What a week I've had!

What a week!! My first ever Congress is over, and I loved every minute of it. HAGSOC did the most amazing job in organising such a gathering. I met lots of people who I only knew online, as well as many more that I met at random places like the lunch tables. Everyone was polite, chatty, and happy to be there. It was great to be in a place where we all share the same level of addiction to the same pastime. The speakers were all fantastic, & I was lucky enough to get a place in a couple of the additional lunchtime sessions. I figured that if I was there anyway I may as well cram it all in!

On the Thursday was the Librarian's Seminar, where we listened to 6 speakers at the National Library of Australia. At lunchtime we had a tour around the place, although we were a couple of months too early to see their new addition of a modern Newspaper & Family History Room. The ceiling on the way into the current Reading Room was build to look like the cards in an old-school card catalogue. The photo doesn't do it justice. Another photo is of the tube thingys (a very technical term) where the librarian used to take a request slip & send it via the right tube to the corresponding area in the stack where the book was located. Books are now collected by Charlie, ready for delivery to the Reading Room. And the last photo from the day is of one of the gorgeous wicker baskets that the library used to use on the trains to send inter-library loans to remote areas. This basket has "Braille Books" written on it, which goes to show the diversity of their collections, and the different needs people have all over Australia.

An inverted card catalogue sculpture as ceiling art

Tubes for request slip delivery

Charlie

  

Wicker baskets used on the railways

Over the 4 days of Congress I went to 27 presentations, then on Tuesday I had a day at the State Library of NSW for work, where I listened to another 7 presentations. By Tuesday afternoon my head was spinning!

On the Sunday night there was a dinner at Jamie's Italian Restaurant with some fellow University of Tasmania students from the Introduction to Family History subject, and our fearless leader, Dr Dianne Snowden. We all had a wonderful time chatting about the course and our passion for genealogy, and our meals were delicious.

On the last day I was very excited to win 4th prize in one of the raffles, a $100 voucher to Gen-ebooks through Gould Genealogy, which was exactly the prize I would've chosen for myself anyway! I wasted no time and had no problem choosing some ebooks, such as gazettes and directories. Thanks Gould!!

I got home to a message that a university historian has been writing a book about businesswomen in Sydney's early days, and my ancestor, Esther Salamon SPENCER, is to be featured. What a thrill! More on that when the book is published in a few months.

The next Congress will be in Sydney in 2018 and hosted by the Society of Australian Genealogists, sometimes known as the "Society of Geologists", or my favourite, the "Society of Gynaecologists", as Martyn Killion (in disguise) said in his acceptance speech on behalf of the SAG. His speech had me in tears laughing. It bodes well for 2018. Hope to see you there!!

Getting prepared for Congress

Well I'm getting very excited in the lead-up to Congress next week, after many many months of waiting. I wrote about it here. I've been to Canberra a few times, but not on my own, so I'll be getting Google Maps out to figure out where I need to be & when. As well as Librarian's Day on the Thursday, I've also scored extra after-hours time at the National Archives of Australia and the National Library of Australia. Also I have a get-together with the Genealogists for Families Kiva project group, and straight on to dinner at Jamie's Italian Restaurant with the UTAS crowd. I have two cousins who live in Queanbeyan with their families, so one night will be spent dining with them, which I'm looking forward to, having only seen the youngest of their children on Facebook so far. So it looks like I only have one night to fend for myself at dinner, and I am quite familiar with the workings of a Maccas drive-thru, so I think I'll have no trouble in that department.

I've ordered business cards, thanks to Judy Webster's tip, & I used this link to Vistaprint so Kiva gets a contribution. The photo in the background is of my great great aunt's wedding in 1915, with my great great grandmother, Elizabeth Lorne CRUCKSHANK (nee BRACKENREG) being the widowed matriarch on the far right. I've got a business in mind, so I made the cards in anticipation of this, although the website is still a work in progress. On the reverse of each card are my research surname interests, which I am yet to complete on the Congress page.

The NSW elections are on Saturday 28th, & I have no intention of leaving Congress to drive out of the ACT to a polling booth, so I've registered for iVote, & I'll lodge my vote (for what it's worth!) when e-polling opens. That's one thing I won't have hanging over my head.

There are quite a few people I hope to catch up with that I have only met online, so I'm printing myself a cheat sheet of names with a photo of them (profile pic from Facebook, for eg) and which group I know them from, so I can be better prepared in a sea of faces.

At these kinds of events there are usually stalls run by magazines such as Inside History, transcription agents, & retailers such as Gould Genealogy. I love looking at all the goodies on display, but invariably forget what books I already have at home, I'm going prepared with a list of my genealogy library so I don't double-up - again.

See you there!!

Canberra calling - March 2015

Well I'm back in the land of the living after 4 loooooooong months without the internet. We have NBN now, which is nice and fast, but I've realised that NBN Co couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery. (Not slander, just a statement of fact.)

One of my uncles held some money aside from his share of the sale of my grandparents' house about 15 years ago, which he's gifting to his nieces and nephews seeing as he has never had children of his own and he's now 82. When I heard about this I was moved to tears (which, to be fair, doesn't take much doing) and have resolved to use the gift towards furthering my genealogical knowledge and resources, like books and certificates, etc. I feel that getting more involved in my family tree is a fitting way to honour the gift. I'm sure my grandparents would approve, and as one of my strongest family history supporters my uncle is thrilled.

With that in mind I've booked myself into the next Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry, being held in Canberra at the end of March 2015. I've wanted to go for a few years now, but the registration fee was a luxury, and the travel and accommodation on top of that put it out of reach. I've put my new-found wealth into a high-interest online savings account, and will save a few more dollars each week to pay for the accommodation, meals, etc. March feels like a long way away (nine months actually), but every day flies by (except 1-4pm on workdays - that drags haha), so it'll be here pretty fast. I've resolved to go, even if I have to sleep in my car, although I'm sure it won't come to that :) .

The list of speakers is fantastic and I can't wait to listen to their expertise. I've seen Kerry Farmer, Paul Milner and Joshua Taylor speak at various conferences, and have heard Carol Baxter, US forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, SAG royalty Heather Garnsey, author and blogger Shauna Hicks, librarian Michelle Nichols, and Carol Riley speak on webinars or other podcasts/interviews, and I'm always impressed with how much they know, and how well they get that information across to listeners with varying levels of genealogical experience. All very inspiring.

As a Library Technician, I'm also going to the Librarian's Day, which is being held the day before the conference. I don't use my genie skills as much as I'd like in my current job, but who knows what the future holds. I may as well attend, seeing as I'll already be there.

I heard a rumour that the 2016 Congress will be held in Sydney, which is fantastic news seeing as I only live an hour away, so I'll be able to go each day. In the meantime I get to spend five full days in Canberra, which is still a plus. I'd love to hear from any other genies going in March. Can't wait!!