VGS Genealogy News & Events
No. 147 - October 29, 2023 |
Distributed free of charge to interested subscribers and former members.
PLEASE SHARE: You can help our non-profit by forwarding this newsletter to other like-minded people.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: To subscribe for this newsletter visit www.VictoriaGS.org and click on Free Newsletter Signup.
| Inside This Edition
Scroll down for more information on each of these topics:
First Time Offer: Mastering Genealogy Hints
Upcoming Events
Looking Ahead
VGS News
Three Steps for Beginners
| First Time Offer: Mastering Genealogy Hints
A Guide To Navigating Shaky Leaves, Thrulines and More
Genealogy platforms like Ancestry and MyHeritage offer billions of records and a bewildering variety of hint tools to enhance your research. But, not all hints are created equal. Join Mark Thompson for an eye-opening workshop that will demystify popular hint tools like Shaky Leaves, Thrulines, and the Theory of Family Relativity, as well as several other lesser-known gems. Learn how to differentiate between useful hints and misleading distractions that will help keep your research on the right track.
What You'll Learn:
- An overview of popular and lesser-known hint tools across major genealogy platforms
- Strategies for evaluating the reliability of different hints
- Techniques for efficiently incorporating valid hints into your research
- Tips for avoiding pitfalls that could derail your research
This is a Zoom only event.
Date: Saturday, 4 Nov. 2023
Speaker: Mark Thompson
Location: via Zoom only
Price: members $14; non-members $21; REGISTRATION REQUIRED
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
| Mark Thompson is a professional genealogist and the Vice President of the Victoria Genealogical Society (VGS). He is also a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Mark uses his deep knowledge of Information technology to help his clients and students understand the best way to use the amazing list of genealogy tools available today.
Mark consults and speaks regularly on a wide range of genealogy-related topics, although specializes in DNA research and personal family archives.
To see what Mark is working on these days, check out his blog at MakingFamilyHistory.com. | | | Upcoming Events
The following VGS events are now open for registration via our Events Calendar:
Speaker Event: Wartime Women
Wartime Women highlights the unsung heroes of this quiet community during Canada’s gravest hour.
Date and Time: Thursday, 9 Nov., 2023, 7PM until 9PM
Speaker: Kate Humble
Location: both via Zoom and in person at Norway House, 1110 Hillside Ave, Victoria, BC V8T 2A7 An accessible building with access to bus service, on-site parking for approximately 30 vehicles and additional on-street parking nearby.
Price: members free; non-members $10; REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Refreshments, sales tables and more. For more information or registration visit Register Here.
Workshop: Northern Irish Research: Tools and Techniques for Success
Two decades ago, Sharon Oddie Brown started her Silver Bowl website, an idiosyncratic approach to the research of Irish and family history. So far, she has uploaded more than 5,000 documents. These include hundreds of original transcriptions, family trees and tables of data. Many posts include upwards of 200 pages of hyper-linked, primary research. It is frequently accessed by university students, historians, and genealogists from dozens of countries.
Date and Time: Saturday, 18 Nov. 2023, 10AM till noon
Speaker: Sharon Oddie Brown
Location: offered both via Zoom and in person at the VGS Genealogy Learning & Research Centre
Price: members $14; non-members $21; REGISTRATION REQUIRED
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
| Looking Ahead
The following VGS events are now open for registration via our Events Calendar.
Workshop: Visualizing Complex Family Relationships
Date: Saturday, 2 Dec. 2023
Speaker: Steve Little
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE
Workshop: Analyzing Historic Family Photographs
Date: Saturday, 6 Jan. 2024
Speaker: Mark Thompson
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Speaker Event: Reading the Past in Old Cemeteries
Date: Thursday, 11 Jan. 2024
Speaker: Yvonne Van Ruskenveld
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Workshop: Excel for Genealogists: Unleash the Power of Spreadsheets In Your Family Research
Date: Saturday, 27 Jan. 2024
Speaker: Mark Thompson
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Workshop: How to Use Notion to Plan and Organize Your Research
Date: Saturday, 3 Feb. 2024
Speaker: Denys Allen
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Speaker Event: Eleanor's Letters - 7,000 pages of Family and Cultural History
Date: Thursday, 8 Feb. 2024
Speaker: Mark Thompson
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Workshop: Searching Records in Ontario
Date: Saturday, 10 Feb. 2024
Speaker: Gerry Poulton
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Workshop: Beyond the Basics of Scottish Research
Date: Saturday, 24 Feb. 2024
Speaker: Heather Shave
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Workshop: 10 Steps To Success - An Introduction to Genealogy
Date: Saturday 9 Mar. 2024
Speaker: Merv Scott
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
Workshop: Researching Historic Letters
Date: Saturday, 16 Mar. 2024
Speaker: Mark Thompson
For more information or registration visit REGISTER HERE.
