Genealogy Notes 23 Oct - 2 Nov 2014 - back online

Well I am back home after a genealogy cruise followed by a history and genealogy conference on Norfolk Island. All up we were away for ten days and I presented ten talks during the five days and one night which were genealogy days. So I am a bit talked out! However as usual I have put the talks up on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

The whole purpose of my talks is to show attendees a broader picture and to get them thinking of how they can apply what I am saying to their own research when they get home. Feedback from both the cruise and the Norfolk Island conference attendees was exactly what I hoped for with people telling me they could not wait to get home and try out some new resources or search strategies. Makes all that preparation worthwhile.

I still have to do a report on both the genealogy cruise and the Norfolk Island conference but hope to get them done over the next few days. As usual internet connections are either expensive or you need to buy a package although the venue for the conference did generously allow wi fi access to attendees during the day.

But regular readers will know that I like to turn off my online access at least for a few days each year and it is usually easiest to do this when I am removed from temptation. So over the last ten days I only had one day of access in between the cruise and the conference. Does it make a difference? I find that I slow down as I am fitting less into my day and perhaps doing more things outdoors (touring and seeing the sights).

Although I do miss what all my geneamates are doing but that is part of the fun of coming home and catching up. There are lots of emails to catch up on, genealogy enewsletters to read and lots of blogs to skim from some of my favourite bloggers. One of my talks on Norfolk Island was about social media so it will be interesting to see if any attendees follow up on my suggestions.

I still have to finish unpacking and sorting out my notes and handouts from the trip so I will finish this Diary with a brief para on Norfolk Island which is a convict world heritage site. There were two convict settlements and the resettlement of the Pitcairn Islanders (descendants of the Bounty mutineers) so the Island is rich in history and heritage. We went on a progressive dinner to the homes of some of the descendants of the Pitcairners and it was fascinating to hear the stories of their ancestors and to see some of the memorabilia that some of them have from Tahiti and Pitcairn.

As some Islanders are of American descent they celebrate Thanksgiving and Halloween on the Island so it was interesting to be part of a Halloween celebration the night before we left. Although I am not sure about all that fake spider web and plastic spiders hanging everywhere to scare unsuspecting tourists.

The other major attraction for us is Norfolk Island's sheer beauty and incredible bird life. The weather was fantastic although they do need to see some rain soon. Of course there is all of that duty free shopping and some fantastic dining experiences with authentic Island food. We have now been twice and it would not surprise me if we do another trip in the future. Back next time with more of a genealogy update. Happy researching until then.

Genealogy Notes 15-22 October 2014 Geneacruising again

Most of the last week I have been reviewing my talks for the 6th Unlock the Past cruise which is a three night cruise out of Sydney which is basically a genealogy conference at sea. So no sightseeing or foreign ports but lots of genealogy talks and research help sessions. I will be giving 5 talks over 3 days and I am not the only speaker so definitely full on for all attendees. A blog report will follow in early November.

Why so long to wait? Well straight after the cruise I am heading over to Norfolk Island for the Unlock the Past history and genealogy conference. We will be on the Island for 5 nights and the conference itself is only 3 days so plenty of time for sightseeing although I have been to Norfolk before. Again I will be doing 5 talks in 3 days so no rest for the wicked although I suspect that is really no rest for the geneaddicted. Again a blog report will follow in early November as I am not sure what internet access I will have or how much spare time there will be.

This is my last geneafling for 2014 so I am going the whole geneahog. I do hope Geniaus is reading this as I would love to see myself credited with a new genea word in her geneadictionary.

The other thing I have been doing is trying to avoid seeing comments by geneamates on Nathan Goodwin's forensic genealogy novels which I have been given to review. I hate spoilers so I will need to think about how to review a novel without giving it all away. So far everyone has said they can't put it down so I am thinking of reading them when I get back after all my geneadistractions.

Week 25 Immigration records in my 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 was completed but there won't be another post in that series until early November. That week is also my birthday and Melbourne Cup so perhaps I should not be promising too much as it usually is a party week for me.

