RootsMOOC

The State Library of North Carolina’s Government and Heritage Library teamed up with Wake Forest University’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library for RootsMOOC, a massive open online course on starting genealogical research. The development of course materials was funded by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The course was originally presented on the Canvas network and materials are still available online in the evaluation copy. The course videos from the Government and Heritage Library and the Z. Smith Reynolds Library are also available at the links below.

Introduction & Orientation

RootsMOOC: Course Introduction

Captions available or view the transcript

Tab/Accordion Items

Recommended resources

Visiting the experts

Captions available or view the transcript

Documentation tutorials

View the transcript

Ancestor chart [PDF]
Ancestor chart example [PDF]

View the transcript

Family group sheet [PDF]
Family group sheet example [PDF]

View the transcript

Research log - PDF or Excel file

View the transcript

Cousin chart

Module 1 Quiz

Recommended resources

Visiting the experts

Captions available or view the transcript

FAN Club principle

Census tutorials

View the transcript

View the transcript

View the transcript

View the transcript

More about special nonpopulation census schedules PDF

Blank census forms from the National Archives

Ancestry.com tutorials
Familysearch.org tutorials

Module 2 Quiz

Recommended resources

Visiting the State Library

Captions available or view the transcript

Visiting the State Archives

Captions available or view the transcript

Local Resources Tutorials

View the transcript

View the transcript

View the transcript

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries - Newberry Library
North Carolina County Formation - Government & Heritage Library

Module 3 Quiz

Recommended resources

Visiting the experts

Captions available or view the transcript

North Carolina Digital Collections
Digital Public Library of America

Online Resources Tutorials

North Carolina Digital Collections

View the transcript

NC Digital Collections
Advanced Keyword Search Tips - National Archives

View the transcript

Example Google Search for "John Smith" on the NC Digital Collections website

View the transcript

Digital Public Library of America

This video was produced by the Digital Public Library of America and is used here under the CC NC-BY license. (Links to an external site.)

Mountain West Digital Library tutorial on how to search the Digital Public Library of America

This video was created by Rebekah Cummings at the Mountain West Digital Library. (Links to an external site.)

Module 4 Quiz