To review more details of these events and more, go to our Events Calendar.
| VGS News
Excerpts and highlights from recent VGS Members Update newsletter distributed approximately biweekly to VGS members only.
Launch of New VGS Speaker Events Season with 53 Registrants
The 2023/24 season of VGS Speaker presentations and evening socials, launched on October 12th with an engaging presentation by John Azar that sparked a lot of enthusiastic conversation about next steps. John's presentation focussed on the challenge all genealogists and family historians face sooner or later - what happens to the research data and information they have accumulated and created, when they pass and become an ancestor themselves. The ensuing discussion identified a number of concrete actions the collector can take before they pass. The presentation was well received and the subsequent discussion was so positive that a series of next steps are being formulated and will be announced soon.
Our new venue for Speaker Events, Norway House, was also enthusiastically received. Norway House's new audio visual and internet equipment allowed our volunteers to broadcast the event to registrants who didn't or couldn't make it to the event in person.
Our thanks to the volunteers who made this evening possible. The homemade cookies, refreshments, book sales table and 50/50 all added to social atmosphere of the evening.
Register now for next month's presentation honouring Remembrance Day. Historian, museum and historic site curator, Kate Humble will be talking about Wartime Women. For more information about her presentation view REGISTER HERE.
[VGS Speaker Events are free for members and $10 for non members so JOIN HERE to support our work, get price breaks on workshops and free admission to Speaker Events and SIG discussion groups!]
Event Recordings Now Available for 30 Days!
Starting in September, our workshops and speaker meetings are now being recorded. If registered attendees can't join live or want to revisit an event, they can access the recording online for 30 days afterward. This ensures no one misses out on valuable insights. Following each recorded event, links to the video recording will be sent exclusively to those who registered. We're dedicated to making our events as accessible and beneficial as possible.
| | VGS in Your Community - Royal Oak Burial Park 100th Anniversary Celebration
The Victoria Genealogical Society supported the recent 100th Anniversary Celebrations for Royal Oak Burial Park by hosting an information booth and talking to visitors about all things genealogical.
Our thanks to the organizers for this special invitation to participate.
Photo on right: Genealogist Dave Obee visiting VGS information booth volunteer VGS Melanie Arscott at Royal Oak Burial Park 100th Anniversary celebration.
Watch for more exciting news in upcoming newsletters about joint initiatives with Dave Obee, Royal Oak Burial Park and VGS.
| | | New to Genealogy Research?
3 Steps for Beginners
The VGS offers several benefits of membership for those new to genealogy research and for those who would like to brush up on their skills. Check these 3 easy steps below:
Step 1 - The Centre. If you haven't already visited our Genealogy Learning & Research Centre, we recommend you do. It's a great place to start and our friendly and experienced volunteers are available to help you with your questions and show you the basic research tools, techniques and resources. The Centre is located in Royal Oak Shopping Centre and is free for members. Non-members are welcome and their first visit is free with a nominal fee of $5 for subsequent visits. Free parking, free wifi, free computers, a large library collection, and access to Ancestry library edition. Check our LOCATION page for open hours.
Step 2 - Family History 101 and other SIGs. After becoming oriented to genealogy research at the Centre, members often find it a smooth transition to join a discussion group that focuses on their area of research. We call these Special Interest Groups or SIGs for short. Currently there are 9 SIGs that meet regularly either by zoom, in person or in combination. Our most recently added SIG was designed for those who are new to genealogy. It's called Family History 101, which was introduced last season and proved to be very popular. Once you get basics in the Family History 101 SIG, you may want to start signing up for one or more of the other SIGs. They are all free to members. Click on SIGs to learn more about them.
Step 3 - Workshops, Seminars and Speaker Events. Another benefit of membership is the price breaks for our regular workshops and seminars, and access to our monthly Speaker presentations. These events not only offer the opportunity to learn about a topic, but they also provide members the opportunity to meet other members who may be researching in the same geographic area or the same surname. These are important networking opportunities and often prove useful in breaking down research brick walls. To learn more, go to our Events Calendar.
We believe that by following these 3 steps you will have the opportunity to learn about the genealogy research tools and techniques more quickly than by reading or surfing the web. For membership details, please go to Membership Options.
| Visit our VGS Website often to get updated information about us and our upcoming events.
Get help with your research by accessing the Research menu. | Copyright © 2023 Victoria Genealogical Society, All rights reserved.
~~organization_name~~
~~organization_address~~
~~organization_city~~, ~~organization_state~~ ~~organization_zip~~
~~organization_country~~
Distributed by free subscription to non-members and VGS past members | |