Blog Archives

September - Benalla Family Research Group speaker Bill Willett

27/9/2019

Bill Willett from the Benalla Family Research Group attended our September session. Bill described the wide range of resources they have at their research room at 9 Church Street (open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 to 4) and made lots of suggestions drawing on strategies they use in supporting people who come to them for help with their research. Bill shared stories drawing on his own family history journey, providing examples of techniques he used along the way. He also showed a folder compiled using documentation available via the Family Tree program and a beautifully framed family tree prepared by one of the group's volunteer researchers.

Jane reported on a workshop she had attended on writing family stories which recommended finding our own voice and looking for themes which seem to recur during our research as a way of organizing our writing. We looked at the thematic approach used by Penny Bristol Jones on her website www.digbystories.com and Bev's family history blog website https://leedevittfh.weebly.com.

Time was also spent reporting back on progress during the month and working quietly on tasks which having a dedicated time in the month makes possible for busy members. Scotland's People once again proved useful in solving family mysteries during the session. If you have Scottish ancestry, their records are a wonderful resource.

Bev Lee

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Coping with plateaus and lulls, a lack of enthusiasm by family members? A supportive group for family historians learning to use genealogical computer apps such as ancestry.com!

2/9/2019

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Family History projects appear to go through different phases. An early 'trial' phase is often followed by an intensive working phase with a high level of motivation and lots of reinforcing and addictive 'Ah Ha' moments. This can be followed by plateaus and lulls, then renewed waves of enthusiasm. 'Tech Savvy Projects--Family History' provides a supportive space in which to work on family history projects whatever phase you are in, with complete freedom to come and go when you have a 'lull' or other priorities intervene. Another plus of attending this group? Family historians often comment that family members and friends don't always show the levels of interest, enthusiasm and support for their successes they expected! 'Tech Savvy Projects--Family History' group provides a supportive space for class members to talk about and share what they are working on with others, as well as gaining support from each other!

Bev Lee

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Family Stories

Family Research

Family Research is a guided self-help group for members who are already working on their family tree. Sessions commence with report backs on ‘pains and gains’ during research over the previous month accompanied by shared problem solving and lots of encouragement and ideas for next steps. Presentations by group members and guest speakers provide inspiration and suggestions of different approaches and resources. Social distance regulations permitting, ‘hands on’ segments to learn new skills on our devices will be included in 2022. Stories are also shared each month on topics designed to encourage deeper reflection on our research. Topics to begin 2022 include ‘A Sense of Place’, ‘Hunch’ and ‘They were there when…’.