Genealogy Canada

Saturday, January 10, 2015

The Archives Association of Ontario offers online courses

The Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) is an organization that supports archival associations, those working in archives, as well as users and supporters of archives. It is made up of 300 members from across the province. It involves itself in a network of archives and archivists providing programs, education, and advocacy.

They are offering online courses, some of which may interest you.

The courses are -

Caring for Paper-Based Collections
January 20

Creating Access to Your Collections
January 27

Exhibiting Your Collections
February 10

Caring for Oversize Paper Artifacts
February 17

Caring for Scrapbooks
February 24

Writing Your NEH Preservation Assistance Grant (Free)
February 25

Spring sessions include new webinars on digital topics as well as caring for photographs, and emergency preparedness.

Registration is at https://www.nedcc.org/preservation-training/training-calendar/

Friday, January 9, 2015

National Genealogy Conference in Canada

A travel agency from Guelph, Ontario is where you will register if you want to go to the National Genealogy Conference in Canada at Historic Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 17 - 19, 2015.

The registration fee of $895.00 (Canadian Funds) per person includes the following -

All taxes
Full conference program with exceptional genealogy keynote and workshop speakers
All food and beverage within the conference schedule
The opportunity to submit personal information to have The Scotiabank Family History Centre research immigration information for your family prior to arriving at the conference.
Guided tour plus additional on-own time at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, immigration portal of Canada from 1928 - 1971
A professionally guided tour of Halifax, including a visit to the Titanic Graveyard. Experts will be on hand to enhance your experience. Following the tour will be dinner at the Five Fishermen Restaurant, housed in a historic building with ties to the Titanic story.
Networking opportunities and information sharing with genealogy enthusiasts from near and far.

Of course, your registration fee does not include the airfare to Halifax, or accommodation.

I am interested to know if any of my readers are going. What is your opinion on the cost of the conference? Is this a reasonable price to pay for a genealogical conference in Canada?

To register, go to http://www.visiontravel.ca/heidiwilker

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

new.FamilySearch.org Will Be Turned Off on 01 February 2015

WARNING! This does not mean that FamilySearch.org is closing down!

I think there has been confusion over the closing of new.FamilySearch.org as has been evident of Thomas MacEntee's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/tmacentee?fref=ufi&pnref=story. Only this site will be disabled and closed down. FamilySearch.org will remain open. This is planned to take place on 01 February, 2015.

As the website says, “On February 1, all public APIs (application programming interfaces) will be turned off, as will be the ability to access the program. This step is necessary as we enter the final phase, which is to transfer and synchronize all of the remaining data from new.FamilySearch.org to FamilySearch Family Tree. It is anticipated that this final phase of data testing, transfer, and retesting will require a year to complete. Once this phase is completed in early 2016, new.FamilySearch.org will be completely shut down”.

To read the rest of the press release, go to https://new.familysearch.org/

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Kent Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society "virtual" meeting

Just a reminder of the Kent Branch monthly meeting this coming Friday night in Chatham. They would like you to join them, and if you are not in the area, then please join them "virtually" via live streaming.

Here are the details -

The meeting will held January 9, 2015 Friday at 7:00 PM on the topic "CK Library - Digital Collection". The Chatham-Kent Public Library recently launched its new digital collection. Staff from the library will tell the attendees all about this valuable resource.

Public is welcome at St Andrews Residence at 99 Park St, Chatham. Please join us live online at this link http://ogs.on.ca/kent/?page_id=688

The society’s website is http://ogs.on.ca/kent/

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/kentbranchogs/

I will be joining the meeting by live streaming because I want to learn about the Chatham-Kent Public Library's new digital collection.

The genealogy page (which is great, by the way) of the Chatham-Kent Public Library is at http://www.chatham-kent.ca/PublicLibraries/Genealogy/Pages/Genealogy.aspx.

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 1

As I promished in my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy yesterday. It passed my test of ‘Was it worhwhile?” with a resounding “Yes!”. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds.

