Genealogical Courses

[Kit]

FMP has offered a free course with the NIGS - National Institute of Genealogical Studies with their FMP first newsletter.

Of interest to me is one on getting the most out of google. I'm not sure that I do have the best googling skills.

It is a 10 week course but I'm not sure how much time would be required each week.

So my questions are has anyone done a course and did you learn anything and how much time did it require you to spend each week, or day?

I know it's a free course but I don't really want to sign up if I can't do it.

[kiterunner]

I have to say, what a terrible acronym!

And I'm a member of FMP First but my email doesn't offer me a free course, just 25% off various things that I don't want, and - wait, 12 months access to Lives of the First World War. I guess that's worth having. But no free course. How come you got it and I didn't? It can't be because you're in Australia and I'm not, because they think I am! Or do they maybe think you're in the UK?

Anyway, to answer your actual question, I did a free taster course with Pharos Tutors a while back, but it did mostly cover stuff I was already familiar with. I don't think it required much time spent on it apart from the online group sessions.

[Kit]

I suspect I'll know a lot of it, but I know I'm not that good at google, Julie shows me up all the time.

I have no idea why we would get different emails or where they think I am. The emails come from findmypast.com . I can give you the promotion code if you'd like.

I'll give it a go and see what happens.

These are the free courses:

Need to take your family history research to the next level? Not sure where to enrol in genealogy based courses? Try a genealogy course from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

Choose from one of the following courses:

Google for the Wise Genealogist

Everyone knows that Google is a powerful search engine, but for genealogists Google provides so much more. This course explores Google programs and how they can be used to research family history.

Connecting Family: Online or Virtually

This course highlights specific ways to use your computer and the Internet to build and strengthen family ties. Topics include using multimedia techniques to preserve and share family photographs, build an online family tree, creating virtual family history tours/videos, creating online family newsletters, digitizing scrapbooks, publishing an online family history and creating and maintaining family websites, using communication tools such as Skype, and using social media (blogs, Facebook, and Twitter) to find long lost cousins, and stay in touch with relatives.

Methodology: Part 1- Getting Started

This introductory course answers the questions: "Why trace our ancestors?", "How far back can I go?" and "How do I proceed after I've talked to my family?" The course looks at the mementoes and documents found in our own homes which hold so much information but which are often overlooked. This is followed with a general review of the public sources available. The course concludes with a look at the frustrating and confusing situations you may encounter as you undertake your research.

[Kit]

Strange system. Subscription has to be done on IE but there seems to be some sort of bug and I did the rest on firefox.

[kiterunner]

Originally Posted by Kit

I can give you the promotion code if you'd like.

Yes, please, Toni, could you PM it to me?

[Kit]

Sure, I'll do it now.

[kiterunner]

Ah, it looks as though each different country's FMP website has a different set of offers for Findmypast First, and the free course is only shown on the US site (the .com one):
http://www.findmypast.com/first/nigs

Although strangely enough, it (the course provider) seems to be a Canadian institution, at least that's what comes up when Googling for the name.

Edit - yes, after looking through various pages on their site, I found their contact address is in Canada. If I were them, I would seriously consider changing their name, perhaps to the International Institute etc?

[Kit]

so if I changed the fmp.com to .com.au or .com.uk there would be different things?

Might be worth doing I guess to see what they have.