About this Course
About this Course
Whether you're completely new to genealogy research or you're a seasoned pro, there's always more to learn. In this class, we'll join the experts at the State Library of North Carolina Links to an external site. as they take us through some of the best sources and strategies for conducting an organized and efficient search for your family's history both online and in libraries and archives near you.
This course is for anyone who has an interest in telling their family's story. There is no experience necessary, no cost to participate, and no required textbook.
Meet Kyle, Your Host
I'm Kyle Denlinger, the eLearning Librarian at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library Links to an external site. at Wake Forest University Links to an external site. in North Carolina. I'm the chap responsible for putting this course together, but I'm by no means a genealogy expert. But don't jump ship! Think of me more as a host who will be taking you to the experts and learning right alongside you. Check out my Canvas Network Profile to learn more about me.
Who else will you meet?
In this course, you'll have the opportunity to learn from and interact with librarians, archivists, genealogists, and genealogy enthusiasts from all over the United States. The awesome folks at the State Library of North Carolina Links to an external site. are the content experts you'll see in most of the videos, and you'll also have encounters with other experts sprinkled throughout the course. But don't think that you can only learn from the people in the videos; there are more than 3,000 people signed up for this course, and the idea is that we're all learning from each other. Each one of us has something valuable to contribute. So participate boldly--you never know who might be able to help you learn best.Bi-Weekly Modules
During each two-week module, we will focus on a new theme. You can find each week's content, as it goes live, over on the Modules page on the left. You will receive an announcement email every other Monday morning with a direct link to that module's start page. To make sure you get these announcements, make sure your Notification Preferences Links to an external site. for Announcements are set to "ASAP" or "Daily."
Module Dates
| Module | Topic | Start Date |
| Module 0 | Introduction & Orientation | March 23, 2015 |
| Module 1 | Getting Started & Staying Organized | April 6, 2015 |
| Module 2 | Wrangling the US Census | April 20, 2015 |
| Module 3 | State & Local Resources | May 4, 2015 |
| Module 4 |
Online Sources & Strategies | May 18, 2015 |
Course Goals
By participating in this course and engaging with the community, we hope you are able to:
- Apply knowledge of basic tools, techniques, and resources to begin your genealogical research.
- Recognize and apply best practices of genealogical research.
- Identify and select relevant genealogical resources from repositories, collections, and knowledgeable individuals.
- Evaluate and analyze genealogical evidence.
Content & Assignments
Each module will contain lots of content, including short video interviews, how-to tutorials, websites, and even book recommendations. They will also contain some loosely structured learning activities and assignments that are designed to help you apply the concepts you learn and develop a network of resources and research colleagues.
We want you to know that it's OK to pick and choose only those pieces of content that help meet your personal learning goals. It's just as OK to dive headlong into each module as it is to briefly dip your toe in. What's important is that you find this learning experience valuable, and "valuable" means different things to different people.
If you're interested in fully "completing" this course, expect to spend anywhere from 2-4 hours per week with the course content. However, we believe that the very best way to learn the concepts taught in this course is for you to conduct your own research, and, well, that can take an entire lifetime.
Discussions
We also hope to facilitate lots of healthy discussion, which, like the content, you are free to partake of as you wish. Each module will have a few discussion prompts aimed at getting you to engage with the content and with the content experts who will be present. In our experience, the value of the class grows considerably when people participate freely, so do join in on those discussions that sound interesting. To make sure you receive updates on conversations in which you're participating, make sure your Notification Preferences Links to an external site. for Discussions are set to "Daily."
What RootsMOOC IS
RootsMOOC is a basic introductory course, designed primarily to inspire newcomers to genealogy to dive in and begin telling and preserving their families' stories. RootsMOOC is a way to connect you to a community of learners and to the basic concepts of genealogy research and the major sources and strategies you'll use. Because it has no grades and no formal assignments, it is more of a community event than a course.
What RootsMOOC is NOT
RootsMOOC is not a comprehensive course--as any experienced researcher can tell you, such a course would take years to finish! RootsMOOC is also not an appropriate forum for seeking help with tracking down your specific ancestors (eg: "Looking for any information on the Smiths from Brown County, Ohio."). If you need specific research help, we encourage you to visit your local library or genealogy research room (more about that coming up in Module 3!).
What's a "MOOC" anyway?
Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs) are an emerging form of online learning that emphasize the delivery of learning content to a truly massive audience of learners. These courses are typically free, not for credit, and rely heavily on the individual learner to define what their "success" in the course looks like. This video Links to an external site. does a great job of explaining it.
Getting Help
Whether this is your first online course or your fiftieth, you're bound to have a question at some point. If you need help, please don't hesitate to ask.
To move on to the next section, click "Next" in the bottom right.