Gen Business: NIGS acquires GenealogyWise.com

In an interesting turn of events, the National Institute for Genealogical Studies has just acquired the GenealogyWise.com website.

Some time ago, many of GenClass.com's instructors went on to teach at NIGS. GenClass.com was founded by Micha Reisel and myself following MyFamily.com's cancellation of its family history classes, known as the "best kept secret on the web." Tracing the Tribe also created the Jewish Genealogy group on GenealogyWise.

Genealogy community director for GenealogyWise - Gena Philibert Ortega - has officially joined NIGS.

According to the press release received by Tracing the Tribe, Gena says, "I would say that GenealogyWise is a great fit with the National Institute's goals. GenealogyWise is a place to connect with new found cousins, share resources, and learn more about genealogy. As part of the National Institute, GenealogyWise members will benefit from the opportunities that the National Institute provides."

For more information on courses, click here, and go to "Courses" and then "Alphabetical Listing," to see more han 60 courses (to be offered in March) and their descriptions.

To learn more about NIGS, click the same link, go to "Institute," then "Faculty" and click on an instructor's name.

NIGS now offers more than 150 courses in genealogical studies, including the records of Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, and the United States. Certificate programs and a librarianship certificate are also offered.

GenealogyWise is the social network for genealogists. This is the place to network with other researchers, and make discoveries about your family history.

You can join or create surname, locality, or topic groups. The Group feature allows you to collaborate, share, and ask questions of other members.

You can also join the Chat Room for a quick question about research, a chat with fellow genealogists, or attend one of our educational presentations. As well, you can post a blog entry or a forum question from the GenealogyWise homepage. This is a great way to share your knowledge on a genealogy topic or to ask a question.

To date, there are over 23,000 members online.

A new feature will be added - the Live Meeting. GenealogyWise members will be able to access Live Meetings onsite, and this will open up more education opportunities to members that the Institute has to offer.

For the month of March, the Institute is offering a number of US courses as well as courses on Methodology, Electronic Records, and in Analysis and Skill Mentioning.