QFHS slashes its membership fee by 45% for new members

The office received this notice from the headquarters of the QFHS this morning -

Montreal, February 1, 2013 -- The Quebec Family History Society (QFHS) today announced it has cut its membership fee by 45 percent, from $65 to $35, for new members. For the period February 1 to July 31, 2013, the society has reduced its regular membership fee for people who join for the first time. This special partial year membership offer includes the Summer 2013 issue of the society’s publication, Connections, and all the benefits enjoyed by its members, such as onsite access to billions of online records, access to the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library collection of 6,000 books, CDs and microfilms, and discounts on seminars and research.

QFHS Executive Secretary Joan Benoit, in charge of membership, said: “This is a terrific opportunity for new and experienced genealogists to join our society and discover the exciting world of family history research. We encourage anyone who has ever thought of joining a genealogical society to take advantage of our offer.”

The Special Offer Membership form and membership details are available on the QFHS website at www.qfhs.ca/cpage.php?pt=13 Payment can be made by cheque or money order. Cash payments can be made in person at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. To keep costs down on this special offer, QFHS cannot accept credit card or online payments.

The Quebec Family History Society is the largest English-language genealogical society in Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1977, it is a registered Canadian charity that helps people of all backgrounds research their family history. Its members, in addition to researching their Quebec roots, research historical records in all Canadian provinces and territories, the United States, the British Isles, and Western Europe. At the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, members have free access to a collection of 6,000 books, manuscripts, and family histories, plus thousands of microfilms, microfiche, historical maps, and periodicals, and access to billions of online genealogy resources, including the Deluxe International Edition of Ancestry.ca.

The Quebec Family History Society
qfhs@bellnet.ca
www.qfhs.ca

Quebec Anglophone Heritage Workshop

An invitation has gone out to the general public to attend a workshop will be held at Wakefield, Quebec titled “Running a successful small museum from A to Z”

The speaker will be Heather Darch, Curator, Missisquoi Museum. She is a curator and musicologist who brings with her a wealth of experience and practical information that will be of use to anyone working to start and maintain a small community museum.

This workshop, which will be given in English, will touch upon a broad range of issues, from revenue-generating to collections management, from staffing to displaying artefacts, from attracting volunteers to working with a board of directors, from opening… to staying open.

The workshop will be held on Friday, March 15, 2013, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

(Note: in the event of heavy snow or freezing rain, this event will be held on Friday, March 22, 2013, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 .p.m.) at the Fairbairn House Heritage Centre, 45 Wakefield Heights, Wakefield, Quebec.

The cost will be free to board members, staff and volunteers affiliated with museums, historical societies and other heritage groups, but registration will be required.

Please contact QAHN at execdir@qahn.org, or call 819.564.9595, or toll free at 877. 964.0409.

Genealogy Education in the Greater Vancouver Area

There are a number of educational opportuntes this year in the Greater Vancouver area that may be of inerest to you. They are -

Cloverdale Library - Instructor Brenda Smith teaches both “Start Searching your Family History: A Beginners' Workshop in 5 Lessons” and “Start Writing your Family History: A Communications Workshop in 5 Lessons”.

To go to their Family History page, click on to www.surreylibraries.ca/programs-services/4815.aspx and to see the program she is offering, click on to www.surreylibraries.ca/programs-services/5521.aspx

College for the Retired, Burnaby - M. Diane Rogers teaches 2 courses – both 8 week sessions, “Genealogy 202″ for beginners and those returning to genealogy after a period away from research, and “Internet Genealogy” for those wanting to learn how to best use Internet resources, including hands-on experience with Ancestry.com.

To see the two courses Diane is teaching, go to www.cccrburnaby.org/#!courses/vstc1=geneology

Maple Ridge - Instructor Rob Whitlock’s evening course through Ridge Meadows College in Maple Ridge, “Find Your Family Tree: An Introduction to Genealogy” will run first, January 31-February 21, and next, from May 14-June 4, 2013.

