Saturday, November 7, 2009

Geniaus - Day 365

365 days ago I was sitting in bed recovering from surgery and contemplating my approaching retirement. I knew that, in retirement, I was going to devote more time to discovering and organising my family's history. I had also blogged about my work for a couple of years.Although there a number of Genealogy blogs around these appeared to have a US, international, commercial or family bias. With the exception of Genealogy in New South Wales I couldn't find anything distinctly Australian. Twelve months ago Twitter had not yet taken off as a way to disseminate news about genealogy in Australia. As I have a hunger for news I was subscribed to a number of RSS feeds from the fields of technology, genealogy, education and libraries. I thought that perhaps I should create a a genealogy blog with an Australian bias by an amateur Australian genealogist.
Geniaus the blog was born.

Reprinted here is my first post from November 7, 2009

Why add yet another blog to the crowded blogosphere?

I thought I would like a place to share progress, reflections and resources as I solve my genealogical jigsaw so here goes - another blog is born.

I've been researching the family on and off for the last 20 years and, with retirement looming, hope to finally get organised and solve some of my mysteries.

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Twelve months down the track it is time for reflection.

My blog has evolved to become more of a resource sharing tool and a presence for Geniaus on the web. I have not blogged about every little bit of progress I have made as I don't really think that the genealogy community at large is interested in the minutiae of my research. Taking part in Genealogy Carnivals has given me an opportunity to tell some stories about my family.

I have tended to blog about my big news eg my new family website http://www.geniaus.net and about the tools I use. The blog allows me space to share my latest links from Delicious and my latest posts on Twitter.

On a personal level the blog has has documented my journey as I learn about my family, genealogy and appropriate tools to use. For this purpose alone it has been a worthwhile exercise.

A perusal of the Google Analytics for my site shows that I do not have a huge audience but there are a number of people who follow the blog. Around 1400 people have visited the blog 2500 times and looked at around 4000 pages. During the year people from 49 countries have visited the blog, around half of these visitors are from Australia. Initially the visitors were mostly from the US but over the year this has shifted so that, now most of the readers are from 26 cities in Australia, with Sydney having the most representation.

18.06%of the visits are from direct traffic, 59.98% are from referring sites such as Google , Blogger and other websites and 21.96% come via search engines. So quite a few people just happen across the site.

The Top 25 referring sites are listed below:

1.
google / organic





2.
(direct) / (none)





3.
blogger.com / referral





4.
google.com / referral





5.
google.com.au / referral





6.
blogfinder.genealogue.com / referral





7.
genealogywise.com / referral





8.
creativegene.blogspot.com / referral





9.
shadesofthedeparted.com / referral





10.
bloglines.com / referral





11.
facebook.com / referral





12.
fbbootcamp.blogspot.com / referral





13.
twitter.com / referral





14.
ifamilyforleopard.com / referral





15.
geneabloggers.com / referral





16.
vidarsslektsblogg.blogspot.com / referral





17.
small-leavedshamrock.blogspot.com / referral





18.
yahoo / organic





19.
notebooks-brasil.blogspot.com / referral





20.
thebesthosting.org / referral





21.
caroleriley.id.au / referral





22.
geniaus.blogspot.com / referral





23.
genblogjulie.blogspot.com / referral





24.
kinexxions.blogspot.com / referral





25.
blogcatalog.com / referral


The 25 pages attracting the most views are:

1.
View this link Geniaus Home Page






2.





3.





4.





5.





6.





7.





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10.





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14.





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21.





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25.


It is interesting to note that the posts for Genealogy Carnivals attract a large number of hits.

Will the Geniaus blog be around to celebrate a second birthday?

I think it will. Without access to a reliable crystal ball I cannot make an accurate prediction. As new tools such as Google Wave and who-knows-what-else appear and enter the mainstream this blog might outlive its usefulness and my minds meanderings may move to a new more exciting and innovative platform.

And now to back up twelve months of Genaius posts for the future generations' family archives.....

Friday, November 6, 2009

Geniaus Website - Reflections

Today I had a query from another Australian Genealogist asking me about the web-hosting service I use for my family site http://www.geniaus.net.

I realise that it is now nearly four months since I uploaded my first Gedcom to the site. I am pleased to report that I am still delighted with the software I chose for the site, TNG (The Next Generation of Genealogy Software) and the hosting company they recommended, Simply Hosting. I outlined the reasons for my choices in an earlier blog post.

I wondered whether I should make the site private or should I open it up to the world and share the fruits of my labour. I opted for the sharing path and am pleased to have done so. By publishing my work I have had contact from a number of distant cousins who have happened across the site as they searched the internet for their ancestors. These people have been able to add details to my tree and act as editors for my site.

Sharing my data has made me realise that some of my referencing in the early days left a lot to be desired so the web presence has embarrassed me into going over my data and seeking and tidying up my sources. Although my database of around 7,000 has not grown substantially the amount of referencing and checking I have done in the past four months has hopefully improved the quality of my data.

The collaborative nature of the TNG platform has enabed me to give varying levels of access to those kin who have contacted me. I can allow downloads of gedcom files, editing of data and access to details of living relatives.

It takes less than five minutes to reload a new gedcom to the site so I am able to update it painlessly whenever I have made changes. Maintenance is a breeze. Uploading of photos and documents is easy, the face tagging feature for photos is fantastic.

A basic knowledge of html is useful to personalise the templates provided by TNG but patience and perseverance are the major traits needed to accomplish this task. Although I would like to make formatting changes to the whole site I am hastening slowly.

I am thrilled by my choice of software and would recommend it to any family historians who want a presence on the web where they can easily collaborate with cousins.

Social Isolation and New Technology | Pew Internet

Bah, Humbug to those who criticise users of social networking. It's time to get with it.

Social Isolation and New Technology | Pew Internet & American Life Project

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Genealogy Event at The State Library of NSW

Preserving your family history

Type:
Course
Date:
Friday 27 November 2009
Time:
9.30 AM to 12.30 PM
Venue:
Dixson Room, Mitchell wing
Cost:
$40 Bookings essential
Bookings
A seminar dedicated to the long-term care of documents, family photographs, letters and diaries. The emphasis will be on archival storage, with tips on which materials to use and where to find them. Participants are welcome to bring one or two items of family memorabilia to discuss their care with State Library conservators.

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