RootsMOOC

This morning I attended part of the first module of RootsMOOC: An Introduction to Genealogy and Family Research. This course is being sponsored by The Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University and the State Library of North Carolina. It is free to attend but you must be registered to participate. The course is intended for beginners but advanced researchers will benefit from it as well.

I am really impressed with the class so far. I attended the introduction and read some of the discussion comments. It looks like there’s a very interesting conversation going on there. The next section will go into more details about using various forms for research. The first module will be offered for three weeks so there's plenty of time to view each segment and to comprehend what is being presented. Since the course has been recorded participants can view each segment as many times as they wish. You can stop the video, take notes and replay anything you might have missed. In fact, when I watched the opening and introduction over I picked up on a few additional points that I had missed.

I am excited that this class is being offered. I’m often asked how one starts researching their family history. This isn't always an easy question to answer. Most people want an answer that will tell them instantly everything they ever wanted to know about their family with the least amount of effort. The fact is genealogy and family history takes a lot of work and patience. This is not what most people want to hear.

For me, genealogy and family history is a journey. One that can be most rewarding. As a life-long learner I am always eager to learn new ideas and better ways for doing genealogy research. My interest in this course includes learning ways to teach others how to research their families. I know how I do research but I've learned the hard way. I want to be able to teach others the correct way from the very beginning so that they can be successful in researching their family history and stories. Hopefully their journeys can be just as rewarding.


Link of Interest:

https://www.canvas.net/browse/reynoldslibrary/courses/intro-to-genealogy








stories.  

Webinars

I'd like to create a page just for webinars but I haven't figured out how to add pages to this blog yet. So instead I'll post the upcoming webinars for this week. This is a busy week for genealogy webinars. Pre-registration is a must. Some societies will provide handouts to all attendees and other ones only to members of their society. If you enjoy a particular society it's worth the cost of a membership to be able to view past webinars and to obtain copies of the handouts. The handouts often provide links and reference notes for more information. The following webinar list is not complete. I'm sure there are other webinars that I don't know about.

March 17:
The Board for Certification of Genealogists  (BCG) will be hosting James M. Baker presenting, "Elementary, My Dear Watson! Solving Your Genealogy Puzzles with Clues You Already Have," at 7:00 p.m. CT. Note: This webinar has already reached it's limit of 500 attendees. 

The Association of Professional Genealogist (APG) will be hosting Paula Stuart-Warren presenting, "Are You Ready to be a Professional Genealogist?" at 8:00 p.m. CT.

March 18:
Legacy Family Tree Webinars will be hosting Judy Wight presenting, "Irish Genealogical Records in the 17th-19th Centuries," at 1:00 p.m. CT. 

Georgia State Genealogical Society will be hosting Thomas MacEntee presenting, "Managing the Genealogy Data Monster," at 7:00 p.m. CT.

Southern California Genealogical Society will be hosting Lisa Louise Cooke presenting, "Get the Scoop on Your Family History with Newspapers," at 6:00 p.m. PDT.

March 19:
Florida State Genealogical Society will be hosting Claire V. Brisson-Banks presenting, "Attacking Brick Walls Using Technology and Traditional Methods," at 7:00 p.m. CT.

That's all for now.

Creating A Strong Foundation

This past month one of the blog posts I especially enjoyed was from Donna Moughty's Genealogy Blog titled, "Creating A Strong Foundation." Donna lays out a path to follow for genealogy research. It's an especially good post for beginners to read and a good review for experienced researchers. Without a good foundation we cannot expect our research to be considered complete.

Donna Moughty is a professional genealogist specializing in Irish genealogy. I first heard her present for Legacy Family Tree Webinars and have been a fan of hers ever since.

Link of Interest:

"Donna's Irish Genealogy Resources." 

Kindred Voices

On Friday, March 6th, Legacy Family Tree's webinar host, Geoff Rasmussen, presented a webinar about his serendipity moments that led him to write his new book, "Kindred Voices: Listening for Our Ancestors." The webinar about Geoff's serendipity moments will be available for free indefinitely on www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com. If you need inspirations or have ever had doubts that your ancestors wanted to be found, you won't after watching this webinar. As Geoff said you only have to look with your heart.

I have had several seredipity moments of my own. One in which led me to information and never before seen photographs of my great, great grandfather, Luman Wakeman, which I will be sharing more about soon.

Welcome to Rock River Heritage and beyond...

The Rock River Valley

Welcome to my genealogy blog “Rock River Heritage and beyond…” The Rock River Valley located in northwestern Illinois gets its name from the river that flows through it. The Rock River's source is in central Wisconsin just north of Horicon Marsh. It meanders in a southwesterly direction and flows almost 300 miles where it eventually joins the Mississippi River at Rock Island, Illinois. Rivers were often what brought settlers to an area and towns would soon build up along their waterways. My families came to the Rock River Valley and settled in towns along the river and in nearby communities. The "beyond..." in my title is for families that lived in places other than the Rock River Valley. Most came from the east and northeastern parts of the United States and some came from Canada, Ireland and Scotland.  I've created this blog mainly to learn more about my ancestors; their history and the history where they came from. I won't only be writing about my families. I intend to share research tips, sites of interest and other genealogy related topics as well. Genealogy has been a life-long pursuit of mine and I especially enjoy sharing what I have learned with others. I'm really looking forward to learning more about my ancestors. 

Link of Interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_River_(Mississippi_River)