I can go for weeks with no one asking me to do anything and then all of a sudden everything happens. This week I have seen requests to speak next year, a request for research from someone, to do some more articles for magazines (Inside History Magazine) and I still have two more to go for Irish Lives Remembered and I have agreed to write another course in the Australian certificate for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I learnt a lot from writing the last one I did and this time around I will be more familiar with their requirements and style etc. So lots of interesting things to finish the year with.

I have one more talk for the Genealogical Society of Queensland on 22 November in Brisbane and I have two papers to write for the AFFHO Congress 2015 due before 30 November so my birthday month is shaping up to be very busy. The Congress early bird closes on 31 October and it really is the genealogy conference not to miss (only every 3 years) and Canberra in March is simply stunning with all those autumn colours we don't see here in the north. 

Well time to go and pack and get myself totally organised for an early morning flight to Sydney and 8 days of genealogy fun and some fantastic sightseeing on Norfolk Island. Stay tuned for my return and reports on all the geneaction. Sorry couldn't help myself! Happy researching until next time.

Genealogy notes 8-14 October 2014 - More Great Seminars & Backing Up

Since last Diary I have had a great time on the Gold Coast at the Angling for Ancestors genealogy seminar. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and to hear some great talks. My report on the seminar is here and fellow geneablogger Helen Smith also did a report and you can read it here.

I was all set up to tweet and Facebook this seminar as usually I am a speaker and don't get the chance to just sit back and do comments while in progress. However I was a tad over eager - I put my fully charged mobile wifi and Ipad in my handbag the night before so that I would not forget them. It was a bit of a rush in the morning so I did not check that all was ok. Sadly somehow the on button on my wifi was activated in my handbag and when I pulled it out to start tweeting I realised it was about to go flat! Of course, the charger was back home. Just as well I still had by trusty pen and notebook.

Over the years I have been watching the developments in the big subscription databases such as GenesReunited, Ancestry.com.au, MyHeritage and Findmypast.com.au and the amount of indexed and digitised records continues to grow. But what is also fascinating is how they have become more interactive and allow people to store their family information online and put them in touch with others researching the same families.

Early on I put my family data into Genes Reunited and have had many many contacts over the years. I had limited information in Ancestry for years but earlier this year I put all of my information there although I still maintain a separate genealogy program which has all the up to date information and sources etc. As with Genes Reunited, I have found relatives this way and shared information.

I have limited information in MyHeritage but it put me in touch with relatives in Ireland that I suspect I would never have found any other way or certainly not as easily. This is a program that I want to look at more but at the moment I have been looking at Findmypast's family trees which I first put data into back in 2012. I have just uploaded a gedcom of Max's families and it only took one minute and 44 seconds to load nearly 2000 people. I certainly could not re-enter that data anywhere near as quick. Plus you can attach records, photos and it will even calculate kinship for you. Read about the new and improved Findmypast family tree here.

Now that we are living in Queensland Max is interested in knowing more about his mother's Queensland family although he does already know some of his cousins. Surprisingly we have also found that his paternal grandfather has family here too. We have chosen the public option as we want people to find us but have also chosen to suppress the living.

So why have your data in so many places (and there are more choices than those listed here)? Because I have found relatives in all four of these subscription sites it shows that people are choosing different systems but if you only use one of them, you miss the others. Full membership of all four of them is expensive although you can choose free or limited options and of course, some of them are also available to use in libraries.

If anything happens to my laptop, or my backup disk, or my remote hard drive, at least some of my data is available on all of these sites. However I also use BackupMyTree which is a free MyHeritage application which allows me to store my data online (outside of MyHeritage) and there is no public access to it. Another plus is that each time I update my genealogy software program it automatically syncs to BackupMyTree.

So my data is retrievable (although the scanning of my photos and documents continues) and we are waiting for other family members to contact us, hopefully. Whenever I start playing with my own families, you know that I am procrastinating and this time it is finalising my new research guide for Unlock the Past. I always agonise in the final stages of a guide, am I too boring, have I missed something, got it wrong or whatever else. Fortunately their wonderful editor usually soothes all those silly nerves.

There will be one more Diary before we are off on the next Unlock the Past cruise and the Norfolk Island history and genealogy conference. Happy researching until then.