A New Badge on the Blog

When Alan Phillips' invitation to be an Ambassador for  Researching Abroad: Finding British Isles and European Ancestors, a series of Unlock the Past events, I had no hesitation in accepting.

For the next few weeks this badge will appear on my blo

I had every intention of attending this event and was going to share my enthusiasm anyway. I love to support the events Unlock the Past host for the geneacommunity downunder. UTP is the only commercial organisation that regularly organises events that bring overseas genealogy speakers we would not otherwise hear downunder. A bonus is that the costs of these events are quite reasonable.

I will be attending the Sydney gig at Parramatta (did you know you can get there by bus or train from Hornsby way over on the other side of town?). I love these events because they fire up my enthusiasm and educate and enlighten me. They also provide an opportunity to catch up with my distant genimates.

I am probably one of a handful of Australians who has met both Dirk and Chris, the headliners at this event. They are both enthusiastic chaps who are passionate about genealogy in their geographical areas..

The hashtag for this event is #utproadshow17.

Disclosure: As compensation for my Ambassadorial duties I receive complimentary entry to the Researching Abroad: Finding British Isles and European Ancestors in Sydney.

A Glutton for Punishment

When I debark (American term for disembark - sounds like something one does to a noisy dog) from the 4th Unlock the Past Cruise in Sydney next month I am not racing home to be reunited with my family.

Mr GeniAus is going to collect me from the dock and whisk me out to Parramatta for the Chris Paton and Thomas MacEntee Downunder Sydney event. 

Why am I doing this? It is simply because the program on the cruise is jam packed and I can't get to see all of Chris' and Thomas' presentations while on board. Additionally, as a user of Family Historian software I need to attend any presentation that English expert Jane Taubman is giving while she is in Australia.

I have previously heard Chris and Thomas speak, they are both knowledgeable, entertaining and accomplished speakers. I have spoken privately with Jane in a Google Hangout and  follow her posts in the Family Historian forums, she has an amazing depth of knowledge on Family Historian software.

If you can get to Parramatta on Thursday 13th February why not join me. We do not get many opportunities in Sydney to hear three international speakers like Chris, Thomas and Jane all in one place (and for a modest entry fee).

Details can be found here on the Unlock the Past Website. 

Don't live near Sydney? Thomas and Chris will also be presenting workshops in all capital cities except Darwin. See here for details.

2012 Unlock the Past event at Parramatta

2010 History & Genealogy Expo at Parramatta - Saturday

Was it only four days ago that I retraced Friday's steps to Parramatta for the second day of the expo?

My Saturday started on a high note with  "Immigration from Ireland" by Dr. Perry McIntyre. After my initial shock in finding that Perry, whom I had read about for many years, was a girl not a boy I settled in for a most informative talk. Who said academics were boring? Kerry was the anthtihesis of boring as she spoke with passion and a depth of knowledge on this subject.  Kerry skillfully placed her talk, that was illustrated with images and statistics, in an historical perspective giving us an understanding of why our ancestors left the Emerald Isle. Kerry confirmed that finding traces of Irish ancestors can be a challenge but that with persistence one can sometimes be successful.

A silde from Perry's talk

In my second talk I went on a virtual tour of the treasure of the Mitchell Library with Paul Brunton. In his talk " The Mitchell Library and its collections" Paul,  after giving a short history of the library, focussed on some of the treasures of the library that are not what they seem. He talked about collection items that included, maps, letters, manuscripts, china and artworks. Paul indicated that looking at these old items in current often gave historians clues about social life and conditions of the times in which they were produced. Paul,a polished presenter who gave a talk laced with humour, demonstrated a passion for the Mitchell and its collections.

A 19th century cartoon from the Mitchell

I felt like I had won the trifecta after attending my third talk "The SAG Treasure Chest: how the Society's collections can help you" with Heather Garnsey, SAG Executive Officer. I had heard three competent, passionate and knowledgeable speakers in one morning.

An introductory slide from Heather

In her informative session Heather gave the audience a history of the Society and then outlined the items in the collection and how they can assist with one's research. She indicated the economic benefits of membership for those join up and use SAG's facilities. I am a longtime member of the Society who does not use these facilities nearly enough, Heather gave me a wakeup call.

Heather's conclusion

During the next two sessions I spent time volunteering on the TMG Sydney User's Group table. It was an honour to sit with these enthusiastic people who give of their time and energy so freely to promote the package about which they are so passionate. One thing users need to consider when purchasing software is the amount of support available. Apart from online support from the vendor members of the users group offer their expertise generously through a listserv and regular meetings at SAG.

