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| Front page of HeritageQuest's Learning Center (Click to enlarge) |
First you need to navigate to HeritageQuest using your library's website and log in with your library card number, like I discussed in my previous post, Making the Most of HeritageQuest. Once you are there, click on the text at the top of the page that says "Learning Center," which I've highlighted in yellow.
Now that you're in the Learning Center, you are free to browse the 60+ courses that it offers.
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| Census Tracking for Beginners by Virginia Majeske (Click to enlarge) |
The first course I clicked on is entitled Census Tracking for Beginners and is taught by Virginia Majeske. The first thing I noticed was that there is an actual video of Virginia playing, which is nice because I don't want to feel like I'm doing this alone. There are also slides that accompany her and sync up to what she is discussing in the video. A link on the bottom left will take you to a class handout in the form of a PDF, which is also helpful.
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| Evaluating and Solving Research Problems by International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (Click to enlarge) |
One of the advanced courses you can take is called Evaluating and Solving Research Problems and it is by International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists. This course discusses how to organize your research goals, get through those inevitable bumps in the road and conflicting information. I imagine it would be very helpful to any genealogist, amateur like myself or professional.
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| Up Close and Personal: Doing On-Site Research by Jean Wilcox Hibben, Ph.D, MA, CG |
The last course I'll be discussing which HeritageQuests offers (I can't discuss all 67!) is Up Close and Personal: Doing On-Site Research which is taught by Jean Wilcox Hibben, Ph.D., MA, CG. This course is all about going on a trip to an ancestral area and doing local research. She discusses what to bring, how to plan for your travel and research, and the various places you should visit, among other things, to make the most out of your trip.
As far as I can tell all of these courses are absolutely, positively, 100% FREE. Free! Nothing better than free stuff, am I right? Especially when it can help you so much with your genealogical research. I will definitely be taking loads of these courses. The ones I've looked at take between 30-60 minutes, some may take more or less, but these are not big time commitments. Sounds good to me!
If you didn't find what you were looking for in HeritageQuests's Learning Center, check out the one over at FamilySearch. They have loads (Hundreds!) of courses over there. All neatly categorized into subject, language, country, experience level, and format. Some are only 5 minutes long!
Now excuse me while I soak up all of these classes! See you soon. Happy learning! :)
