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

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Tab/Accordion Items

Recommended resources

Visiting the experts

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Documentation tutorials

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Ancestor chart [PDF]
Ancestor chart example [PDF]

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

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Research log - PDF or Excel file

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Cousin chart

Module 1 Quiz

Recommended resources

Visiting the experts

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FAN Club principle

Census tutorials

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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

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Visiting the State Archives

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Local Resources Tutorials

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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

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NC Digital Collections
Advanced Keyword Search Tips - National Archives

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

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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

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