Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) Correspondence Course

[TaraK]

Is anyone taking this at the moment, or has taken it in the past? If so, could you let me know what you think/ thought of it please in terms of content and, for those that have completed it, how much study you did and over what period?

Thanks

Tara

[eborfamilyhistory]

I asked this same question over a year ago so I ought really to reply. I'm doing this course at the moment (very slowly!).

I decided to do it in conjunction with an OU course and found that I didn't have time to do both so this got put to one side as it has no deadlines and the OU course did.

I started in February last year and put it aside in  ... errr .... February last year.

I've picked it up again in November but to be honest I am finding it as dull as ditchwater and not very stimulating. It seems to be an excercise in checking your experience rather than providing instruction. The lectures also seem to take a very dated view of things.

There are 24 lectures and each lecture has about 4 assignments to it, so completing 1 lecture per month would require some real committment.

The lack of structure and deadlines means it is easy to put to one side to do something more interesting - such as family history research ... or sailing!

I'm now treating it as a long term necessary evil to give me a recognised qualification. I reckon it is going to take me 3 to 4 years.

If you don't need a recognised qualification then my advice would be not to bother, you can probably get better information from the standard books on each subject and better experience by just doing the research. My library grows with each passing lecture and some of the reading list will probably just go back on Amazon.

I'm currently avoiding doing the assignments for lecture 4 (which is a depressing thing to type).

Hope that helps you (it probably won't help my marks).

Paul

[TaraK]

Hi Paul

Thanks very much for your reply. That's a shame for you, as it's not cheap and obviously requires a lot of commitment, but useful feedback for me.

When you say it takes a dated view of things, could you give me an example please? How many hours study are you doing per module including assignments approx? And how long are the assignments and could you possibly give me an example question for one please?

Thanks again for the feedback!

Tara

[Fue]

Hi

Thanks Tara for asking the question and thanks Paul for giving such an honest assessment. I was thinking of doing a course also, but I think I'll save my money (for buying more BMD certs etc  ).

Fue

[swebby]

Just started my first assignment for this course, a biography and a Seize Quartiers. The course covers all the topics you would expect it to. In terms of how long it takes for each assignment they seem to suggest working at your own speed but suggest that the first 8 lectures be completed within a year leaving 2-4 years for the others.
The assignments are a mix between essay type and practical research and have a reading list that you are suggested to follow.
If you have been researching for a while then you will be familiar with most of the material. The first assignment has made me go over some of my research and tighten up sources etc which isn't a bad thing before I use some of the information.
There is a fairly active forum on which students can pose questions and like rootschat you can search through it to find answers to typical questions like 'How do I do this assignment !'
I think as Paul said that you probably couldn't do the course if you had other things to study for or had major time commitments.
Hope that helps a little.
WHen I have done a few assignments I will post again with my experiences.

Regards
Sean

[Uncle Reff]

I took this course in 2001 and it sounds like it has not improved much...

It took me just under two years to get through it all, and after a quick start I became bored, completing the course only because i had paid so much for it. The course does cover a very broad spectrum and I was more interested in some bits than others.

I came to the IHGS course after doing my degree with the OU, so it is probably unfair to make comparisons; but I found it (being polite) charmingly antiquated if not a bit amateurish.

The course work itself was brief and had been photocopied a number of times, the assignment questions were uninspiring and repetitive. It took ages for an assignment to be returned marked and I had two lost in their system. Indeed even though I completed the course, i never received any certificate.

On reflection I do not think that i got a great deal out of it, and it was certainly not good value for money.

Well that was my experience...

John

[Redroger]

Interesting that so far there has been no input from the IHGS> Perhaps they are busy looking for missing papers etc?

[eborfamilyhistory]

Interesting that so far there has been no input from the IHGS> Perhaps they are busy looking for missing papers etc?

In fairness, they've been very efficient in marking my assignments and returning comments.

[richardihgs]

The reason that there has been no response from IHGS is that this thread was only brought to our attention today.

It is a fact that you cannot please all of the people all of the time, but we do our best; the great majority of our students reckon that the course is the best available and really good value for money. We have always stated that if any student has an issue with the course, they should contact the Institute - it is the best way to get things changed. And we do listen: there have been innumerable small changes as a result of comments from students - including the issue of Certificates of Completion.

And also, since 2001, the course has been completely rewritten (and kept up-to-date), it has been made available as a web-based course, and the administration has been totally revamped.

It is unfortunate that Paultp finds the course to be dull - I am sure that if we tried to brighten it up we would be accused of being gimmicky. I really do not understand his comment that the course aims at checking your experience rather than providing instruction; yes, the first two modules do have an element of checking a student's experience, but the rest of the course is dedicated to instruction in utilisation of sources and resources - and the assignments demand application of this knowledge to the student's own family history.

As for Jamaine completing the course in two years and feeling that he did not get good value from the course, I am constantly stressing that students should not attempt to complete the course in much less than three years. Our philosophy is that, to get the best value from the course, students should be able to take as much time as they need to complete each assignment to the best of their ability.

Richard Baker
Principal, IHGS