Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree – FREE online course

Thousands of historical Irish records available online for free

If you have ever wanted to research your family tree and find out more about your heritage, then this free online course is a great place to start.

Many of us would love to discover more about our genealogy but are not sure how to go about it, after all there is so much information out there online.

What is needed is a guiding hand to help us know where to look for reliable information, and how to interpret what we find.

Thankfully, the University of Strathclyde has partnered with online learning site futurelearn to make this fantastic course available to everyone.

Here are the course details:

Develop an understanding of genealogy – how to research your family tree and communicate the results – in this free online course.

Why join the course?

It will help you develop an understanding of basic genealogy techniques and how to communicate your family history. We do not concentrate on a specific country’s records so it should be useful to anyone around the world.

We will consider how to effectively find and analyse sources and explore the potential of DNA testing as applied to genealogy. We’ll help you add historical context to your family history and discuss how to record and communicate research findings in a clear fashion. The course is primarily designed for people at beginner to intermediate level.

What topics will you cover?

  • A consideration of the differences between primary, derived primary and secondary sources.
  • An understanding of the importance of knowing who made a document and why and how they were created. *A key challenge of genealogy – finding the right person among a number of possible candidates, with ever-changing spellings of surnames – will be considered.
  • Lateral ways to approach research including the FAN/cluster technique and mind mapping.
  • Primary source databases including searching techniques to deal with name change or spelling differences; these include the use of wildcards.
  • An introduction to main source types including civil, church, census and military records to give a sense of the typical type of data these records contain and how to use them.
  • Review the content of major international and selected local and specialised databases and consider ways to evaluate databases.
  • The principles of the Genealogical Proof Standard including how to establish proof and how to evaluate evidence.
  • The use of DNA testing in genealogical research with a focus on autosomal (‘cousin-matching’) and Y-testing techniques.
  • An exploration of secondary and primary sources which provide historic and social context, considering their quality and how to find them.
  • The importance of providing evidence of the sources used in family history research and an exploration of the various systems of referencing in use.
  • A consideration of tools used to store, track and analyse genealogical data; various types of family trees and reports including paper based resources, software programs and online tools.
  • What are the best ways to begin writing a family history?
  • Ways to protect and preserve physical records and digital data.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to…

  • Design a research plan for tracing family history.
  • Apply key techniques used when searching for and analysing genealogical records.
  • Describe the differences between genealogical source types and why they may cause problems for the researcher.
  • Develop an awareness of the use of historic and social context in family history research.
  • Develop an understanding of the ways in which genealogical information can be recorded and communicated.

Who is the course for?

No special knowledge or previous experience of studying is required.

This course will be suitable if you:

  • have no experience with genealogy or family history research;
  • have some experience with genealogical research but want to develop your skills and knowledge further;
  • are a more experienced genealogical researcher but want to learn new searching, analytical or communication techniques or
    find it difficult to access opportunities for training and development.

You can find out more about the course and sign up to take part by visiting futurelearn.com.

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