This course will concentrate on the birth, death, and marriage information gathered by the various churches as parish records, as well as the civil records gathered by colonial, state, and territory governments.

An understanding of the historical context is included to explain which authority collected the information and how the records varied over time. Births, deaths, and marriages records from various periods and jurisdictions will be examined to determine how much information is actually available and helpful for the genealogist, as well as how and where the records may be found.

The course also looks at why the information in such records may not always be accurate, as well as what to do when records are not available in the expected place.