Genealogy notes 26 Jun 2012 - Day 2 of Unlock the Past Brisbane Expo

Well Day 2 of the Unlock the Past expo was another full on day and I had trouble finding time for lunch and the group Geneabloggers photo.

My first session was Audrey Collins talking about online newspapers and periodicals and I just love the information you can find in digitized newspapers these days. The other session was Graham Jaunay with an introduction to family history research.

From Session 2 there were 4 choices for the rest of the day making it hard to decide what to go to. I had no choice as I was doing Family History  on the Cheap with other options Cassie Mercer talking about Captain Starlight, John Graham on the Ryerson Index, Geoff Morgan on Finding Frank and Horace and Graham Jaunay helping to date photos.


I missed Session 3 as I was chatting to people after my talk and I was also a bit desperate for a cup of tea (all that talking). Choices were Rosemary Kopittke on Find My Past Australia and New Zealand (and I had wanted to hear that as the site has changed considerably recently but I will probably catch that talk elsewhere on the Audrey Collins tour); Carole Riley on Australian land records; Jill Ball talking about Google+ and Blogs (and some expo photos are now appearing in her blog)  and I really would like to learn a bit more about how Google+ works and finally in the Research Area Kerry was demonstrating Legacy Family Tree and Eric and Graham were doing Reunion for Mac.


With no scheduled lunch break in the program attendees had to decide which of the next two sessions they would miss if they wanted time out. I went to Graham Jaunay's sesson on Irish genealogy but other choices were Kerry Farmer on convicts, Alan Phillips on the next Unlock the Past genealogy cruise and Saadia Thomson-Dwyer on immigration records at Queensland State Archives.


Session 5 for me was an Ask an Expert hour which turned into 90 minutes with 3 people asking me about various things. I was especially pleased to be able to tell one woman the name of the ship and date her ancestor arrived on as she had been unable to find it. As he was of Swiss origin and had arrived in Victoria, I thought of checking the National Archives of Australia naturalization records. There was a reference to him and even better they had digitised the memorial (5 pages) and it gave her all the relevant details. It's really nice when you can do that for someone on the spot.


However I missed the live presentation on Google your family tree from Dan Lynch in the USA, Eric Kopittke on German ancestry, Neville Buch on writing professional history and Jill Ball on Picasa and Flip Pal mobile scanner. As my expert session went over time I also missed the next session with Audrey Collins talking about the London Gazette (which I have used myself), Jack Ford on Brisbane in WW2, Stephanie Ryan on family history at the State Library of Queensland, Paul Parton on Google Earth for family historians and in the Research Area Graham Jaunay was again doing dating photographs.


I couldn't miss the last session because I was giving my talk on the National Library of Australia and using TROVE but that meant I missed Judy Webster on Black sheep and vanishing relatives, Helen Smith on online learning and Rosemary Kopittke on MyHeritage. I received some lovely feedback on my talk as people left and I wandered out to find that it was still chilly and still raining. It seems the weather will start to improve at the weekend but by then I will be on my way back to really cold Melbourne!


Throughout the day I managed to say hello to various people and even made one of the Geneablogger photos. Hopefully we will link all our various expo posts so that you can see what other bloggers thought of sessions I missed. Day 3 is starting in a few hours so I need to get my skates on, get dressed, breakfasted and through the Brisbane traffic in time for Stephen Dando-Collins talk at 9.30. Max told me his first talk was good so I don't want to miss this one. 


As well as writing up Day 3, I have to do a round up on the exhibitors and as usual I will do an overall expo review which will be posted on my website. Stay tuned.


  

Genealogy Notes 25 Jun 2012 - Day 1 Unlock the Past Queensland Expo

It's hard to believe that I'm sitting here in the pre dawn hours writing up the first day of the Unlock the Past history and genealogy expo in Brisbane. Yesterday went so fast and it's only the chilly room around me that tells me that I'm not dreaming! Even my cup of tea is cold already!

After arriving at the Expo yesterday about lunch time, I wandered around the exhibitors for a couple of hours, not only seeing what was there but catching up with many old friends and colleagues. As I have to get ready and go to today's sessions soon, I will leave talking about the exhibitors to when I have more time. We didn't get home from the expo until late last night so there wasn't time to start writing this blog then.

