Another one...
Five Reasons You are Not Finding your Ancestors
- myheritage.com in 100 seconds
- Making the Most of My Heritage
- About My Heritage:
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Today's session will start with Show and Tell, then Internet willing, we will check out the search features of Ancestry.com; then have a look at MyHeritage.com. Other link if this doesn't open - Top Ancestry Search Tips and Tricks https://youtu.be/uZnshl_fxmIyoutu.be/uZnshl_fxmI Another one... Five Reasons You are Not Finding your Ancestors Then we will have a look at another online program which has complementary features to Ancestry.com - MyHeritage.com -
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Some links which, internet permitting, we will check out...
Check up - Scam news; U3A Benalla website: U3A Benalla Tech Savvy Projects Page. U3A Benalla Facebook Page: Member websites; Member Twitter accounts, other possibilities. Google Slides - an app which is always available if you don't have Microsoft Powerpoint. Check out: https://youtu.be/kYA6GLAzz9youtu.be/kYA6GLAzz9AA This is good to watch after you have had a first session - the narrator moves quite quickly. Similar principles apply to powerpoint.
Using Movie Maker - this time as an animation tool (Frank's project involves animation)
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Still thinking about a blog? Working a single 'blog page' effectively to learn basic principles. Example: my 'armchaireconomics.weebly.com' Starter Page.
Learning Skill - 'Categories' Despite difficulties with the internet, the 'other projects' group began to 'scope' the possible apps and skills needed for some of their projects, with lots of ideas being shared on lots of project directions.
Slide Shows for Special Occasions - Apps: Power Point, Movie Maker Skills: Photo Resizing Nearly every project is going to require preparing a folder with numbered photographs to be uploaded into the project - whether a calendar, photo book or slide show. Web sites and blogs are best developed with a related folder system containing photo images used on different pages. Bev showed us a file folder containing numbered in order photos for a memorial slide show developed for an Aunt's funeral, then screened two versions of the memorial 'movie', one produced with Power Point, the other with Movie Maker. Bev then demonstrated the files from the file folder to introduce working with both the Power Point process and Movie Maker (Microsoft) program. Lots of discussion followed the demonstration. Resizing photos is an important skill when sending photos by email, putting them in newsletters and webpages, and more. Bev demonstrated using Microsoft Office's Picture Manager to focus on core features of the process, then everyone went off to check out what was available on their device and problem solve about how to transfer what Bev had shown them in an app or program on their device. . We all have different devices and different apps and are likely to continue to do so. The most important thing is to get to know the apps you have on your devices well and become skilled at using them. It's also important to think outside the square for possible programs - with Alternatives to Microsoft Office From John Barry: "The free programs to which I referred today are LibreOffice at libreoffice.org and XnViewMP or XnView at xnview.com. I have used them both for years. They work really well. LibreOffice consists of all the equivalents to Microsoft Office without the $150 annual charge. Even Word and Excel macros work in LibreOffice and all files created in Word etc translate readily to and from LibreOffice. Even if I were given a copy of Microsoft Office, I would not bother installing it. Both programs are able to be installed in Windows, Linux, IOS & Android". From Wendy Sturgess: 'The free program that is equivalent to Microsoft Office that can be used with Windows 10 is called Apache Open Office – 4. https://www.openoffice.org. I just googled it.' Our Tech Savvy Projects have now been clustered into three sub groups, ‘Family History’, ‘Other Projects’ and ‘E-Shed’. With diverse devices, systems, applications, learning needs and project ideas, members within the groups are making valued input to class discussion and informally clustering, encouraging and assisting one another.
Our aim is to come to each new session having achieved something on our projects since the last session, however small. Lots of challenges are being faced, not least the difficulties with the WiFi internet in the U3A meeting room. A family history group member was to start a recent session trialling a new ancestry.com account with us all watching via the overhead projected screen when the internet froze. It was unavailable for the remainder of the class. Members, ever patient and enterprising, set to using their phones and other methods to do as much as they could. Is it impact of the NBN works nearby? Are we in a black spot? Is it a combination? Divided into subgroups, we do not have more than 10 in each subgroup and the modem is supposed to cater for 20. Don’t be surprised if you find us sitting as a group on the other side of town trialling the use of the U3A modem at the Royal Hotel or Golf Club next month! Meeting times – 2nd and 4th Tuesdays: Family History 1.30 to 3 pm/Other Projects 3 to 4.30 pm; 4th Thursday 1 pm to 2.30 pm ‘E-Shed’. Bev Lee Tech Savvy Projects is now being offered in three groups - with 'Family History Projects' from 1.30 to 3 pm and 'Other Projects' from 3 to 4.30 pm sharing the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays 1.30 to 4.30 timeslot. The third group, an E-Shed style group involving DIY and other projects requiring a touch of being a 'techy' or 'computer geek', will be held on the 4th Thursday between 1.00 and 2.30 pm preceding the Tech Savvy Talks discussion group.
