Hitching a ride in Old and New Lands in the Genealogy World on the Social Media Express

Hitching a Ride

in Old & New Lands in the Genealogy World -

on the Social Media Express

@SteelyGenes aka KerrieAnne Christian

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Seeking Wisdom - in Ancient Greece, people came to the Oracle at Delphi ....

Delphi Greece

Howeverthe Oracle

oftenseemedto speak

in Riddles

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Stories & InformationFrom traditional Oral Story telling

->Rock art -> Hieroglyphics on Stone & Papyrus->Books, Newspapers & Magazines

-> Libraries-> Microfiche -> Digital information on

Computers->Web

-> iPads, Tablets & Smartphones-> Social Media

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What about information located outside traditional tools? Ignore social media tools & end up like the Alexandrian

Library ?

Part of

anotherAncientLibrary

in Alexandria

Egypt

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Trove – old newspapers digitised

You can

• search for old stories .. plus ...• “tag” or “label” the stories

• create lists of stories on common topics

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Searching for “Dardanelles” in May 1915

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Can “tag” or “label” items eg WW1

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Examples of items in a “list” in Trove

Family History Information Sources : So many changes !Our Ideal : No Surprises – Our Reality = Tsunami Surfing

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Social Media Express – which carriage to hop in ?

“It’s all Greekto me”

-AthensMetro

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Social Media Express – which carriage to

hop in ?

Facebook - LinkedIn like Facebook for Professionals – Google + - our new “Groups” ?

YouTube - Instagram – Flickr - Picasa we share video clips & photos

On-line Trees - Ancestry – Find My Past Google Drive – OneDrive - DropBox – Box.net – files can be shared

too

Trove Newspapers – search, read & tag

Blogs I share - you comment & we share

Twitter - microblogging

Wikis – Wikitree we contribute Slideshare we share powerpoints on-line

Diigo – Delic.ious we share favourites-

bookmarks RSS

Email, Email Lists, Web pages

Cloud Computing

Baulking at hopping on the Social Media Express (SME) ...

Is to Decide ...

• more than just not keeping with Genealogy information trends

• others are opting to ride ahead on the Genealogy Social Media Express, with or without the traditional Family History groups

• they become the “new experts” via the new “social media” tools

• to risk losing membership in traditional Family History groups

Or Not ...

The Fat Controller

Facebook & Google + : Are they the new Genealogy-Family History Groups ?

Breaking-Rewriting the Rules & Conventions ?

Washingin

Shanghai

Contrary to sign on power poleprohibiting it hanging

outsideWindows

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So do you only stick with what you know?

Journals

Paper Documents

Books

Face to Face only

Email

Internet

Phone Calls

“Snail “MailIcecreams

at Shanghai McDonald

s

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Or do you want to move outside your comfort zone?

Taking Tea at

Summer Palace Beijing

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Social Media : Who to follow ?You can’t take all roads – how to

choose ?

Taking a breather

fromShanghai’s

Traffic

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Social Media - Better to play it safe ?

OutsideSummerPalaceBeijing

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Should you follow “Brands” aka – Genea gurus ?

Jean Paul

Gaultier -

Shanghai

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It’s like choosing Turkish Delight in the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, Istanbul –follow the

experts !

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Follow Genea gurus via their Blogs ?

Are blogs useful ?

- self indulgent hot air … or helpful information ?

Many Experts are generously sharing

….. their knowledge & insights via their blogs

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Why have a family history website ?

• Can’t you just connect up with people in Ancestry, Find My Past etc or on-line family history forums eg GENANZ ?

• Not everyone uses Ancestry or Find My Past etc

• Not everyone belongs to or wants to join on-line history forums

• Many people just want to “Google it”

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Should I set up a Family History Website – Blog (s) ?

• Kerrie Anne sets up a Hicks site (mother’s side) & a Waters site (father’s side) for her families

• Nancy C finds Hicks site - Steve S, Alicia G & Michelle M find Waters site – connect with Kerrie Anne – share stories-photos

• Nancy plans Last Post Ceremonies at AWM – Kerrie Anne contacts Steve who lives near Bomana PNG & he photographs military graves of Nancy’s uncles killed in Buna & Gona in WW2

• Alicia’s grandfather still lives in Collarenabri where her Waters ancestors (also Kerrie’s, Michelle’s & Steve’s) came from

• Alicia offers to have her family in “Colly” look after Steve on hearing he plans to visit there in October 2014

• Michelle M shares 19th C photos of Charles & Mary Waters with Kerrie Anne – who posts them to Waters Family Web site

Giving & receiving !

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Photos shared - contact only able to be facilitated by Family Web sites

Waters family photosHicks Family WWII Graves in Bomana PNG

So many stories like this

in my families !

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What should I use for a family history website - blog?

Blogspot – Blogger vs Wordpress - two of the most common

I use both

Blogspot – Blogger is probably simplerWordpress has more “bells & whistles”

with more choices for photos eg slideshows

Both offer blog posts & “old style” web pages

I prefer Wordpress for Family History Web sites

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Getting started with Blogspot - Blogger

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Getting Started with Wordpress

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How do I get started on setting up a family history website ?