I didn't attend the first session of lectures for two reasons - one I was so immersed in the exhibition area I forgot the time and two, both sessions I had heard previously. Kerry Farmer spoke on DNA and Genealogy and Stephanie Ryan from the State Library of Queensland talked about immigration records for Queensland.

I followed Stephanie in the main theatre giving my Warning Warning talk which is about the basics and remembering the golden rules of genealogy to avoid creating brick walls and what to do if you end up with one. (There are earlier versions of my talks on the Resources page of my website and PDF copies of these expo talks will make their way soon too). The other main session was long time friend Ann Swain talking about Scottish ancestors. In the free talks theatre another old colleague Niles Elvery talked about Queensland State Archives and Helen Smith spoke about the Guild of One Name Studies. In the Research Area Graham Jaunay was helping people date their photographs. So lots of choice in that session and not an easy one to make!

In the third session I opted to hear Audrey Collins from the National Archives UK talk about the GRO indexes and this interested me from an archival view point as she talked about the history of the indexes and how they were created, transcribed and indexed from returns sent in. I couldn't help thinking that there was lots of scope for errors to creep in and in the last section of the talk, Audrey highlighted error rates so no wonder we can't always find something. Other choices were Rosemary Kopittke talking about the Find My Past World Collection, Steinar Johansen on Scandinavians and Ancient Genealogy, Dan Kelly on publishing your book and Jill Ball aka Geniaus demonstrating Family Historian.

The last session before dinner I missed as I was at the Ask an Expert table but only had one person seeking help. Not surprising given that the talks were Graham Jaunay on identifying photographs, Helen Smith on talking about what our ancestors died of, Pauline Williams on researching at the Genealogical Society of Queensland and Jill Bill demonstrating the Flip Pal Scanner and Picasa and the final choice was Rosemary Kopittke demonstrating Family Photo Book.

I don't think anyone can complain that there wasn't something of interest for everyone. Then there was a dinner break and the local school canteen catered with a variety of simple hot meals, sandwiches, cakes, cold drinks and tea and coffee. Over my pie I caught up with Cassmob from Darwin who is down here on family business but was still able to attend the Exp which was great.

The evening sessions were also full on with Audrey Collins talking about scandals in the family, but I listened to Beryl Roberts and Cassie Mercer from Inside History Magazine talking about writing local and family history books, magazines and newspaper articles. This was full of practical advice and it really does pay to write about your ancestors stories as it is amazing who contacts you with more information on them.

I gave my Ancestors in Church talk at the next session and so had to miss Stephen Dando Collins' talk on Crack Hardy: From Gallipoli to Flanders to the Somme which I really would have liked to hear. My partner Max said I missed a really good talk which didn't make me feel better but I will  be able to hear Stephen again as he is also a speaker on the next Unlock the Past genealogy cruise in February 2013.

The final talks for the night were Helen Smith talking about breaking down brick walls and Paul Parton on Family Search, both talks I have heard before. Over in the Exhibition area the Research Help Zone was answering questions from those who didn't attend talks and there were attendees still going round the various displays and chatting with exhibitors.

It was a full on afternoon/evening and it starts up again in just a few hours. So time for me to have breakfast, get ready and brave the Brisbane traffic as I head out for another great genealogy adventure in my home town!

Genealogy notes 18-24 June 2012 - Getting Expo Ready

The last week was the usual mad blur of too many things happening at once. As I'm in Brisbane for the Unlock the Past history and genealogy Queensland expo, I also had to leave the house neat and tidy for the real estate agent to show people through. Apparently they don't like seeing bits and pieces around (this includes kettles, toasters, salt & pepper and other things I leave out for daily convenience) so trying to think about potential buyer need was a distraction.

An exciting interlude before I left was an interview with Michael Lund from Brisbane's Courier Mail who was doing an article on family history to be published on 23 June. We seem to talk for ages and he had lots of questions but it's a really good article and you can read it here. I managed to finish my talks and I always print a copy, save to two USBs as  well as the copy on my laptop and the master on my remote back up drive.

As well as getting used to my new laptop, I also decided that I really did need an IPad to help me report on the Expo as the laptop is to heavy and big to carry around the exhibitor tables as well as take notes during sessions. Not to mention any social media activity! So that meant setting it up which wasn't too bad but I still haven't worked out how to transfer my calendar and contacts to it and I also discovered that my IPhone doesn't seem to talk to the new laptop so I haven't been able to sync that either.

