I'm a member of the National Genealogical Society and I'm a fan on Facebook as well. Now you don't need to be a member to become a fan of their page, but why wouldn't someone want to be a member!
A couple days ago I saw one of their posts in my FB newsfeed about a FREE Course offered by the National Institute for Genealogical Studies on Social Media use. Now when I say free, I mean the course is free, but there is one book that is required for use during the course, Social Networking for Genealogists (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009) by Drew Smith.
You can find the book for less than $20.00. I think that's a pretty reasonable price!
You can find the book for less than $20.00. I think that's a pretty reasonable price! There is an additional optional "text" you can buy. It's the printed course materials. This way you don't have to print everything out from your home computer. That is only $8.00 through GenealogicalStudies.com. You can check on the requirement materials for the course on the "supplies" tab at the course's website (below).
I know I feel pretty comfortable in my own little bubble of social networking, but we can always learn more. It also may be a pretty good course for those of our genealogical comrades that haven't quite embraced technology fully yet, or are afraid to. Maybe this is just what the doctor ordered!
You can check out NGS' blog post on the course by clicking here.
You can also go straight to the registration/course description page by clicking here.
The only problem I encountered was that it doesn't state if the participants in the online course meet in a chat at a scheduled time each week or if assignments are posted and that's it. I'll be giving a call in Thursday to find out those details and will post an update!
Head on over to their pages and take a look. You may find that it's not the right course for you, or it may be perfect for you! You never know until you look!
UPDATE!: I got an error message when I tried to register for the course, so this morning I called the number at the bottom of the registration page. The woman I talked to was wonderfully patient with all of my questions and she made sure that I was registered for the course. I found out that there are live meetings, but they are not mandatory. If you register for the course you will receive several emails that detail what to expect. So a couple weeks until I get the emails, but I feel extremely confident that all my questions will be answered! I'm ready to have fun with this course! :)
UPDATE!: I got an error message when I tried to register for the course, so this morning I called the number at the bottom of the registration page. The woman I talked to was wonderfully patient with all of my questions and she made sure that I was registered for the course. I found out that there are live meetings, but they are not mandatory. If you register for the course you will receive several emails that detail what to expect. So a couple weeks until I get the emails, but I feel extremely confident that all my questions will be answered! I'm ready to have fun with this course! :)