• Have a look at some other blogs on the same topic• Decide the title of your blog- is it available

Choose what sort you will use – ieBlogspot – Blogger , Wordpress – you will need an email

account, password, logon name• Choose the template or theme & features or widgets• Select the layout and theme images for your blog• Decide on the settings – eg can others comment and will you

moderate comments before they appear• Think about the structure of your blog – decide on what will

be your home page - look at other blogs to get some ideas• Learn how to do hyperlinks if you don’t already know how• Make sure you have some good images for your blog• Try to avoid too much text – break it up with white space &

images• Have a go & experiment

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Hicks – My First Family Website

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Can Google + be used for Family History ?

• Yes – Australian Genealogical gurus like retired librarian Jill Ball regularly do Google+ Hangouts

• What are Google + “Circles” & “Communities “?• Google + Circles & Communities are both groups

• What are Google + Hangouts ?• On line chat sessions where you can hear and see

each other

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Example : Stream on Google +

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How do I set up Google + ?• Set up a Google account if you don’t already

have one ie go to Google Account setup site & fill in the details • You can use your Google account for Gmail,

Google +, Blogspot, Google Drive & lots more • Once your Google account is set up & you are

logged in you can go to Google Plus (Google +) – and there is your Google + account ready to go

• Learn more about Google + - photos, circles, hangouts, communities

• Start experimenting

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Manage Google + Circles

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Facebook can work for you

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Facebook – a huge no. of Genealogy & History Groups • Australian Family History & Genealogy• Australian History Research• Bega Pioneers Museum• Black Diamond Heritage Centre Bulli• Cairns & District Family History Society• Cairns Historical Society• Early

Colonial History NSW Norfolk Island Tasmania

• Family History Month Australia• First and Second Fleet Memorial Gard

ens – Wallabadah near Tamworth• First Fleet –  Peter Hibbs Mary Pardoe

– Norfolk Hawkesbury• First Fleet – John Small Mary Parker D

escendants• First Fleet 1788 Researchers• First Fleeters• Fromelles Descendants Database

• Gallipoli Association• Genealogy – My Ancestors Came to A

ustralia• Hawkesbury Family History Group• Illawarra Family History Group• Irish Genealogy – 

Genealogical Soc of Ireland• Ireland Genealogy Projects• Ku-ring-gai Historical Society• Lismore Heritage Centre• McCosker Families• Moruya and District Historical Society• Murwillumbah Historical Society• Richmond River Historical Society• Richmond Tweed Family History Societ

y• Singleton Museum• Wollongong Pioneer Families

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Setting up a Facebook History – Genealogy group ?

1. You need Facebook account 2. Choose a Group Name & Group Administrators 3. Decide if it will be a Closed Group or Open Group4. Think about how the Group will operate – what is acceptable & not

acceptable in the Group – how will you manage this – eg Spammers ?5. You will need photos and stories for posts – will there be photo albums ?6. Go to Groups on Facebook & Click on Create a Group – complete the

form and follow the prompts

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Lost Wollongong Group on FB has 12,000 members

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Twitter : Seeking “WISDOM” from 140 character messages?

Do you think Twitter will last ?

I don’t know

– I’m using it now

because it connects me

with Family History – Genealogy gurus

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How do I set up a Twitter account ?Go to Twitter and create an account – you need an email address first - create a logon name & passwordGo to Twitter Help Page for info on writing tweets & hashtags, favourites, re-tweeting, shortening hyperlinks, etc – remember you have only 140 characters

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What a Tweet looks like

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What your Twitter feed looks like

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Your own Tweets Stream looks like

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Finding the Genea Gurus-Word of mouth....• Jill Ball

• Shauna Hicks• Trove• Cyndi’s List• Inside History• QS Archives – State Records NSW• Illawarra Family History Group• Liz Pidgeon• Thomas MacEntee• Royal Australian Historical Society• State Library of NSW• Alona Tester• Helen V Smith• Kiama Family History Centre• Ku-ring-gai Historical Society

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Twitter-who are you really connecting with ?

Making up before the

Peking Opera

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Social Media Overload -Sometimes you can get too much of a good

thing ...

June 2007 deluge

- breaks the drought … Lake Macquarie

Newcastle

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Overloaded on social media express – need to capture the whole &/or tag the

details?

Terracotta WarriorsXian - China

Keep focused on your research goals

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Unexpected distractions in social media keep coming ...

Still trying to get to the Pyramids – trying to escape Cairo traffic

Keep focused on

your research

goals

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Persist with your research goals - it’s worthwhile

Finally - the Pyramids by Camel – Cairo in the distance

Keep focused on your family

history research

goals

Sometimes you still need to ride on that old steam train – even in the Social Media

Express Era !

The Fat Controller

We still need to respect & utilise the old sources of print

information & hard copy records - even if they are not on-line

Yes there are risks in using paper & social media for Genealogy research – it’s how we manage it that matters

- have a back up plan

Paper records can burnSocial media sites can disappear (Posterous, Googlereader)

Computer records can be corrupted

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Utilise social media Genealogy tools to reach your research goals

& may be even achieve more than you ever expected

Achieving Something Undreamt of- Walking

On the Great Wall Of China

NearBeijing

or finding photos & stories

of your great grandparents

or even your great great

grandparents

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Stories & Information

From traditional Oral Story telling

->Books, Newspapers & Magazines-> Libraries

-> Microfiche -> Digital information on Computers

->Web-> Social Media