The technology is great but for non techno people like me it always seems to be a little bit trickier. Luckily the Expo gives me three days to ask questions with a whole range of experts. Setting my new Telstra wi fi was not so straightforward either but thanks to the two technicians at the local store they sorted out my problems and I'm all systems go with that and it talks to the IPad and laptop so I'm happy.

Lots has been happening on my personal genealogy front with certificates arriving from the UK and I've ordered some wills too which should get here soon. The only trouble is that I don't have time to sit down and process all the new information. When I get home I've got to finalise talks for National Family History Week in just four weeks time, including State Library Victoria's Family History Feast and five talks with the Yarra Plenty Regional Library. Still it's going to be an exciting time.

Over the next three days I hope to do a daily blog of the expo and at the end my usual overview blog of the entire event. It doesn't finish until late tonight and I have to be up early and get across Brisbane in the morning so getting Day 1 out on time might be tricky but we will see how we go. I'm also looking forward to catching up with Geneablogger friend (and I remembered to pack my genealogy blogger beads) and also the Genealogists for Families Project members.


Stay tuned as the next three days are going to be full on genealogy. So excited!

Genealogy notes 4-17 June Brisbane genealogy expo next!

Almost two weeks of being frantic - photos with the real estate agent, people walking through the house, just keeping the house neat and tidy while at the same time trying to finalise my talks for the Unlock the Past Queensland genealogy expo in Brisbane on 25-27 June, finishing some complex client reports, putting the finishing touches to a new research guide and my poor old laptop decides its had enough!

Just what I needed, a few days without my laptop but I've got it back but I also took the opportunity to get a new one which is a lot faster - maybe I'll work faster too! But there has been the added time to set up this new one and move my data across and all that goes with making new laptops look like your old one.

Other distractions were the arrival of my new Flip Pal mobile scanner from Gould Genealogy & History which is another thing I have to learn how to use effectively but I'm hoping for a few lessons from my friend Jill at the Brisbane expo. She will be talking about it and doing live demos so that should help. A more worrying distraction was that I realised that I hadn't received my latest issue of Inside History Magazine and on checking with them, I found it had been dispatched but not arrived. They said another copy would be in the mail but over a week later it's still not here. I know it's a good read but I hope it hasn't been waylaid again!

I've been trying to get my other half to go to Bali with me again for some time out and he keeps saying no we've been there and we don't have time etc etc. His son rings up and says 'Dad you want to go to Bali with me' and you guessed it, the other half said yes straightaway! While I think it will be good for the two of them to spend time together, it couldn't be at a worse time for me as it is during National Family History Week 2012 (NFHW) and I have so many events scheduled where the other half was going to be doing my book selling. It really is too hard to give talks, then take questions and try and sell books at the same time so I'm missing him already. Plus I will still be here in chilly Melbourne and he will be lazing on a Bali beach eating seafood.

Still I think NFHW this year is going to be fantastic - I've been asked to do the opening at the Victorian Archives Centre on 27 July where Hanifa Deen is talking about her new book. I'm also speaking at the State Library Victoria's annual Family History Feast (bookings open 18 June) plus Yarra Plenty Regional Library have got me giving presentations at five of their libraries. So that's a few more talks I've got to start thinking about!

I'm leaving for Brisbane on Thursday which is a few days before the Expo so that I can catch up with family and friends. Mum's looking forward to seeing us and I'm hoping to try out that Flip Pal scanner on some of her old photo albums which she doesn't want me to take away. I'm also staying a few days after the Expo but have to be back in Melbourne for the Audrey Collins Australian tour on 2 July.

The next few weeks are going to be full on genealogy (half of me is hoping the house won't sell just yet) and as usual, I will be blogging events and sharing the experience with readers who can't get to the talks themselves. I hope to meet a few people in Brisbane and catch up with other UTP speakers and as always feedback is appreciated. Enjoy your research time!

Genealogy notes 21 May - 3 June Moving & Genealogy Talking

Well it's amazing how much time it takes to get ready for a monster moving garage sale, then there were the two days (cold but not wet) that we lived in our garage watching other people snap up our preloved items, then the trip to the Salvos with what was left. We hadn't even had a chance to relax when the real estate agent said he wanted to show someone through and of course we have boxes of books and other 'clutter' all over the place. I still had to finalise my talks for the Yarrawonga GMAGs seminar and we were leaving on the Saturday.