At the first session we explored the types of projects members would like to pursue and participants were set the task of doing something to begin or further their project before the next class, even if this was something fairly small. It's the 4th Tuesday this afternoon and time for the 'Family History Projects' and 'Other Projects' groups to meet - bring along your ideas, think about the photos you would like to use, the documents you have, the programs you already use or would like to use and either have them on hand or ready to consult others about. Bring along your laptops if you have them - other devices as well. There will be a spare laptop or two for use if you only have a PC at home as it would be difficult to bring this in. Bev During today's session we talked about many resources and all went away with the task of completing some tasks related to our project over the coming fortnight. The web is rich in possibilities relating to photobooks - an area of interest to a number of Tech Savvy Projects participants. We heard that members of the Benalla Camera Club like to use the program Momento for photobooks. There are many youtube videos related to using Momento - click here to explore them. Often scanners and printers have apps for photobooks, calendars etc associated with them Check these out--they may be just what you need and synch well with your printer. We were inspired to think aboutt how our family history journey might be celebrated using a blog - with Bev demonstrating a 'Lee Devitt Family History 'blog she has just started to build. Bev gave us a very brief demonstration of the 'drag and drop' features and similarity to Word functions of Weebly - more to come later. Take a coffee break and check out this video... break it up into chunks if necessary. We discussed our experiences with Ancestry.com and Bev spoke of using MyHeritage and Scotland's People to complement Ancestry.com. John spoke about an app which he uses on his phone - I asked him more about it... "The family history app is called HEREDIS. It is free and I have the version for iphone. However, a quick peek at Google Play shows me that there is an android version that looks even better. I might have to download the android version. It accepts gedcom files exported from most family tree programs. And as I have 2452 persons on my family tree, it does not appear to have an upper limit on persons. However, if you have altered any of the usual gedcom field names, it will not import your changes. For example, I changed one of the Mormon information field names to date of ticket of leave. The change in the field name did not import although the information in the field did. You can also use the app to import and view other gedcom files. Import them and then the program at startup will offer you a choice of family trees that you can view." A small group of people interested in more technical matters have expressed interest in working on projects similar to those which involve the ARDUINO mother board. To demonstrate what having an Arduino based project might involve, we watched this video introduced last year to the Tech Savvy Talks group by their convenor Les Rodgers. After you've watched it you might like to check out the Arduino Project Hub which features many projects. More to come!
Have you a project you'd like to work on in a one-to-one or small group environment?
Tech Savvy Projects provides support for members keen complete projects such as family history projects using Ancestry.com; create photo-books; develop a blog or website; or create a slideshow with music for a special occasion. Provided we have the specialist mentors available, members might even like to create a small robot using an Arduino Board. Tech Savvy Projects has been timetabled fortnightly on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 1.30 to 4.30 pm. This timetable may be broken up into shorter sessions for small groups working on similar projects. The aim is to have small group sessions with mentors interested in similar project areas providing support once the projects have been chosen. Come along to the Tech Savvy table at Enrolment Day to talk about project/s you would like to do. Bev Lee Convenor Family research 'cartes de visite, hairdos, Melbourne portrait photographers 1860 - 1890, and more'30/11/2016 Pains and Gains... 'Cartes de Visites' - Using Hairstyles to date photographs... Recently I noticed some quite distinctive elements in two photos when I was trying to confirm the identities of two women in my Grandma Hooper's old album; one of whom I suspected to be my maternal great grandfather's older sister. I came across the following article. It sits nicely with the ideas and resources already shared by Wendy Sturgess on costuming, but has a little more about hairstyles. It's an enjoyable read and from a reputable source (NGV). It suggests it may have been taken in the 1870's - it was taken in England, but apparently 'fashions' did not take long to reach Australia. www.ngv.vic.gov.au/rethinking-an-unknown-carte-de-visite/. Here's a link to a recently published article on Cartes de visites.... and Melbourne photography studios https://artblart.com/2022/01/16/photographs-australian-cartes-de-visite-melbourne-1860s-1880s/ Interested in hairdressing? I found a picture of relatives taken in Indiana during the American Civil War and as part of unravelling their stories became interested in their hair styles. Here's a 'hands on' video on American Civil War Hairstyles, if you have time to spare to watch it. Resources
