Joynealogy in Action

 Sunday was a great day of Joynealogy for me (and I hope the genies at Wyong Family History Group).

Way back during Covid times my 3rd cousin, Regina, asked me to present a seminar at her local family history group. Covid caused a few hiccups with scheduling a face-to-face event but, after a false start or two, we finally agreed on Sunday 20th April. If Covid reared its ugly head again we decided we could go virtual.

The gods shone on us and the seminar went ahead as a face-to-face event at The Wyong Golf Club last Sunday. My day of joy started with a voice (from genimate Janelle) in the carpark calling out "Jill" as I alighted from my car.

It's two years since I caught up with these genimates

My joy continued right through the day from when I gathered with the earlybirds on the steps of the Club waiting for opening time until the end of the day when I sat down and had a gossip with some genimates whom had I hadn't seen in the flesh for two years.

There were a number of my genimates and so many familiar faces at the event who all politely laughed at my "Mum" jokes. I hope they also learnt some new tip or tool to take away. The joy of the occasion, Wyong Family History Group's first seminar in quite a long time, was not so much in the learning it was in the camaraderie and mateship of those who attended the event. It was so refreshing to talk with real people rather than talking heads on a screen.

I presented three talks selected by the Wyong genies under the banner of 21st Century Genealogy : using old and new tools to connect and communicate - Social Media for Genealogy, Frugal Family History and Cousin Bait. I love gabbing on about my favourite tools.

I was captured in action by Regina

Regina and I were both smiling like Cheshire Cats when another of her cousins captured this happy snap at the end of a successful day. Oh, such Joy.

21st Century Genealogy - 2010 Style

It's a geneaversary for me today. Back in 2010 I was dipping my toes into the water as a genealogy presenter with my very first presentation. Since that date I have given numerous talks at libraries, societies and conferences in Australia and overseas. Although currently all I present are online  I prefer being in a room where I can eyeball and involve the attendees.

Photo: Courtesy of Mosman Library

Discovery of this auspicious occasion was serendipitous. Yesterday I went fishing in the archive of my presentations on an external hard drive and came across 21st Century Genealogy, a talk I gave at Mosman Library on this day in 2010. In a subsequent blog post I talked about my experience at Mosman and my second presentation that same week which was for UnlockthePast. 

The first thing I noticed was that I hadn't used Powerpoint to deliver my talk, I created the talk in Dreamweaver, a web authoring tool that I had been using in my working life. I moved on to Powerpoint around 2011.

Home page of my presentation

It was interesting to look back on my content. Web 2 was a buzzword in 2010. The Did you know 4? link had me perplexed. Turns out it was a link to this video which I played during the presentation.

In the page on the 21st Century Genealogist I reflected on past and current practices (some of which have changed since 2010). I emphasised that it was good practice to combination of 20th and 21st century practices ie select  the best approach for each task at hand.

Family History Through the Alphabet – I is for …where would we be without them?

ICT stands for "Information and Communication Technologies"  - essential for the 21st Century Genealogist.


Here's a dictionary definition (so we are all singing from the same songsheet):

 ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information Technology (IT), but focuses primarily on communication technologies. This includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, and other communication mediums.

In the past few decades, information and communication technologies have provided society with a vast array of new communication capabilities. For example, people can communicate in real-timewith others in different countries using technologies such as instant messaging, voice over IP (VoIP), and video-conferencing. Social networking websites like Facebook allow users from all over the world to remain in contact and communicate on a regular basis.

Modern information and communication technologies have created a "global village," in which people can communicate with others across the world as if they were living next door. For this reason, ICT is often studied in the context of how modern communication technologies affect society. Source: http://www.techterms.com/definition/ict

Please take some time to to reflect on your genealogy activities and think how the absence of ICT from your life would have an IMPACT on your practices.