There is no rest for the wicked so at 2:00 pm I found myself at the back of a crowded room for Chris Paton's talk "Discover Scottish Church records". Chris did his best to liven up this rather dry and confusing topic. My enjoyment suffered as I was unable to see Chris' slides on the screen and  seeing these visual prompts was vital  in following Chris. Additionally, as I could not see I was unable to record any of the URLs to which Chris referred. I hope I can find them in his book.

During the break I purchased a coffee and came across Neil Chippendale, Local Studies Librarian from Hornsby Library, who was scheduled to give a talk. I lamented that speakers had not been giving handouts; Neil promptly produced from his bag those he had prepared. Good on you, Neil, I didn't go to your talk but know that your participants would have been happy to get those notes of yours.

The last talk I attended certainly was the jewel in the crown of a fantastic day. Kerry Farmer presented a talk on "DNA and genealogy". I am scientifically illerate but came away from Kerry's talk feeling as though I had a basic grasp of the concepts she had outlined. Kerry was a calm and competentent speaker who was exceptionally well prepared. At the beginning of the talk she shared a wonderful handout, her many slides were attractive and informative and she made those of us in the audience who didn't have a clue about the subject comfortable enough to ask our silly questions.

Thanks again to the people from Unlock the Past and Gould Genealogy (it's hard to work out which is which or if they are one and the same) for putting together this event.

See my post for Friday's talks  here

2010 History & Genealogy Expo at Parramatta - Friday

The first session of my crowded timetable was Discover Scottish Family History by visiting Scottish expert, Chris Paton. In his first couple of minutes Chris connected with his audience with a relaxed speaking style peppered with humorous asides. Chris' informal style was in contrast to the depth of information he presented in the 45 minutes allocated. After the presentation someone commented that "he went so fast", I love this style of presentation where the presenter can pack plenty of information into a short time. This talk told me so much more than I have heard from other presenters in Australia talking on a similar topic. Thank you, Chris, for not turning your talk into an infomercial for your book but for simply mentioning it in your final slide. I bought a copy!

Chris' blog, Scottish Genes, is one of the best in my RSS feeds, it is an essential read for those with Scottish links. presented Social Media for Family Historians

Carole Riley, a SAG Councillor and professional genealogist from Sydney presented Social Media for Family Historians. Although this talk was targetted towards beginners I was interested in hearing how Carole approached this topic for which I have a passion. In the time allotted Carole gave an overview of a number of products that she uses to enhance her research and maintain family connections. It was evident from the number of questions from the floor that the family historians in the audience had little knowledge of the tools. This talk certainly hit the mark with the majority of audience members.  I must agree with Carole's statement " I think social media is the best thing since the personal computer was invented." Carole did not plug her book ad nauseum - so I bought a copy.

Geniaus meets Chris Paton

I nabbed a front seat for Chris Paton's second talk " Discover Scottish Land Records. Chris made this dry topic interesting  with his clear summary and explanations; I took copious notes but think these are not necessary as all of the information is in Chris' book. Listening to the man in person was far more enjoyable than reading his words on a page.

At the last minute I purchased a ticket to Megan Gibson's "How to get more family tree time: tips for the time poor!" Megan only had a thirty minute slot to share her tips. Unfortunatley her introduction and promotion of her book took up the first fifteen minutes of this time so she was not able to share many tips with her audience. Megan did give a handout of a proforma for documenting a day's activities.

In contrast Shauna Hicks in her presentation "Family History on the cheap" packed a lot of content into the time allocated. Shauna talked to a great number of slides as she showed the audience sites and places where they could research for little outlay. The best tip I got from this talk was on how to search www.findmypast.com.au. I had been disappointed when I had my free trial, that I could not find many ancestors in this database. I had been searching for them in the surname field. Shauna said that many of the documents in the database are in .pdf format and that one must search by the keyword  field to get some hits as surnames are not separately indexed. Now I'd like another free 24 hour trial to test this out. I would add to Shauna's list the GenealogyWise site as a wonderful way to network with other genealogists with similar interests.

I enjoyed most of these talks and took away many ideas from the speakers to help me with my research. One suggestion I have for all of these speakers is to provide a handout or link to a webpage with the slides from the presentation or a summary of the references given.

I usually take a few notes  on my smartphone and take digital photos of the presenter's slides which I paste into the notes. Unfortunately, as I am 5 foot nothing, I could not see the screen when the rooms were crowded and I was beyond the fourth row so I was unable to record some of the URLs given by the presenters. I just hope they are in Chris' book!

See my post on Saturday's talks here

The Expo

It's a genealogy who's who here at Parramatta RSL. I spent an hour on the TMG table in the crowded exhibition hall and catching up with Pat and Chris two colleagues from my life when working in schools.

Now it's time to listen to Chris Paton, who in his first few minutes, has demonstrated a sense of humour. Love your style, Chris.

Pleased to hear news of the 1911 Scottish census shared by Chris.