There were a couple things that I learned, and they were -

She is taking the FamilySearch Wiki as the basis of the study. The Wiki is at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Principles_of_Family_History_Research and is called Principles of Family History Research. She went through Step 1, gave examples, and had good interaction between herself and the comments that were made on Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232

She went over how she organises her computer folders by colors using the program Folder Marker at http://foldermarker.com/index.php. I think that I wll use that method because right now I don’t use any method. For example, I have my genealogy divided into surnames starting with Andrew Barclay, George Barclay, John Barclay, Cecil Barclay, and my father, Harold Barclay. But I will start to use file folders now. She also has a folder of paper which she had yet to put into appropiate surname folders.

So if you want to watch this seesion, it is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UskxuqHfJ4I

Remember to make yourself a member of Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community before watching the YouTube Google+ Hangout on Air at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232

If you haven’t done so alreay, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the following family history courses and workshops in the winter of 2015 -

Publish Before You Perish

Saturday, 21 February, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

This half-day course is intended for those who have already done a lot of family history research. It will outline the steps required to publish your family history in a printed book format.

Instructor: Nancy Conn

Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto

Welcome to Our World: A Day with Top Toronto Genealogists and Family Historians

Saturday, 21 February, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

This interactive forum is intended for people who are thinking of getting involved in genealogy or who are beginners in this fascinating field. Some of Toronto's top genealogy and family history experts will share their perspectives and experiences.

Speakers: Carol Nichols, Janice Nickerson, Guylaine Pétrin and James F.S. Thomson

Where: North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto

Using Digital Newspapers for Genealogy Research

Wednesdays, 4, 11 and 18 March 2015, 6:15 – 8:15 pm

This three-week hands-on course will examine the uses of historical newspapers for genealogy research as well as where to find them online.

Instructor: Marian Press

Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto

Introduction to Genealogy and Family History

Saturday, 28 March 2015, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

This fast-paced one-day course will introduce some of the types of records and techniques needed to research your family tree, with a focus on vital records, census and probate records, and how to extract and evaluate data.

Instructor: Linda Reid

Where: North York Memorial Community Hall, 5110 Yonge Street, Toronto

Registration is also now open for the first course in our spring 2015 lineup:

Hands-On Early Ontario Land Records

Tuesdays, 31 March, 7 and 14 April 2015, 4 - 7 p.m.

This three-week course is being offered in partnership with the Archives of Ontario. Designed for both family and local historians, it will provide a hands-on introduction to the land granting process in Ontario and the main types of Crown Land records. Participants will work in small groups following actual case histories through the records.

Instructor: Jane MacNamara

Where: Archives of Ontario, York University, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd., Toronto

For program details, speaker biographies and information on how to register for these events, visit http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/courses.

Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/TOFamilyHistory

Relatively Speaking "Stories"

On the Alberta Genealogical Society (AGS) website at http://www.abgenealogy.ca/, there is an intriguing webpage called Stories, that I had to take a look at to see what it was all about.

Stories is series of 12 different articles from their Relatively Speaking magazine which includes—according to their website—“fact-finding and methodical articles for the gumshoe genealogist - the opportunity to purchase issues singly or by volume.’’

In addition to the specific article, sometimes they also give three or four related articles for you to read on the subject in the other editions of Relatively Speaking.

Some of the twelve articles are -

“Beware of Oral History” by Ken Millions (February 2012). Unverified oral history should always be taken with a grain of salt by the budding genealogist. How true that statement is!

"The Payzants of Edmonton” by Allen Jess (May 2006). A bloody hand print in Falmouth Township, Nova Scotia, the family’s migration route to Alberta, and the history of the ‘penny farthing’ ridden in Edmonton’s Exhibition parades. Wow! All of this in one article!

"Searching for Charlotte” by Marilyn Lappi (February 2012). Read more about “Searching for Charlotte” by Marilyn Lappi in Relatively Speaking, a three-part sequel featured in the February, May, and August 2012 issues. What an interesting read!

So if any of these stories interest you, you can receive Relatively Speaking as part of your membership to the AGS. The membership page is at http://www.abgenealogy.ca/memberships

They take a yearly research trip to Salt Lake City, they have the Homestead Index onsite, branches, the bi-annual GenFair, a yearly conference, workshops, and educational courses.