Somehow we managed it all and the seminar went well. I gave four talks - Ancestors in Church, Australian Government Archives Online, Resources for Photographs, and PROV's Nooks and Crannies plus I staffed a small books sales table with Unlock the Past publications. Archival Access Victoria was the other speaker and Mark gave lots of examples of the types of records that can be found at PROV and the copy services they offer.

With approx 50 people I was kept busy selling and talking but still managed to eat some of the wonderful country cooking that is always on offer at these events. But that night I was more that a bit weary so it was just pizza with the chardy and an early night.

As usual people asked me to put the talks on my website so I still have to PDF the talks and place them on the Resources page under Presentations. I've allowed myself a few days to do it just in case it takes longer than I anticipate or I get distracted with other priorities!

It was great to see so many people from Deniliquin and I'm looking forward to their Deniliquin genealogy muster in October. It's a first for them so I'm hoping that it is going to attract lots of people from surrounding areas. We're taking the caravan up and will spend a few days exploring the area as usually we are just passing through on the way to someplace else.

There's no rest for the wicked and tonight I'm the guest speaker at the Yarrawonga Family History Group meeting doing a Q&A session. Some members have already sent their questions via email so I will spend today doing some preparation. From tomorrow I get to relax for a few days and hope to go on a cruise of Lake Mulwala in a paddle steamer. I have to be back in Melbourne by Friday as there is a meeting of the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations and I'm on the committee.

I have so many emails and enewsletters in my inbox I don't think I will ever catch up plus I have to check/amend the talks I'm giving at the Unlock the Past Queensland Expo in Brisbane in a few weeks. That will be a great event and a chance to catch up with some of my favourite speakers.

If our house sells quickly and we become homeless (apart from the caravan) life will become really interesting. At least most of my family history is now on the laptop although I still have a lot of documents and photos to scan. I'm sure it will work out eventually. Until next time.

Genealogy notes 10-20 May 2012 - blogging challenges

Well another ten days have passed and our 'monster' garage sale is next weekend plus we have continued to give items away to our families and friends. This will be our fourth move since we met in 2001 so it's probably time that we combined our belongings and have only one of everything! Of course the danger is that when we finally arrive at our 'new home' we will probably want something we have given away thinking we would never have a need for it again. It's also amazing how much time can be taken up talking to banks, real estate agents, friends and family members who want us to move near them and people telling us where they would retire too. I think we really do need to 'do it now' as I don't think I could stand to have this hanging over my head for another year.

Anyway, in our rest breaks I continue to try and keep up with my emails, e-newsletters, Twitter, Facebook and bloggers I like to read but I am very aware of how much I am missing out on logging in sporadically. There are three blogging challenges this year I would have liked to participate in - 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy (now into Week 19), Beyond the Internet (now into Week 18) and the Family History through the Alphabet (only up to B so maybe I can catch up) challenge. These are all weekly themes which in past years I would have contributed to but at the moment I'm flat out keeping this Diary going. I still like to try and read the various posts to these challenges as we can learn so much from what others write and share with us.

One thing that I have committed to is a National Institute of Genealogical Studies (NIGS) course on Google for the Wise Genealogist (I wonder which other Congress attendees are doing this in May or have already completed it). This is a free course that I signed up for when I visited the NIGS display stand at the AFFHO genealogy congress in Adelaide back in March. At the time I elected to do it in May as I had thought this month would be relatively free so I'm a bit behind with that and the next week's lectures and assignments are due to tomorrow. So I simply must catch up this afternoon.

The other exciting thing that happened in the last week was that I received an invitation to speak at and launch this year's National Family History Week from 27 July to 5 August. The launch will be at the Victorian Archives Centre in Melbourne on 27 July so I hope to see a few people there and I encourage all genealogy and family history groups to add their events to the 2012 calendar.

Plus I'm trying to finish a few genealogy reports for clients, do a new talk on resources for identifying photographs for the GMAGS Day on 3 June, revising my talks for the Queensland Genealogy Expo in Brisbane 25-27 June and finalise a couple of publications I have pending for Unlock the Past.

And it's my son's 25th birthday today so I'm a bit nostalgic and wondering where the last 25 years have gone! I still don't think I'm ageing as much as he has in the last  25 years. We will catch up and celebrate when I'm in Brisbane next month. My niece turned 18 last Friday and again I can't quite believe that.

