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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Too much learning

 There is a big online genealogy conference happening in Australia this week and I am not in attendance.

Over the past months I've had many opportunities to participate in online educational activities via Zoom and other mediums, I am still wading through the sessions from the recent RootstechConnect. That's a lot of learning! Another issue is that I am missing my genimates and hanging out for a face to face event so I have applied my geneafunds to attend History in Paradise, a face to face event on Norfolk Island in August.

My main problem is that I need time to apply some of the learning I have done during Covid times so, while many of my genimates are learning new tricks, I have been been playing catchup.

Recently my desktop genealogy software, Family Historian, had an update so I after downloading the update I have been working on my database while evaluating and updating some of my records. A catalyst for this was the presentation I gave at the SAG last weekend extolling the virtues of  the program. 


Several genimates, including Nicole Dyer at RootstechConnect, have been speaking in glowing terms about Airtable so I decided to investigate that tool. I spent considerable time creating quite a large base (database) with Airtable and was quite pleased with the result. When I returned to the program the next day I had a warning that my base was too big and that I would need to upgrade to a paid account.   

The problem was that I had too many records in my base. One is allowed to have many bases but each base is limited in the number of records it can hold. I removed some eggs from my basket and created an extra couple of bases to hold the sheets I had removed from the initial base so today I am within the limits for a free membership.

I want to play around a bit more before I decide to embrace this program. I like having the ability to link records in different sheets but as my bases grow (the first one is still close to the limit) I will need a paid account which will allow 5,000 records in each base. Another issue I am mulling over is that Airtable bases cannot be accessed offline. While I am usually online on both my phone and laptop will there be times like when on a longhaul flight, that I will want access. 

Next on my homework list is investigating the stories on The Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia Map and Database.



5 comments:

  1. I updated my copy of Family Historian and decided to give it another go, I remember you saying that you can colour code but I can't find it. I just want TMG to still be supported, I'm way too attached

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  2. I am intrigued about this Airtable too. I have a couple of projects that might work with Airtable, but just finding time to learn how it works and then try and construct a table isn't easy. Just not enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do. In the middle of a ProGen assignment at the moment, so need to get that finished before I embark on anything new!

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  3. You have been busy! There’s no shortage of things to explore and learn. I have airtqble on my list to look at, but haven’t got to it yet. I think I need time on a deserted island which has excellent internet :)

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  4. I think we all need to find that desert island, Pauleen, where you, John and I can explore airtable.
    Sharon, I'm not an expert but I tuned into a zoom with Chris Wright who demonstrated customising in FH.You'll probably find guidance in the FHUG.

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  5. It seems to be most of us are time-poor and it does look like Pauleen's desert island with excellent internet is going to be very populated I'm off there too!
    I am multi-tasking on & off during FHDU as the emails & follow up stuff just keep rolling in.
    I am enjoying the conference and find I always get something out of a session, even if it's a subject I know really well. I did enjoy today's one on Prussian/Polish surnames seeing my Grandmother's family were all Prussian Lutherans, maybe I should be extending myself into those German records more.
    I also lament the lack of personal contact and catch ups, but have made the decision not to attend the Norfolk Island conference. We had a long visit there in 2010 and loved it, your thoughts about putting current learning sessions into practise, is one of the reasons for this decision.
    As always, a great blog Jill, thanks for writing it.
    Bobbie

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