Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Researching Your Family Tree at Your Local Library

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
posted by Frank Stevens

Family Tree

Many people young and old enjoy researching the roots and branches of their family trees. Researching your family tree can be a very rewarding and exciting hobby; but at the same time, it can be a very time consuming and sometimes frustrating endeavor. There are seemingly endless resources to sift through and discover. Sometimes hours of research can lead to a disappointing dead end, and some days you will hit a land mine of useful information after just a few minutes of searching.

Whether you are an old pro at family tree research or just starting out, there are always new resources to learn about. One such resource you should not overlook is your local library. Many libraries offer a genealogy research tool called Heritage Quest Online. Heritage Quest Online can be a terrific source of information in your search for family tree information.

Heritage Quest Online is one of the largest genealogical data providers in the United States. It is a reliable resource that has been helping people research their family tree history since the year 1983. Heritage Quest Online is a vast resource, including over two hundred and fifty thousand titles. It is one of the most comprehensive collections of genealogical information available. Many local libraries offer Heritage Quest Online services free to their library card holders. Some libraries even have the capability to offer card holders access from their own homes. By making use of a username and password, library card holders may be able to access Heritage Quest Online remotely in the convenience of their own homes or offices. Of course you can always access Heritage Quest Online at the library itself if your library provides this service.

Heritage Quest Online is a virtual cornucopia of genealogical information. Heritage Quest Online offers complete United State federal census records from the year 1790 to the year 1930. This includes page images and corresponding indexes for most of the census records. You can search these census records by name, age, place of birth, ethnicity and more.

Heritage Quest Online offers genealogy and local history information online. This includes a collection of over twenty-two thousand family and local histories, primary source materials, and genealogical and local history series.

Heritage Quest Online also offers Freedman’s Bank Records. Freedman’s Bank Records are a great resource for African American genealogical research. It also includes Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant application files. This portion of the service includes records of more than eighty thousand people who served in the Revolutionary War.

You can also use Heritage Quest Online to search the memorials, petitions, and private relief actions of the United States Congress. This portion of the service covers the years between 1789 and 1969.

Lastly, Heritage Quest Online offers PERSI, which is the Periodical Source Index. This is an index of over 1.9 million genealogy and local history articles.

If you are unsure of the availability of Heritage Quest Online at your library, you should speak to your local librarian. Your local librarian will also be more than happy to help get you started using this service and enjoying the rewards of discovering your family history.

The Perks of Online Accredited Degree Programs

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

The Perks of Online Accredited Degree Programs

If you are like many Americans, you need to go back to school and get your Bachelor’s degree to help further your career, but you cannot afford to take 3 or 4 years off of work to go to school during the day, and you don’t have the time or energy to do classroom courses at night and on the weekends. It is one of the most common catch-22 situations today. You need a degree to further your career, but you cannot take time away from your career to do so. Luckily there have been major technological advances in the last 20 years that have very positively affected the educational system. It is now possible to earn your Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral degree online – without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. These programs are state-of-the-art programs and are competitive in every way with standard classroom programs, and are often times offered by the big name schools where you would likely go for a classroom course. Most colleges are jumping at the chance to offer online programs, which means there are many perks to earning your degree online these days.

The obvious benefit to an online program is that you can study from home or anywhere you want. In most cases the only thing you will need is access to the Internet. This is especially important if you have a job that requires a lot of travel or if you are a parent and need to spend your spare time at home with your children. Going to class via the Internet means you no longer have to get to class a few times each week. You can go home, log in and do your homework sipping a cup of coffee in your favorite flannel pajamas.

Since you do not have to go to a classroom, this also means that you will save both time and money by eliminating the commute to and from the classroom. This is also a great environmental benefit as well. You will save yourself wear and tear on your vehicle, you will save money, and you will be one less person out on the roads everyday.

Many accredited degree programs today are asynchronous. What does asynchronous mean, anyway? This is basically a smart sounding way of saying that the program is self-paced. In an asynchronous program you will not be required to be online at specific times of the day. Your lectures can be downloaded and viewed at your leisure, and appointments with classmates and cohorts will be scheduled at your convenience. You will likely have weekly assignments and due dates, but there will not be any time restraints on exactly when you have to be at your computer and logged into your classroom. This means you can do your homework or participate in class discussions anytime of the day or night. You can wait until the kids are in bed, or you can hop online during your lunch break at work.

These are just a few of the main perks to earning your college degree online.

Good Study Habits for Online Learning

Thursday, August 20, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens

Good Study Habits for Online Learning

Going back to school isn’t easy for anyone. Especially if you have been away from studies for a considerable length of time, relearning all of the necessary study habits can take some time. Taking online courses can help. By presenting information and exam material in electronic form, an online course can help you organize your notes in ways that are meaningful to you. There are, however, some basic steps that you can take to help you study more effectively and increase your chances of passing courses.

Get enough sleep. Although it sounds like something your mother would tell you, getting 6-8 hours of sleep per night has been shown to significantly increase mental functioning and the ability to process and retain new information. It may seem that staying up all night to study will give you an edge on the eve of an exam but it is better to put the notes away and get a good night’s sleep. If you have trouble getting to sleep at night, try some of these tried and true tricks. At least one hour prior to going to bed, shut down most of your mental stimulation. This means no TV, no computer, no loud music. Read a book (not your study notes) or a magazine or listen to relaxing music. This gives your brain a chance to wind down before sleep which will give you a better chance of drifting off quickly after your head hits the pillow. Don’t drink alcohol right before bed. Studies have shown that alcohol can disrupt sleep patterns and may actually keep you awake. Don’t drink anything with caffeine in it either. Caffeine is a stimulant and is likely to keep you awake.

Make notes of new information that you want to remember. Most online courses allow you to view study notes and course material electronically, but in order to affix new information in your brain, it is wise to write out notes by hand for points that you want to make sure you remember. Writing utilizes a different part of the brain than reading. Reading and writing out course information gives your brain two opportunities to remember it (and a third when you read your notes).

Put yourself in a realistic exam situation. If you’re taking a course with a final examination, it’s more than just the questions that can keep you from being successful. Many students find exam situations themselves stressful and they do not operate as well as they could. Getting familiar with the surroundings and circumstances you will encounter in the real exam will help you to relax during the exam. If the exam will be held at a specific time of day, study during that time slot to get your mind and body used to focusing at that time of day. Many online courses include practice exams. These can be one of your most useful study tools as they will get you used to both the content and the format of the actual exam. Write as many practice exams in realistic exam conditions as you can.

Hitting the books after a long sojourn away can be intimidating but starting with the basics of good study habits can give you the leg up you need to be successful.