online research area. This course did that, and more. I'm very pleased
with this course."
"The course materials are just what I needed, and wanted."
"The course provided a lot of useful information that I can
now use to find some ancestors, some whose places of birth, marriage
and death will be fun to visit in Ireland and elsewhere."
"The lessons that make up Genealogy Basics has been a
wonderful experience for me. I am anxious to use the suggestions in the
lessons, and to try the web sites in the supplement sections in order
to trace my family history. All of this information will come in handy
as I pursue this new hobby of mine. A special thanks for the software
reviews on genealogy programs. At this time I'm not sure which one will
be right for me."
"The online course, the instructor and the contents were all
great! I had no knowledge AT ALL of where to start searching for my
ancestors. I had started a hand written tree five years ago and every
time I attempted to work on it I got stuck! Not only have I found what
I initially started out searching for, I have found so much more! I
also have the tools to continue my search. I am really going to miss
this class. It was a very rewarding class and a great experience.
Thanks!"
"The pictures, illustrations, and diagrams were a wonderful
addition to the text of the lessons. They held my interest and gave
another perspective from which to learn. The instructor's Crossword
Puzzles were GREAT! What an innovative and clever learning tool. I
certainly enjoyed every minute of this course. Thanks, Bob!!"
"This course gave me great insight as to what's out there as
far as available resources. I found this course very interesting and it
has helped me tremendously. The instructor was very helpful."
"This course has really hooked me on the task of finding my
ancestors. I now have a much clearer idea of how to go about this job,
particularly with regard to using the Internet."
"This course is a wonderful way to get started with using
all the different available sources. Bob is knowledgeable and he was
quite helpful during discussions. Having the on-line course two times a
week helped me to pace myself and take time to review, instead of
jumping ahead and possibly missing good aides."
"This course provided me with the information/knowledge to
get my research kick-started. It included lots of suggestions for
digging out more info and just help in looking for clues as to where to
search further. Now, if only I had the time to devote to do everyhting
I've learned about!!!"
"This course was AWESOME ! I am a novice at family history
research but am learning a bit here and there due to a dear friend (and
cousin) has been doing this for years - YOUR course has made many of
the things she has said and suggested make sense - thank you again - I
would strongly recommend this course to any novice or semi-experienced
researcher for techniques and sources to get "your family found" AND to
any expert or professional researcher to use as a tool to enhance what
they already know - Thank you again."
"This is one of the most useful courses I have ever taken --
I look forward to making it all work for me! Thanks so much to Bob
Moyer!"
"This was an excellent course. Bob was both extremely knowledgeable and interesting."
"This was my first experience in taking an on-line course
and I was a bit apprehensive. I had a friend who took an on-line course
for college credit and had great difficulty accessing needed material.
I was truly amazed at how easy this was for me to complete this class.
I appreciate the work it took to make this so easy and the fact that it
was so well organized! I feel I learned so much! Thank you."
"Was using this course as a "refresher"and found it throughly enjoyable. Sorry to see it end."
To purchase this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
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