To go to Maple Ridge College, click omn to http://rmcollege.ca/general-interest-courses

New Westminster Continuing Education - M. Diane Rogers will teach an all day “Introduction to Genealogy” seminar through New Westminster Continuing Education, Saturday, May 11, 2013.

To see the General Interest Courses, go to http://district.sd40.bc.ca/programs-services/continuing-ed-general-interest-programs

Or you can go to the British Columbia Genealogical Society at their blog www.bcgs.ca

WorldCat and FamilySearch Announce Partnership

An interesting press release was received by the office this morning that will see “services with data from both organizations to provide users with more resources for improved genealogy research”.

This is amazing news! Congratulations to both organizations.

“Under this new partnership, OCLC (World Cat) will incorporate data from FamilySearch’s catalog of genealogical materials into WorldCat, and FamilySearch will use OCLC cataloging services to continue to catalog its collections in WorldCat. FamilySearch will also use the WorldCat Search API to incorporate WorldCat results into search results returned by FamilySearch genealogy services.

FamilySearch, historically known as the Genealogical Society of Utah, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and preservation of family histories and stories, introducing individuals to their ancestors through the widespread access to records, and collaborating with others who share this vision.

WorldCat is the world’s most comprehensive database of library materials. Updated at a rate of nearly one new record every second, WorldCat is a cooperatively-created catalog of items held in thousands of libraries worldwide, including public, academic, state and national libraries; archives; and historical societies. These libraries have cataloged their regular collections as well as many special collections—including digitized materials—devoted to local history. This makes WorldCat an indispensible tool for genealogy research”.

WorldCat is located at www.oclc.org, while FamilySearch is at https://familysearch.org

Niagara Peninsula Branch of the OGS Has An Important Announcement

Steve Fulton, the chairperson of the Niagara Peninsula Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society sent us this notice this morning -


MEDIA RELEASE
Jan 31 2013

The Niagara Peninsula Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and CanadianHeadstones.com have created an affiliation for the old counties of Lincoln/Welland.

Due to the overwhelming demand for genealogical information online, these two groups will work together to ensure the cemeteries of Old Lincoln and Welland Counties will be accessible via the internet.

The Niagara Peninsula Branch has decided to become a leader in this opportunity with CanadianHeadStones.com to better serve the genealogical community.

CanadianHeadstones.com has a great site with multiple search functions to allow those to search with a broader range of parameters. Niagara Peninsula Branch has approximately 10, 000 photos from the region in stock we wish to place on CanadianHeadstones.com and hope to continue doing so in the future.

The Niagara Peninsula Branch will continue to provide research assistance to the genealogy community – See our website for further details at www.ogs.on.ca/niagara

We encourage those who wish to assist with this great project to contact the Branch at: niagara@ogs.on.ca

Reminder: Simcoe 30th Anniversary Open House

Simcoe County Branch OGS reminds us that they will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the society on February the 2nd from 11 am to 4 pm.

The morning program will feature the following speakers from 11:15 am to 12:15 pm

• Room A Kenneth Reese An Introduction to Genealogy

• Room B Nancy Leveque Researching Your Ancestors in Simcoe County

• Room C John Wright Beyond the Inscriptions - A Look at Cemeteries

• FHC Bonnie Henderson Brick Walls

The afternoon program will be a repeat of the morning program, and it will be from 1:45 pm until 2:45 pm. So if you can't get there in the morning, you can always go in the afternoon.

So you can learn how to start your family tree, break down the “Brick Walls”, and there will be resources there for you to search while you are there. It sounds like a good time!

Simcoe County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society is located 79 Ferris Lane, Barrie, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

For more information, you can contact them at www.simcoebogs.com

Family Heritage Day

There will be an open house at the Brant Branch OGS, 118 Powerline Rd in Brantford on February the 18th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

All our facilities will be available for examination and research.

No admission charge.

There is adequate parking.

For details and directions please call 519-753-4140 or e-mail brantogs@bellnet.ca

To go to the website, click on to www.ogs.on.ca/brant