Family History Library Research Series
By Kimberly Brown, Family Historian
On every day of the week, at various times throughout the day, there are free classes being taught at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, the world's foremost genealogical library. There are classes for every genealogical topic under the sun, from African American research to reading and interpreting German documents. But what if you live nowhere near Salt Lake? Fortunately, you can still learn all about how to do different kinds of research by utilizing the Family History Library Research Series Online.
The online Research Series includes classes for several different kinds of research and geographic localities, with more being added all the time. The classes are anywhere from 8 to 39 minutes long; they are high-resolution, high-quality videos of actual lectures given by professionals, accompanied by coordinating power-point presentations that play simultaneously to the lectures. Each class is taught by an accredited genealogist (AG) or certified genealogist (CG) who is an expert in his or her respective field.
To access the online classes, just go to www.familysearch.org. Under the Library tab, click on Education. Then click on Family History Library Research Series Online. Currently, the topics include:
- England Beginning Research
- Five lessons, including classes on census records, civil registration, and church records
- Germany Research (three lessons)
- Ireland Research
- Five lessons, including classes on church records, civil registration, and immigration
- Italy Research
- Latin American Research
- Three lessons, all in Spanish, including classes on parish records and civil registration
- Russian Research (two lessons)
- U.S. Research
- Four lessons, including classes on county courthouse records and military records of all kinds
More lessons are being added all the time, so if the research series doesn't currently have the topic you want, keep checking back. Aside from lessons specific to a certain country or locality, there are several lessons grouped under Research Principles and Tools that apply to all genealogical research. The topics for these classes include descendancy research, an overview of the Family History Library Catalog, and research logs. Take advantage of these great resources. The classes are professional, helpful, and free. And best of all, you can watch them in your pajamas.