Dec 302011
 

I had a number of goals for 2011 some of which I have managed to achieve, others not yet, and with only 37 hours to go are unlikely to happen in 2011.
Writing 
I wanted to do more writing this year and have been published in
Inside History ,   History and Genealogy 2011Australian Family Tree Connections   and also articles for Scroll, my local family history society journal.
I finally started a blog 31st March then was mad enough to start four others. With 77 posts and 21 in draft (love the ability to start a post when you get the idea and then finish it later), I haven’t been as active as I had hoped only averaging 9.6 posts a month (across all blogs). I hope to do better in 2012. Lots of benefits with writing a blog including being found by new cousins!

I was very pleased to have my book   Death Certificates and Archaic Medical Terms

published in 2011 with Unlock the Past.

It reached the top 10 of their  2011 list   which was very gratifying. Thank you for your support.

I have a few more books planned for 2012 publication.

Presentations

I love doing presentations (something about ability to “still talk under wet cement”) and have been doing them since the early 1990s . Due to work commitments (and a bout of cancer) had slowed down a bit in recent years and had only been doing them for my local FH society. I had determined that 2011was the year to restart and it has been a great year.

I have done 19 presentations with Unlock the Past events : two fantastic Genealogy cruises, three Expos, Coffs Harbour, Cairns and Geelong and the New Zealand shore presentation. Then two presentations in Coffs Harbour and three for my local society. So that goal was definitely achieved with a total of 24 presentations! 

I have got five presentations already booked in, so far, for 2012. And I will be presenting in the Unlock the past 3rd Cruise  in 2013 which will be six full sea days of glorious family history conference plus some additional talks on shore days.

Education
This is where my 2011 goals have definitely been exceeded and I have had a wonderful time doing it!
I restarted my English Certificate in Genealogical Studies with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies which had been on hold due to that aforementioned diagnosis. I am just over halfway through. The plan is to finish it, then do the Australian Certificate.  
I have attended over 100 presentations by fantastic presenters, attending the cruises and Expos were great for this!  I have also attended a number of webinars and bought copies of others that I wasn’t able to attend. I love Genealogy but 2am, my time, is not the ideal time for me!
I have also devoured many podcasts especially those by the UK National Archives , Genealogy Gems, Geneabloggers, My Society also Genealogy Guys, all of which are available through iTunes.
I also have subscriptions to most of the UK Family History magazines.
My education has also progressed through reading lots of blogs. We are so lucky in the willingness of talented genealogists to share their knowledge through their blogs. (I do have a list still to read)
Research
I have not done as much of my own research as planned this year but the amount I had planned was probably an unrealistic goal. I have had some wonderful finds and further enhanced my knowledge of my family.
I have been going through some military photos in a bid to identify units and time periods and have had great success with this, due to the kind help of the people at Regimental Books
I have spent time using the new databases available on FindMyPast  (UK, IE and AUS versions), Ancestry , The GenealogistOrigins   ,  FamilySearch  and the wonderful newspaper sites TrovePapersPast   and the new  British site and have found some wonderful things. It is difficult to keep up with so much becoming available online so having research plans with some free play-time scheduled in is necessary to not get overloaded.
 
 

Kiva
One of the major highlights of 2011 was being a member of Genealogists for Families , a group of family historians, their families and friends who have joined together to make microloans to people around the world. At $25 a loan it is making a difference to poverty one loan at a time. I have loaned to a number of people who are paying back their loans. The loans were for things like a sewing machine, a cow, a new oven for a bakery We loan because we care about families: past, present and future.
2011 has been a fantastic genealogy year! It hasn’t been such a great year otherwise with our business flooded, my property, but not thankfully, my house flooded, working full-time as a public health microbiologist and a range of other issues which has meant genealogy and the wonderful people in the genealogy community has been what has kept me sane this year! Thank you all for your support.
I am working on my plans for 2012 and will post on these soon.

  3 Responses to “Highlights of 2011”

  1. Congratulations on your achievements, and a special Thank You for supporting the Genealogists for Families project. Hopefully you and I will be able to meet up more often during 2012 if (fingers crossed!) my family commitments are less time consuming.

  2. Thank you Judy for all your support this year which has helped me to achieve what I have.

    The Genealogists for Families project has been a highlight for me. Yes I think we need to schedule ahead some meetings and have them in our calendars! There was a possibility of a Genealogists for families get-together in Brisbane happening soon, is there any progress on a possible date for that?

  3. I hope 2012 is a better year for you personally and genealogy continues to inspire you.

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