Foundations 101: Drawing up the Family Blueprint is the first of three sections of the Foundations course that are self-paced and online, in the cloud. This course focuses primarily on providing a solid foundation in research for genealogy enthusiasts or helping the intermediate researcher take their skills to the next level, or someone who has taken a DNA test and needs experience in building family trees to connect with their matches. The concepts and techniques taught in this course help to prepare you to build your skills in all the more complex areas of genealogical research and to successfully advance to the next two sections of Foundations.
Foundations 101: Drawing Up the Family Blueprint begins with recording the basic details you know about the family and examining home sources, talking to relatives, and learning basic research and planning skills. Learn to record and evaluate the sources you discover; how to develop and write a research plan; understand the difference between the most widely used charts and forms, and practice using them. Additional areas of learning include locating and testing records to verify family stories; interviewing relatives; analyzing family records; and how to better use technology for genealogical research.
The course is divided into modules with multiple sections, which include reading and reference lists, web links, self-correcting quizzes, and a glossary. The course modules are as follows.
Enrollment in the Foundations in Family History course requires students to start with Foundations 101, which is a prerequisite to enrollment in Foundations 102, which is a prerequisite to Foundations 103.
The Foundations in Family History course has been developed in three sections so students can progress through more challenging topics in succession to help them build knowledge and skills one step at a time. The Foundations 101, 102, and 103 format also allows students the convenience of purchasing one section at a time. NGS offers members a discount when they register for each course section, and an even greater discount is available for students to purchase the full course option. See pricing details on the following course pages for Foundations 101, 102, and 103 or in the NGS Store
Access your course anytime, anywhere using a computer or tablet with an internet connection. All course content-including lessons, examples, exercises, and quizzes-is cloud-based, requiring no software downloads or installations.
The course runs on Canvas, which requires an up-to-date web browser. Check your browser compatibility at https://guides.instructure.com/m/67952/1/720329-which-browsers-does-canvas-support.
Your registration provides a personal, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to access the course materials for your individual educational use only. This license is strictly for individual use and cannot be purchased for or shared with members of any group, organization, library, society, or institution. Each person wishing to access the course must purchase an individual license. All coursework must be completed independently.
Foundations in Family History is a course divided into three sections—Foundations 101, 102, and 103–intended to be taken in succession. The course was developed by a team of experienced educators, certified genealogists, and professional genealogists, along with a senior editor and e-learning systems specialist. These specialized genealogical educators have created an exciting new course that teaches all the essential concepts to develop excellent genealogical research skills. Students will gain confidence and knowledge allowing them to optimize the growth of their family history. Students must begin with Foundations 101, followed by Foundations 102, and then Foundations 103. Each section may be purchased separately or as a discounted bundle.
The Foundations in Family History course offers flexible, self-paced online learning designed to fit your schedule. Whether you’re balancing work, volunteer commitments, or personal obligations, you can complete the coursework when it’s most convenient for you. You control your learning journey and set the pace that works best for your needs.
Your access to Foundations 101 begins on the date of enrollment and continues for six months. If you purchase the full Foundations in Family History course bundle, you have eighteen months from enrollment to complete all three sections. Need more time? Paid extension options are available by contacting the NGS Course Administrator.
You’ll receive an automatic email with course details confirming your registration. Within three business days, the NGS Course Administrator will send your login credentials for the Canvas online learning platform.
All purchases of courses are final. No refunds or credits are available.
