Aussie blogs, Trove News, 2017 Events & Other News - Genealogy Notes 10-21 Dec 2016

The view from the study window

Last Diary saw me all excited about the approaching holiday season but a nasty bug has meant that I've missed parties, Christmas lights and I'm still to do the shopping. But there is something nice about bed rest especially if you have some good books and a tablet. Catching up on my reading has been good and that includes blogs.

Gould Genealogy & History News blog had an interesting post - 12 Australian Genealogy Blogs You Should be Following which lists some of my favourites too. I am also honoured to receive a mention on the list. It is authored by Alona who has her own blog Lonetester HQ which I would also include on a must read list of Aussie blogs. That kept me quiet for a while when I wasn't napping!

The other great way to spend enforced time in bed is to browse the digitised newspapers in Trove. Last time I wrote about a possible Jewsbury family connection to Bribie Island and I realised it was quite a while since I had done any updating on this family. I found heaps of new references and while I am yet to enter the details into my database and family history, I have had the luxury of simply searching and reading.

The good news for Trove is that in this week's mid year budget the government has managed to find $16.4 million over the next four years to digitise more resources and to maintain and upgrade infrastructure. Wonderful news. Launched in 2010 and with now more than 522 million items and 22 million unique users it is definitely a genealogy and history treasure.

One thing I have managed to do is update the Services & Events page of my website to show what events I will be speaking at in 2017. Additional events will go up as details are finalised but so far there is the Footsteps in Time genealogy conference at Southport in May, a day with the Coffs Harbour & District Family History Society, local talks and more. Check out the Services & Events page for details.

I had plans to do some new blog posts before January to end the year on a high. Now everything is being carried over into 2017 including some writing projects which are not going to make deadline. Since starting to work from home, I had forgotten what it was like to pick up a serious infection from someone else. Of course not having any grandkids local also helps to keep us immune too. Probably why this one took me by surprise.

There will be one more Diary to end 2016 which has been an absolutely brilliant year for me on a genealogy perspective. But more about that next time. Until then, happy researching.