"How much DNA do you share with relatives? Centimorgans" videos and chart Re DNA - How many centimorgans do you share with relatives? Researching your Family Home: a handout of resources from mentor Judy Barry, who worked in the Titles Office for over 30 years and keeps abreast of their online environment. Adding a website link to a person’s profile – some excellent instructions in a handout prepared by mentor Deb Saunders which begins with instructions on finding service records from the National Archives. Andi Stevenson’s ‘Gawn to Town’ column in the September 2023 ‘Tatong Tattler’… go to page 8 ‘Grounded’ research - grounding our story in themes which emerged as we immersed ourselves in our research…. Grounded’ research is research through which patterns are identified in data collected, patterns which can formed into frameworks/structure for, in our case, publishing a family story. Perhaps there is a ‘standout character’ for whom lots of information is available… (eg. ‘Our Walter – Famous or Infamous’), some characters who also proved significant in some way (eg. ‘Courageous Women’), and then some minor characters whose stories, while diverse, are worth sharing clustering and sharing for some reason (eg ‘Five Survivors’). Immersing and grounding yourself in your family history can result in themes, which abounded for a key person in a publication brought in by Val Harris, ‘Our Walter – Famous or Infamous’, who received ‘top billing’, with feature stories about other people who are prominent, and events which stand out clustered under themes - 'Courageous Women' and 'Survivors'. ‘Up the Abley Tree’ Introduction. The Family Tree of Walter & Frances Abley.. PART I OUR WALTER - FAMOUS OR INFAMOUS? Chapter 1 Beginnings Chapter 2 Germantown Chapter 3 Joy and Sorrow Chapter 4 Doing Time Chapter 5 Things that Bounce Chapter 6 And then there were Two Chapter 7 "I'm in a Hurry" Chapter 8 Man of Mystery PART II COURAGEOUS WOMEN Chapter 9 Gran Abley Chapter 10 Frances Too PART III FIVE SURVIVORS Chapter 11 Nellie Chapter 12 The Preacher Chapter 13 Will Chapter 14 Edith Chapter 15 Charlie Researchers' Notes Appendix A Appendix B This month's story topics: ‘Correspondence’ Write about some correspondence from the past involving your ancestors which revealed something of particular interest to you and perhaps helped to shape your research. Who wrote the correspondence? Who to? About? Tell us about the difference it made, the value it added, to your research. Barry - in family stories blog Coming up in September - ‘Setting the Record Straight’ Share a story about a time when you felt you needed to 'set the record straight' about an element of your family story - perhaps to your family, perhaps to a wider audience eg. community; family history community such as ancestry.com, etc... ‘Family Mystery – the Case of the …..’ ‘There is usually more than one mystery in a family tree! Tell us about a family mystery (or another family mystery) that still, or for a long time remained, unresolved, on your family tree...’ Coming up in October - to help you to plan ahead... Theme 'Out and About' ‘Contact with a local Historical society’ Write about an actual or planned contact with a local historical society to find out more about a particular person or branch of your family... What....? Where? When? Why? How? Outcomes? It's over to you! If you haven’t done this already, perhaps it’s a good time to do so! Let us know what you are planning. ‘An Interview with a family member’ Write about a time when you made contact with a member of your family to find out more about their lives and other family members. Who, What, When, Where, Why, Outcomes, Reflections??? It’s over to you! If you haven’t done this already, perhaps it’s a good time to do so! Let us know what you are planning. Bev |
Family ResearchFamily Research is a guided self-help group for members who are already working on their family tree who enjoy, learn and gain confidence from group interaction. The course includes two sessions a month -
1. A group session which commences with reports on ‘pains and gains’ over the previous month accompanied by shared problem solving and lots of encourage-ment and ideas for next steps. Presentations by group members, guest speakers and excursions will increase your awareness of different approaches and resources and will also expand your understanding of local and other family research initiatives. You will be encouraged to set project goals such as working on a particular family line; preparing stories for a collection; publishing and giving family history related gifts to families, and more. 2. A drop in session with a hands-on component which will support you to build further confidence in using online geneology programs; to resolve problems you are in danger of putting in the too hard basket, and to complete your project goals. Experienced members of the group will be available as mentors at the drop-in session and for one to one consultations or appointments if required. . Convenor/s Contact DetailsBarry O'Connor
0407 266 688 Meeting TimesMain Session - 4th Thursday 1:30 to 4 pm
Drop In 'Hands On' session - 3rd Thursday 1:30 to 4 pm Research LinksHands on help...Program to convert PDF files to Word –https://www.pdf2go.com/pdf-to-word
Photo restoration - simple projects - https://hotpot.ai/restore-picture On-line geneology platformsancestry.com.au
myheritage.com Scotland's People findpenguins.com (if you travel to family history sites) HEREDIS (recom.by John Barry) Categories
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Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria
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