Time to finish this Diary update and get back to crossing off at least some of those things on my to do list for this glorious autumn day in Melbourne! If it all gets too hard, I'm going out for a nice walk and soak up some Vitamin D which my doctor tells me I'm deficient in (last time he told me to stay out of the sun and I had skin cancer surgery on my face). I'm happy to say that scar is healing quite nicely and is mostly hidden by my hair. Until next time.

Genealogy notes 24 Apr - 9 May 2012 Top 50 genealogy blogs

Wow can't believe it's over two weeks since I sat down to write this Diary. Getting ready to move is taking up so much of our time - we've been gardening, painting, moving furniture, steam cleaning carpets, sorting items for our huge garage sale in a couple of weeks and so on. I've been squeezing in a bit of genealogy along the way and managed to get my ANZAC Day tribute on my SHHE Genie Rambles blog done on my Uncle Gordon, a Rat of Tobruk.

I've also accepted a number of opportunities to give genealogy talks for the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney, various talks for the Yarra Plenty Regional Library in Melbourne and another all day seminar for the Goulburn Murray Association of Local and Family History Groups. For dates, venues and presentation titles see my Services and Events page on my website. The second half of this year is starting to look quite busy but by then we should have got the house ready for sale (assuming we can never decide where we are going to move to)!

I have stacks of genealogy e-newsletters and blogs to catch up on but one that caught my eye on Twitter the other day had the hash tag #50bestblogs and I started getting mentions and congrats. So today I said to the other half I simply must sit down and have a read and write the next instalment of this Diary. I'm very pleased to see that I have been included in the Top 50 genealogy blogs penned by blogger friend Geniaus and published by Inside History magazine in their latest issue. I haven't got my paper copy yet and that's always an occasion to put the kettle on and sit down to have a good read. Perhaps I can send the other half out to Bunnings when it arrives! You wouldn't believe how many trips we've made to Bunnings over the last couple of weeks as we do little touch ups here and there, both inside and outside of the house.

Doing a bit of painting and minor repairs is really the easy part of moving. By far the hardest part is sorting out all our stuff. I live with a hoarder and I've always been a collector (more selective in my hoarding for those wanting to know the difference). I was a stamp collector as a child and since 1977 I've been actively collecting ancestors and their stories. What I hadn't realised is how collecting is a theme in almost everything I do. For example, my sock drawer was always just a sock drawer until last week when I put all my socks out on the bed with the aim to throw out the 'daggy' ones. My socks actually tell the story of my life and my travels with socks from Tasmania with their smiley Tasmanian tigers, my kiwi socks from New Zealand and my sheep socks from Hamilton in Victoria, the sheep capital of Australia. You get the picture.

My nightie drawer was not much different. There was the nightie I bought to go on a five week overseas trip to Europe in 2000, quite a few from the Victoria Markets here in Melbourne and then there was my fav nightie, but it's looking a bit the worse for wear. So much so my partner said why didn't I just chuck it out (after all this is what we are supposed to be doing, minimising what we are moving with). My response was that I could still  remember buying it as I was pregnant with my son at the time and I wanted something nice for the hospital. My son is turning 25 this month which means my fav nightie is older than my son! Perhaps it really should be 'retired'!

Do others find that basic clothing can generate memories and lifetime attachments? I can understand it with wedding dresses and perhaps more formal outfits but the humble sock and nightie?

Then there are all my travel souvenirs starting with the first turtle I ever bought in Fiji in 1975 on my first ever overseas trip - yes I collect turtles and have many in varying shapes, sizes and formats. Then there is my cat collection, and I have a fondness for camels especially one I picked up in Upper Mongolia back in 1996. Don't get me started on my fridge magnets which are all over the fridge, freezer, filing cabinets and other metal surfaces around the house. Somewhere deep inside me I know that they should go but each one has it's own memory and story to tell.

Well I have to get back to tidying up, as much as we can with all the boxes and stuff piled up everywhere as there is a real estate agent coming this afternoon to give us the latest on selling in this area. More than half a dozen houses have sold in our surrounding streets in the last month so it's not going to be hard to sell should we put it on the market. It's a high demand area but without somewhere to go to, we would be left with living in the caravan and we still have too much stuff for that! Wish me luck and I'm hoping for more genealogy time next week!