The Great Courses: Discovering Your Roots

With your Glenview Library card, you have access to The Great Courses series through kanopy.

The Great Courses includes a 15 episode series on genealogy. The episodes include lessons in interviewing your relatives, researching online and in libraries or archives, finding different record types, writing your family history and there's even a course on planning a research trip abroad.

Find kanopy and all of our streaming services on our Downloads page. 

Mexican Genealogy Resources

Searching for ancestors in Mexico? This online course presented by Debbie Gurtler and FamilySearch will introduce you to the online resources you need to know.  Learn about the best databases and online archives and discover websites to help you with localities and immigration records.

Find more research guides for Mexico on FamilySearch's Learning Center and Wiki.

Online Resources for Mexico

Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month!

FamilySearch recently uploaded a new free webinar on Online Resources for Mexico. The webinar includes tips for finding online church directories and gazetteers as well as some great databases and online archives.

FamilySearch offers lots of webinars for Mexico, Latin America, and general Hispanic genealogy.

Free Online Genealogy Courses

Do you love free genealogy webinars and online classes? Here are a few websites to bookmark:

Use the Learning Center on FamilySearch to find hundreds of online genealogy courses. These online classes cover all aspects of genealogy research. You can watch five minute basic genealogy training courses or watch a series of  videos that explore one topic in-depth. Learn how to conduct research in Poland, decipher German handwriting, or gain a better understanding of probate records.

Ancestry has a YouTube channel with videos on different aspects of research using Ancestry.com, AncestryDNA, FamilyTrees, and more.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society regularly updates their free webinar offerings. You must create a free account with NEHGS to view the videos. Most of their offerings cover the colonial era and New England research but you can webinars on a variety of other subjects as well.

Did you know that all Illinois State Genealogical Society live-broadcast webinars are free and open to the public? Webinars are broadcast on the second Tuesday of each month. After the live broadcast, you do have to be a member of ISGS to view their archived webinars. You can find their schedule here.

And don't forget to use GeneaWebinars to find free webinars from genealogical and historical organizations from across the US!

Choosing a Genealogical Software Program

Many Family Tree Maker users may be looking for new genealogy software soon. The following webinar is by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Rhonda R. McClure discusses how to select the software that's right for you.

The National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair

The National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair is happening today and tomorrow.

Check out the session schedule and download class handouts and you can watch the live stream on YouTube.

If you can't follow the live stream, the sessions will be archived and available for you to watch whenever you like. Follow NARA's YouTube page for more genealogy videos!

RootsTech 2015

If you missed the RootsTech conference in Utah a couple weeks ago, you can still catch up with all of the last tech news!

RootsTech is a conference dedicated to genealogy and technology. Check out the 2015 video archive to learn about the best apps, newest databases, genetic genealogy, and discover new ways to find, organize, and to showcase your research online.

Here's a great video by D. Joshua Taylor about what he considers to be essential technology for today's genealogist.

Irish Family History Day

This Friday, January 23, celebrate Irish Family History Day with Findmypast!

They will be hosting a free webinar with Irish family historian Brian Donovan. Donovan will be discussing Irish records and can answer any questions you have about Irish research. The webinar will start at 11 AM.

Sign up for the free webinar here.

RootsTech 2014

The RootsTech conference was held in February but sessions from the conference were recorded and are now available online. Learn about the newest technology to enhance your genealogy research and family trees!

Here's the keynote speaker from the opening session.

Find Your 17th Century New England Ancestor With NEHGS

Colonial American research can be really tough but the New England Historic Genealogy Society has a lot of great resources on their site that can help. In particular, they have a nice collection of online seminars that can help you get started with your New England or colonial research.

The above video is a recording from an NEHGS meeting earlier this month. David Dearborn discusses key reference works, records, and databases that can help with finding your 17th century New England ancestors.

National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair

On September 3-4, the National Archives will be hosting its first ever Virtual Genealogy Fair. The seminars will be available live via webcast and the recorded sessions will be made available later.

They don't have the schedule of speakers yet but topics will include: Native American and African American history, immigration, Civil War pensions, US Colored Troops, and Navy Deck logs.

Continue to check the NARA website for updates.

Free Genealogy Webinars

There is always more to learn in the field of genealogy research and there are plenty of free online sources to help you keep current on the newest trends.

GeneaWebinars compiles and creates calendars and lists of free genealogy-related classes, meetings, and webinars that anyone can attend. It's the perfect way to keep up-to-date with the latest research trends and to discover new tips and tricks.

Right now, GeneaWebinars is showcasing free webinars presented by the Illinois State Genealogical Society.

WEST VIRGINIA ARCHIVES AND HISTORY LIBRARY

Do you have West Virginia ancestors?

West Virginia Archives and History Library: Culture Center offers YouTube presentations on the first Tuesday and second Thursday of the month.

They record all speakers in the Library and post them on their YouTube channel.

Library patrons must register to use the Library, and can provide an e-mail address to receive notices announcing their speakers.

Their online newsletter, West Virginia Archives and History News, contains articles about upcoming lectures.  A schedule with several months programming is listed in each issue.  Not all speakers address topics limited to a West Virginia audience.

Online Genealogy Classes

Reserach Classes Online!

Do you enjoy learning about genealogy by watching a movie?

The following classes are provided online by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and other sponsors. Learn the basic methods and key resources to start your family history:

England Beginning Research
Germany Research
Ireland Research
Italy Research
New Zealand Research
Poland Research
Principios básicos para la investigación genealógica en Hispanoamérica (México)
Reading Handwritten Records
Research Principles and Tools
Russia Research
U.S. Research

You can view the videos online, or download them to your computer for later. Class handouts are also available for you to print out.

Family History Lesson Series

Several short lessons covering a variety of Family History topics are available for download on the Family History Lesson Series Page of FamilySearch.

The lessons may be used as self-study guides or as class supplements for Family History instructors.

Free Online Genealogy Classes

Free online classes are available from the Family History Library on its FamilySearch website.

You can access these 23 classes anytime, anywhere. Subjects range from European research to United States military records. Popular offerings include beginning research for Ireland and England, and a descendancy research class. The format varies: some classes use video, some use slides, and some are interactive.