Genealogy course - Diploma in Family History

leck

Has anyone here taken the Diploma in Family History at City Colleges? I've been muddling along on my own for about 20 years researching my own family history. I took a course at GMIT in Spring but it left a lot to be desired. I like the look of this one as there is an option to take it online, which would suit me as I'm down the country.

Would be interested to hear experiences with this or other courses.

Hermy

€900 for 10 three hour sessions seems like a lot of money for a basic introduction.
If you've been muddling along for 20 years I'm not sure you get your monies worth.

leck

Hermy wrote: »

€900 for 10 three hour sessions seems like a lot of money for a basic introduction.
If you've been muddling along for 20 years I'm not sure you get your monies worth.

Yes, it is a lot but course is given by John Grenham.

pinkypinky

I'd have to agree with Hermy - you probably know much more than you realise after 20 years. John is very knowledgeable, of course, but would you gain more from paying him €900 to target specific problem areas?

I did Sean Murphy's course over 3 years, which is now in its final year and no longer taking new students. The initial module (2.5 hours a week for 10 weeks) covered basic stuff and I remember thinking I hadn't learned anything new until about week 8. I expected to find better approaches to how to research but discovered there weren't really any.

Most genealogy is on the internet now and things have changed dramatically, so if you aren't up to date with what's online, then I could see a beginner course benefiting you.

leck

pinkypinky wrote: »

I'd have to agree with Hermy - you probably know much more than you realise after 20 years. John is very knowledgeable, of course, but would you gain more from paying him €900 to target specific problem areas?

I did Sean Murphy's course over 3 years, which is now in its final year and no longer taking new students. The initial module (2.5 hours a week for 10 weeks) covered basic stuff and I remember thinking I hadn't learned anything new until about week 8. I expected to find better approaches to how to research but discovered there weren't really any.

Most genealogy is on the internet now and things have changed dramatically, so if you aren't up to date with what's online, then I could see a beginner course benefiting you.

I feel that I would like some kind of certification, but not sure this diploma would have much recognition.

I think I'm pretty up to date with what's online, but I don't have much discipline or method when it comes to research. I always go after the easy stuff and work a lot on hunches, which sometimes work out. I think a course would give me more focus and also help me in areas where I have little knowledge such as land records.

I've focused a lot on the American branches of my family tree as it was so easy to research them by comparison with the home team. Now with Christmas coming early with all the Irish records coming online in the last couple of weeks, I'm making more inroads on the Irish side.

pinkypinky

Well, City Colleges is not accredited, so while you'll undoubtedly get a good grounding, using a third level college is the only way to go if you want a real FETAC qualification.

Claire Santry just did a list of courses, which includes some university ones.

http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2016/09/genealogy-courses-starting-in-autumn.html

leck

pinkypinky wrote: »

Well, City Colleges is not accredited, so while you'll undoubtedly get a good grounding, using a third level college is the only way to go if you want a real FETAC qualification.

Claire Santry just did a list of courses, which includes some university ones.

http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2016/09/genealogy-courses-starting-in-autumn.html

Realizing I didn't put enough thought into this...

Unfortunately, none of those are anywhere near me. Wish there was one in Galway.

pedroeibar1

leck wrote: »

I feel that I would like some kind of certification, but not sure this diploma would have much recognition.

I think I'm pretty up to date with what's online, but I don't have much discipline or method when it comes to research. I always go after the easy stuff and work a lot on hunches, which sometimes work out. I think a course would give me more focus and also help me in areas where I have little knowledge such as land records.

I've focused a lot on the American branches of my family tree as it was so easy to research them by comparison with the home team. Now with Christmas coming early with all the Irish records coming online in the last couple of weeks, I'm making more inroads on the Irish side.

I think IARC in Limerick has a module on researching land records –you are not obliged to sign up for all; each module costs about €30-40.

I have to do CPD (non-geno) and know that a qualification/course/whatever is not going to teach discipline. A good course will give you some new knowledge, it probably will help consolidate what you know and it might even give you pointers on ‘research’ – but it’s up to you to follow them and set your own rules. But the ‘rules’ cannot be too strict due to the nature of genealogy, where records have to read in conjunction with each other – e.g. Church records might need input from Griffiths and maybe a look at the Tithes, so there is little point in making a rule to concentrate on one of them to the exclusion of others.

Personally I’m quite relaxed about research (it’s a hobby!) and I have an amorphous plan, one that has a destination but a (very!) loose road map on how to get there. If I discover a great granduncle went to the US, I think it can be very productive to take a break from Irish records by ‘shifting gears’ to US mode and going down that road for a generation or two – a growing familiarity with those records also helps by saving time, rather than approaching them as a ‘newbie’.

Even for those with rigid discipline and research plans I’d bet everything was dropped when the GRO Records came online, or when there is free access to newspaper archives for a limited time.

Do not be too critical of the ‘hunch’ – some of my best ‘finds’ have come from them!