Don't hurry - be happy at Rootstech

Rootstech is here and I am ready to learn.

With the Rootstech recorded sessions now live I decided to go through the offerings and create my playlist. There is so much on offer. I am not going to stress about filling my days with watching zoom sessions, mine will be a relaxed approach over many days, weeks and months. This is necessary to experience the Joynealogy of Rootstech.

I am working out which Live and Main Stage sessions are on at Australia  friendly times and try to watch them live as they offer the most opportunities to Connect with other genies.

Meanwhile I am spending my afternoon creating my playlist (I made sure I narrowed it to 2022 sessions) and adding selections. It's hard to decide on what I need to know and what would be nice to know! I also want to support my genimates by watching their sessions (and giving their number a nudge in the all important statistics kept by Familysearch). 

When I am satisfied that I have dealt with the content of a session (I may need to watch some things more than once) I will delete it from my playlist. When I hear what others think of what they view I will adjust my playlist accordingly.

I believe that "Just in time learning" is a most effective means of learning anything so, whenever I have a need for knowledge in the future, I will use the search facility on the Rootstech site to find appropriate sessions. These sessions may or may not have been in my original list.

I am delighted to see that so many sessions from 2021 and 2022 will be available as an online learning resource. Just yesterday I came across a session that filled a gap in my knowledge from the 2021 event. 

My approach fits in with my 2022 research goal "Have fun and find stuff" and my new theme song "Don't hurry - be happy".

In case you missed it....

Pasted below is last night's GeniAus' Hangout on Air - To do or not to Do (over) that is the question. Please excuse the hiccup in the middle of the recording where I lost my connection. I felt powerless sitting at my computer looking at the other panelists' and not being able to communicate.

My next Hangout will be on Sunday 18th January - Getting to know  Family Historian with Jane Taubman. Details here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/ci8dr1q70l34dekik35p2g5vjvs

Thinking ahead

Later in the year I will be taking another holiday for a couple of months. While I have some vague plans to visit a few repositories in other lands the focus of this trip will be visiting new places; my travel bucket list promises to shrink a bit!

What of my blogs?  Blogging advice sites suggest that one needs to post regularly and consistently to maintain connections with one's readers.

I will have to let Android Genealogy languish as it is basically a news and notifications blog. I will post to this when I find something newsworthy and an internet connection at the same time.

Although I cannot maintain my regular posting routine with Geniaus I like to have at least one post per week scheduled before I take off on a trip. The time to organise this is not in the week prior to leaving but as far ahead as possible so I am already scheduling posts for October, November and December.

Where will I find subject matter for these posts?


I will turn to the Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers and use some of these.
I will look for inspiration in Amy Coffin's Big Genealogy Blog Book.
I will find some photos in my stash with unidentified people for "Do you know?" posts.
I'll have a look at an International Days list and see if something there ignites my interest.
My diary may give me ideas for "On this day in ---- posts".
I can search my family site for BDMs and other events that occurred on any given date.
From my collection of digital photos, many of which are dated, I can find photos of the ancestors to share.
I can share some articles from Trove that relate to members of my family.
I could even repost some of my more popular posts for new readers to enjoy.

Now I just need to find the time to act like a boy scout and "Be Prepared."

Kingswood here I come....

I had set today aside for a visit to State Records at Kingswood so last night decided to pre-order the documents I wanted to peruse. But it was not to be :-((

Firstly the State Records Website was down: in frustration I tweeted about this and commend State Records for ther reply this morning "staterecordsnsw   @geniaus Oh good. Automatic website updates occur overnight and may affect your browsing session. Hope you have a succesful research day! "

After a short time I discovered that the site was back up. I thought I would read the tips for visiting. I learnt that to look at original documents I needed a current Reader's Ticket. Alas, my  ancient ticket had expired but I was able to apply for a new one online. As I thought this government instrumentality wouldt take a while to process my Reader's Ticket request I gave up on planning for the visit, had a hot bath and an early night. 

Oh ye (me) of little faith!  When I opened my email box this morning there was a message from State Records indicating that my Reader's Ticket was ready for collection. I am now planning to request my documents for a visit on Wednesday (as one needs to give at least two working days notice for retrieval of documents).

Thank you State Records for your prompt feedback and attention to my request. I  look forward to uncovering some family secrets on my visit.