Packed in like sardines

When the small seminar room at Mosman Library was nearly full yesterday morning I heard someone behind me say "We're packed in like sardines."

People continued to pile in to the room for Carol Fox's talk "Writing your life story". A lady sat on the floor beside me and a few stood in the hallway. The helpful library staff rustled up a few extra chairs for the overflow. There is a booking and ticketing system for the Mosman events  presumably so that once all seats are allocated no more bookings are taken. No-one appeared to check off names as people arrived for this popular event. That the room was over full and there were chairs set up in the hallway blocking egress created a safety hazard. The venue for this event was totally unsuitable. 

If  the numbers at these events can't be limited and if demand exceeds  the space available the nice people at Mosman need to think about another space. I have previously attended Mosman events that were held  in the Local Studies room; while using this would have inconvenienced the one or two users of that area it would have served more people by being used for the seminar. Perhaps the Council has another space outside of the library that the library can use for its events, perhaps the Council Chamber might be available for these events.

In spite of my safety concerns (I was first to arrive so got a seat close to the door) I enjoyed the seminar and thank the Mosman Library people responsible for organising it. Carol is the fourth speaker I have heard on this topic but as each presenter has taken a different approach to the topic I heard some new ideas yesterday.

Carol reminded us that "There is no right way" to do this. She suggested that we "just get it down" and  emphasized that " this is your story you can write whatever you like". 

During her talk the vibrant Carol read excerpts from a number of self-published family stories to illustrate the different approaches that can be taken to the writing task. She shared details of many resources that have been written on the subject including  one she particularly likes by Michael Oke "Write your life story". An Australian title she recommended was Remember when by John Hockney.

As a practical exercise Carol suggested we construct a personal timeline of events from our lives and 
start writing from anywhere on timeline. To make the initial writing easier she suggested we start with the easiest topic or a happy event.

As I enjoyed this event I will be keeping my eye out for announcements of further talks in the Monday Matters series.

Mosman Council: Ancestry and FindMyPast online genealogy workshop

I've booked for this talk by Kerry Farmer who always gives a polished presentation.

Mosman Council: Ancestry and FindMyPast online genealogy workshop:

'via Blog this'

The Story of Bob Waterer and his family

Bob Waterer

It's two weeks since I journeyed to Mosman Library for a talk on this book by author, Nan Bosler. It would be remiss of me to miss a post about this event. Nan was accompanied to this event by the subject of her book, Bob Waterer, and the book's editor, Pat Frater.

Finding a leather pouch hidden away at the back his late sister's wardrobe led Bob to discover his aboriginal heritage when he was around 80 years old. The certificates found sparked an interest in Bob to find out more about his ancestry. Bob learnt that he is descended from Biddy Wallace, a member of Bungaree's Broken Bay clan.

At the Mosman event Bob conducted the most meaningful Welcome to Country I have ever heard. Nan Bosler talked about the research leading up to the publishing of the book "The Story of Bob Waterer and his family" that has been financed by a grant from Manly Council. Bob, who is now in his late 80s, shared a few anecdotes with us.

The Story of Bob Waterer and his Family

This fascinating family history tells about life on the early Hawkesbury River, Scotland Island and Pittwater. Bob's grandmother, Catherine Bens, was known as the Queen of Scotland Island. Although I have not read my copy in its entirety the book promises to be a most interesting read. The list of references at the end of the book is a very useful resource for historians and genealogists with similar interests. It would be a valuable addition to local history library collections in the areas covered. It is not my usual practice to advertise on this blog but if you are interested in purchasing this book you may contact donandpatfrater@bigpond.com for further details.

Thanks again to the people from Mosman Library for staging such an inspiring free event.

Mosman Council: Finding Margaret - tracing a family story

Another free event at Mosman Library next week

Mosman Council: Finding Margaret - tracing a family story:

'via Blog this'

Hitting the jackpot at Mosman

Sometimes I feel as though I have won the lottery and I did today after my visit to Mosman Library for  "Remember when...",  a full day workshop presented by Dr. Noeline Kyle of  Family History Writing and Lorraine Purcell  who has published a number of family history books.  Although I am not a Mosman resident I was able to sign up for this session before it was fully subscribed. I would commend these presenters to anyone interested in publishing their family stories. Details of  Noeline's future workshops can be found on her website and on the GeniAusEvents calendar.


Thanks to Mosman Council for hosting this event in Library and Information Week 2011.

Lorraine Purcell and Noeline Kyle at Mosman today

Because of my background I learnt more today from the first speaker, Noeline Kyle but both speakers were very good. I'll drag out my favourite tool  from teaching days and report on this event in a PMI format.



Plus

* Free event.
* Comfy chairs spaced apart.
* Yummy sandwiches
* Experienced speakers.
* Friendly and personable presenters.
* Printed program and impressive package of notes/handouts.
* Relevant slides with touches of humour to accompany talk.
* Artefacts used by Lorraine to illustrate her talk.
* Creation of an environment where attendees felt comfortable sharing their writing.
* Presenters graciously posed for a photo.




Minus

* Hazardous cords running across the floor of room.
* Dungeon like seminar room.
* Speakers not properly introduced by someone from the library.
* No-one on hand from library to thank speakers at conclusion of the event (I know it was a busy day but...)
* Discussion of on-line, print on demand publishers eg Lulu glossed over.
* No discussion of blogs, websites, vlogs or other online tools as formats for publishing family stories.
* No mention of using digital media, eg Facebook, Twitter, for marketing of published works.


Interesting

* Would like to have had a couple more practical writing exercises, group involvement and a little less 'chalk and talk'.
* A quick whip around the audience to identify their interests would have enhanced the experience.
* Speakers had a display of their books for sale.

@geniaus at work

@geniaus at work
Originally uploaded by Mosman Library

Sharing an old family chart with the Social media mob at Mosman Library and contrasting it with the spiffy charts one can produce using genealogy software programs and online tools.

@geniaus at work

@geniaus at work
Originally uploaded by Mosman Library

I had great fun last night talking to a group of Mosmanites about using 21st century tools for genealogy and connecting with family.

G'day from Mosman

I'm having a ball at Mosman Library tonight.

You've got to grab them

"The best writing manual is obituaries" was an important message I grabbed at the free blogging workshop held at Mosman Library this evening.

In his talk Steven Lewis highlighted the importance of hooking one's readers with a headline that will encourage readers to read on. He compared blog post titles with newspaper headlines that must grab the reader. Steven (aka rule17 ) reminded us that, as with newspaper articles, blog followers may not read the whole post. "Readers won't be with you from headline to fullstop". It is important to lead with the most important content. Obituaries, that have interesting titles are not usually written in a linear fashion, have structures that bloggers can follow.

I hadn't thought of this in relation to my genealogy blog but realised that, with those blogs I follow in Google Reader, I probably delete 80% of the posts after reading the post title and first few sentences.

So genealogists, if you want to ensure that others fully enjoy the brilliance in your blogs, you will need to get creative with those titles.