Each year Jill Ball (aka Geniaus) invites us to
take part in this activity by responding to the following
statements/questions, several of which are new, in a blog post. Write as much
or as little as you want and complete as many statements as you wish. If you
wish to take part and don't have a blog, please email Jill your responses and she
will post them on the GeniAus blog.
Once you have done so, please share your
post's link in a comment on Jill’s post or via email to jillballau@gmail.com. On
her return from a family holiday in mid-January, Jill will share a list of
links to all responses on the GeniAus blog.
Remember
to Accentuate the Positive
(Please
delete the items that are not relevant to your situation.)
1. I was happy to go back to ... after a Covid absence
In
person events – I much prefer giving talks to a ‘live’ audience as it is so
much easier to interact with people. I’m also a big book buyer and you can’t do
that on Zoom.
Attending U3A genealogy classes in person. I missed the cameraderied of sitting around the table laughing and sharing.
2. In
2022 I was particularly proud of writing ...
Making
substantial progress on my family histories for the Carnegie, Finn, Price,
Trevaskis and White families. This includes going back and doing citations and
scanning documents and photographs. The plan is to finish each one and call it
Edition 1 and then upload to Trove via NEDS for all to share. Then Edition 2
will be all the additional information I find as I keep looking for new
information.
I also had my 12th research guide published by Unlock the Past -
Australian Genealogy Online. Available in print or ebook from
Gould Genealogy & History.
3. A
new software package or web application I embraced was ...
As
mentioned in the previous question, I have been looking at using NED (national e-deposit) to put my
family histories online. It seems very simple to use and is a great way to
e-publish by simply answering questions re access etc. I'm not planning to sell my family histories.
4. My
sledgehammer did great work on this brick wall ...
My
brick walls haven’t budged but I do regularly check for any new information.
You never know what might turn up.
5. A
new genealogy/history book that sparked my interest was ...
NathanDylan Goodwin’s The Sawtooth Slayer was a must read and an interesting
insight into tracking descendants of a common ancestral couple.
I
also bought Penny Walters books The Psychology of Searching and Ethical
Dilemmas in Genealogy.
Another
must have was Danielle Lautrec’s The Good Genealogist: how to improve the
quality of your family history research.
6. A
geneasurprise I received was ....
The
gift of two Ian Mortimer books for my birthday from Mia Bennett – I now also
have Restoration Britain and Regency Britain. I simply love the The Time
Traveller’s Guides as they give so much detail on each time period. This really helps to understand more about
our ancestors’ lives.
 |
Members of Bribie
Family History Association |
7.
In 2022 I finally met ...
The
lovely Mia Bennett who spoke at the November meeting of the Bribie Family
History Association. It was a real treat for our members to have Mia in the
same room with us. She was on her way to Family History Downunder in Sydney with
a ‘horde’ of other overseas genealogy speakers.
8. Locating
... gave me great joy
All
the citations I didn’t think to note back in the 70s and 80s and probably into
the 90s too. It has been hard work, but I now feel that my research is more
validated especially when those family histories are up in Trove.
9. I
am pleased the Covid situation caused me to change ...
As a
profoundly deaf person I tended to avoid online talks because I couldn’t hear
that well. Covid caused a boom in Zoom which also allowed for closed captions - what a plus. Must also be easier for those struggling with different accents
although auto translation can lend itself to unintentional humour.
10. I
progressed my DNA research by ...
Really
narrowing down Dad’s biological family both near and further away. He had an
unknown grandfather and two unknown great great grandfathers all on his
biological father’s side. So not a walk in the park but common ancestral
couples are now well proven.
11.
An informative journal or newspaper article I found was ...
No
one article but I always enjoy the various member society journals I receive –
there are always tips about what’s new.
12. I
was pleased I could contribute to ...
Another
four terms of genealogy tutoring at Bribie U3A. We tackled Australian, English and Scottish genealogy, and brick wall solutions. First term in 2023 is Irish
genealogy, last done in 2021.
Assisting
the Queensland Family History Society with processing their personal family
history donations now that they have moved into new premises.
13. ...
taught me how to ...
I
learnt a number of time saving tricks when working on DNA matches from Mia
Bennett. So obvious but now I explore all the little filters and options on the
various sites.
14. I
got a thrill from opening someone's eyes to the joy of genealogy ...
I
experience this every week at U3A when I demonstrate something to the class
which they haven’t seen or heard about. My archival search strategies show what
is deeper in the archives and not always name indexed or digitised in the major subscription sites.
15.
The best value I got for my genealogy dollars was ...
My
genealogy society memberships as some of these have exclusive records not found
elsewhere. Although it does get a little expensive when you are researching in more than one Australian state.
16. A DNA discovery I made was ...
In
2022 I spent more time looking at Mum’s DNA matches as I have good paper trails
for most of her families. No real surprises yet but she has an awful lot of
Cornish ancestors.
 |
Fiona Brooker from
Memories of Time |
17. I enjoyed my first post Covid face to face event because ...
You
could catch up over a coffee/lunch and yes you can do that on Zoom but just
being able to see people means so much more.
18. A fabulous event I attended was ...
FamilyHistory Down Under in November was the biggest event I attended and had so many
of my favourite overseas speakers. The talks are available online until the end
of February 2023 and I still have a list of ones I want to watch or watch
again.
I even won a sponsor's prize - one year subscription to Cite Builder. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works and for more consistency in my citations.
19. I'm happy I splashed out and purchased ...
All
my books. Plus, I finally bought a laser printer and ever so much quicker than
my old ink cartridge printer which is now used only for scanning.
19. I got the most joy from ...
Discovering my webinar on using Australian Archives was the number 2
webinar on Legacy Family Tree webinars in November. This was a total surprise,
and I am usually in the Top 40 not the Top 10.
20.
Another positive I would like to share is ...
The
birth of my first grandchild Theodor who lives in Sweden with his parents. It
is so nice to have added a twig to the family tree. I just spent 10 days with
them over Christmas/New Year and talked to Theo about his family and life in
Australia. Towards the end of my stay, my darling son said ‘Mum you do realise
that Theo only knows Swedish’! Note to self: investigate how good Google
Translate is for English into Swedish before my next visit.
Please
share this invitation far and wide in your social media channels.
