Free Online Genealogy Course with FutureLearn (Week 3)

[groom]

Free Online Genealogy Course with FutureLearn (Week 3). Here we go, week 3 already, almost halfway through!

This week will cover:

Using Major Source Types

We’ll introduce the main source types used by genealogists including civil, church, census and military records. While some country specific sources will be detailed, primarily we’ll give a sense of the typical type of data these records contain and how to use them in your research. We will also ‘visit’ a local archive and explore what they (and other archives) have to offer. A review of major international and some more local and specialised databases will be shared and we’ll consider how to evaluate databases.

Looks as if there might be some useful things there. Still not too late to start if you haven't done so already:    https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/genealogy

[millymcb]

Havn't finished week two yet. Will have to try and catch up quick

Good to see that they are finally dealing with sources.

So far my main thought is that they do seem rather preoccupied with name spellings.

Milly

[Ruskie]

So far my main thought is that they do seem rather preoccupied with name spellings.
Milly

Agree Milly - I couldn't resist making a comment on one person's post who said that an ancestor "changed his name" between the 1901 and 1911 censuses. That "change" was the addition of an 'e' on the end of the surname! 

Despite me pointing out that that probably wouldn't be in the category of an intentional name change as the 1911 is the only census on which we see the original writing and prior to that we see an enumerator's copy of the census so spellings may vary, I don't think he agreed with me. 

Oh well. 

It looks like there might be a bit more to get our teeth into this week. 

[hsfam]

Well, I just finished Week 3 (I'm in Australia so we get access to the course 11 hours earlier than you Brits! ).

Not sure about getting your teeth into anything this week. I got through it faster than the previous week. Most of the additional links were to other sources of information (like how to apply for vital records in various US states) but weren't relevant to my current research. I just bookmarked the useful ones for later investigation.

Warn you now that in the quiz in Q2 while the answer is "All of the Above" you actually have to tick every box, including "All of the Above".   

Just want to save you some frustration. I ticked every combination with increasing blood pressure until I realised what was going on.    Hopefully they will fix that one soon.

Oh, and the discussions in 3.8 ask you to discuss sources of information: "We are curious about what sources you consider most important for the geographic area(s) or time periods you work with."

...but in 3.15 it asks you to discuss what other databases you have found useful.

As you can imagine, a rather large overlap in potential discussions. If you aren't careful, you'll end up repeating yourself from 3.8 which can be frustrating. And you'll probably be reading lots of posts from both discussions that say the same thing.

[Ruskie]

At a loose end today hsfam? 

Finished already? 

The box ticking sounds a bit like what happened in week 2's quiz - three of the four replies to one f the Questions was correct, but I thought that the response was OK. In week 1 you could select an 'all of the above' option.

I suppose the advantage of getting the week's work completed early is that there would be limited comments to read. I generally have a quick look at some of the comments, but only those on the first page. There is a lot of repetitiveness in people's responses, so only so much I can be bothered with.

It's a shame this week isn't a bit .... um ... meatier.

[arkay]

I'm also disappointed that Week 3 wasn't "meatier".  I finished it in just a few hours this evening (after Easter dinner!), although I admit I didn't read all of the See Also's.  Perhaps it's just because I'm already so familiar with the documents that were being shown and explained.  Anyway, I'll go back and re-read everything during the week, including the comments - some of which have been much more helpful than the actual lessons! 

So far, it seems to be a beginner's introduction to genealogy, doesn't it?  But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will learn some new and useful info eventually.

[hsfam]

Hi Ruskie,

Ummm. Yeah.    We'll, there was very little that was beyond what I already knew. It was pretty basic. I found week 2 took longer because there were lots of side articles which lead me off in other directions. There weren't many of those kind of links in Week 3. So it just didn't really take very long.

And I only watched a couple of videos (Chris' and the archives one) and just read the transcripts for the rest. After reading everyone's complaints about the 'ums' and 'ahs' I found I couldn't watch the videos anymore. Thanks everyone! 

I'm spending more time on the comments this time. Some interesting links to other sources. But I'll probably just dip in and out for the rest of the week and try to skim over the repetitions.

[LizzieL]

On the week 2 thread there was some discussion about what format was being referred to when the term Family History Sheet was used. I wonder if she meant the PDF that is attached to section 3.9.
It is called an Ancestral chart - looks like what I've seen called an Ahnentafel (sorry about German spelling - it might not be correct). OK for just tracking back generations, but doesn't show siblings.

[groom]

Having done quite a few FL courses, I now deliberately don't rush through the courses, but limit myself to a few sections each day. That way I find I spend more time looking at links and reading comments of people who add things later, some of which may contain new links as well. I found it too confusing to go back once I'd completed it.