Genealogy Notes 24-28 July 2012 - National Family History Week

I must be having fun as time is simply flying. As I was the person honoured with launching National Family History Week 2012 I wanted to have a really good launch speech so I spent quite a few hours trying to work out what I wanted to say. I was fortunate in some respects in that 2012 is also the 35th anniversary of my becoming fascinated with researching my own family history having watched the television miniseries Roots way back in 1977. This gave me a theme of back then (in what almost seems like the dark ages) and the now (the whiz bang techno age). The hours spent on it were worthwhile as those present all said it was interesting and that it brought back memories. You can read it here. And if you've got any ideas on how to make my one wish come true, I'd love to hear about it!

The launch itself was sponsored by National Archives of Australia, Ancestry, FindMyPast and FamilySearch and was held at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne. As always, NAA was lavish with its catering from Cafe 99 and there were a few people who lingered over the delicious afternoon tea. The Victorian Director of NAA, Ross Gibbs welcomed everyone and as Ross and I have known each other for decades, he was able to tell the audience anecdotes from my archival past which was a trip down memory lane.

Alan Fincher, the Victorian GSV delegate, was representing the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) who are the organisers of National Family History Week and Alan paid a tribute to Lesle Berry who has co-ordinated the Week since it's inception seven years ago. Lesle has stepped down from the voluntary position but was unable to attend the day.

Alan's other role was to announce the winners of the various Nick Vine Hall awards which were presented by Nick's widow, Patricia Barth from Family Tree Scriptorium. Although all winners were announced, I can't say who yet because apparently not all had been contacted. I've delayed doing this blog waiting on an email to say that I can  include the winners, but it still hasn't turned up yet. So stay tuned for all that exciting news.

It was good being able to say goodbye to so many Victorian friends at the event and I'm starting to be a little sad about leaving but then I've done it so many times before, I know that I will end up in another equally good family history environment.

I've been working on some articles and blogs which I hope to be able to announce soon too and I'm looking forward to Family History Feast at State Library of Victoria on Monday.No doubt there will be more genealogy friends to say goodbye to, so I've made a note to wear the waterproof mascara!

On Tuesday the packing boxes will arrive so then it will be serious packing time. We've got lots of little boxes now ready to go into the bigger boxes. The other half has gone off to Bali for ten days with one of his sons so as well as the moving 'stuff' I'm hoping for a little family history research time! It's not likely that I'll get much time once we are living in the caravan.


Finally don't forget to check out the NFHW calendar of events for each State and Territory, there's sure to be a genealogy event near you or within a reasonable travelling distance. I've going to quite a few in the Melbourne area so hope to see you there.

Genealogy Notes 20-23 Jul 2012 - Cemeteries & Copyright

Last Friday I attended the AGM of the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations (VAFHO) and after the AGM there were two excellent speakers. Unfortunately it was not a huge crowd for this free seminar which was a shame as both speakers really deserved a much wider audience. Perhaps it was the fact that it was at the AGM and that always frightens people off as they think they might get 'volunteered' for something.

The first speaker was Celestine Sagazio, historian and manager of the Cultural Heritage of the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust talking about the history of the Melbourne General Cemetery and highlighting some of it's more famous citizens. Like all cemetery talks there were the sad ones but more often than not, the audience was laughing at the epitaphs and Celestina's photographs were equally interesting. I don't have any interest in the cemetery but her time went very quickly.

The second speaker, after a short break for refreshments, was Lesle Berry talking about copyright and family history. Lesle had also done a handout of the various points in her talk so that made note taking much easier. Not surprisingly there were lots of questions at the end of the talk with people wanting individual advice. Some people also confused privacy requirements with copyright and of course there is also reproduction rights usually exercised by libraries and archives. The Australian Copyright Council has a great range of brief guides and even one for family history in their Find an Answer section.

I forgot to mention last week that the National Library of Australia asked me to take a sneak preview of their new family history video which was great to see and I'm looking forward to seeing more over time. It has now been launched along with can I borrow from the library, what's online and can I get copies of items from the library. Check them out here.

The other exciting thing I'm trying to catch up with is the launch of FindMyPast Australia and New Zealand's long awaited World Collection with access to 'billions of international records all in one place'. It now includes Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Ireland and the United States of America. The press release also said that Australian and New Zealand content will soon be doubling so I'm looking forward to that announcement.

I'm still working on my talk for the launch of National Family History Week on Friday and all of these new online developments has me reflecting on what it was like starting my family history 35 years ago next month. The possibility that I could one day sit at home and have access to all this fantastic material online would have been more in the realms of magic than reality.

For those following our moving saga, we now have the quotes from the removalists and the news that we still need two shipping containers (despite all our giveaways and garage sale). I now don't really need to keep trying to thin down my study and book collections. It won't make any difference to the cost and I feel that I've already gone through enough pain parting from much loved areas of my life. So now it's just a matter of packing and trying to keep out anything that I'm likely to need in the next few months or more. How hard can that be?

Till next time and don't forget to check out all the exciting events coming up in the next few weeks on the National Family History Week calendar for your State or Territory.

Genealogy Notes 14-19 July 2012 Family History Q&As

It must be Murphy's Law in operation - just at the moment when I should be busy packing up for the move to Queensland all these exciting things start happening in my genealogy life. However some things are too good to not do so I willingly accepted Inside History Magazine's invitation to be their first guest expert on their Facebook family history Q&A sessions to be held on Thursday nights 8.30-9.30pm EST. All I can say is that the hour went so fast with questions on immigration, adoption, Ireland and the golden rules of genealogy. Long time friends Brad from Ancestry.com.au and Helen from Helen V Smith's Keyboard buoyed my confidence with their support. It seemed to go well apart from my accidentally shutting down my Facebook page a few times in my excitement to find links to help answer the questions. I look forward to more of Inside History's Q&A sessions with other guest experts as well (sneak hint - next week it's an expert from TROVE)!

New South Books have also sent me a book to review - Children of the Occupation: Japan's Untold Story by Walter Hamilton which looks fascinating but that will definitely have to wait until we're on the road in early  September.

Today I'm heading off to the Victorian Archives Centre for the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations (VAFHO) AGM with two guest speakers Celestina Sagazio, historian and manager of the Cultural Heritage of the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust talking on the Melbourne General Cemetery and Lesle Berry, national co-ordinator of National Family History Week speaking about the importance of copyright to family historians. Before the AGM there is also a quick committee meeting and it will be my last VAFHO meeting which is a little sad as I have been involved almost continuously since I first arrived in Victoria in 2003.

There's a lot coming up and my schedule of talks during National Family History Week can be found here and again it's a bit sad, as they will probably be my last talks in Victoria for a while. I've even had to start turning down invitations to speak next year as it's a bit of a hike from Queensland! Anyway I must dash or I won't be ready in time for the trip into Melbourne and today's exciting program.