Family Tree Frog

Got mistakes? from kayaker1204 on Flickr 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. Genealogy research mistakes are wonderful learning experiences. They can be blessings when they show you how to improve your genealogy research. Which genealogy research mistake in your past has provided the most benefit to your present? How did you discover the mistake and what steps did you take to correct it? Sharing about these experiences will help others who are figuring out their own ancestral paths. Ouf.  This is a difficult post to write.  No-one likes to be thought of as flawed, stupid or dumb.  If you boldly state that you've made mistakes in the past, how will anyone ever trust what you say in the future?  Well, as Amy say...

  Without a doubt my most favourite offline genealogy tools are public libraries! My husband laid the law down a few years ago about my spending on books.  He is quite right of course...there are only so many books one can store in one's home and we have surely exceeded our quota. The other point is that often I will buy a book and it's not what I thought it was going to be or I only use it once and then it sits there collecting dust.  So why not go to your local library and check out their genealogy collection.? Genealogy books can be found under 929 in the Dewey Decimal system. But more importantly libraries are about so much more than books. There's magazines...now there's a saving if ever there was one.  Australians are famous for their consumption of magazines.  Check out the ABS statistics here .  Here's a way to save money AND the environment.  Some popular titles are Your Family Tree and  The Australian Family Tree Conn...

  Image by asenat29 from Flickr under Creative Commons Licence Free online genealogy tools are like gifts from above. Which one are you most thankful for? How has it helped your family history experience? I do like a list.  I do.  I do. A couple of weeks ago, Genealogy in Time released a list of Top 100 Most Popular GenealogyWebsites. They were quite specific about what they would and would not class as a genealogy website. For example: NOT Library, museum and general archive websites.  University websites.  Wide-ranging government websites.  General knowledge websites (such as Wikipedia). Sniff. Well, my list is going to include a library website.  And I bet every red-blooded, Australian Genealogist knows which site I'm going to pick.  Yes.  Dear old Trove.   If you haven't heard from your genealogist friend recently, you can bet pounds to peanuts they're buried up to their neck in lubberly newspaper ...

Amy Coffin of the WeTree blog came up with a series of weekly blogging prompts for each week of 2012. This week's prompt is this question: "Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most? What special features put it at the top of your list? How can it help others with their genealogy research?"  I'm a bit confused as to whether the tool has to be an online tool or any tool that you've paid for - so I'm going to choose two!! Okay what do I pay for and use in the way of genealogy tools?  I pay for an online subscription to Find My Past (Australia) which I have been very impressed with in the first month or so that I have been using it. I have just subscribed to the iPad version of the Inside History magazine.  It's probably a bit too early to judge yet, but once again I love the design and layout of the magazine.  It is very visually appealing and enticing.  And of course, the content is great too. I pay for and use Family Tree Maker as ...

Just like tree frogs hitching a ride on bananas, it is sometimes easy to get lost or distracted whilst surfing the internet. If you find a blog you like, it is great to be able to follow it or subscribe to RSS feeds and check on it on a regular basis. I follow and subscribe to a number of family tree blogs such as Anglo Celtic Connections , Chris Paton's Walking in Eternity , GeneWebinars , Roots and Rambles, The Armchair Genealogist , The Turning of Generations , Geniaus and Family History Across the Seas . Each blog has its own merits but the ones that appeals to me the most - or the ones that I find myself most often reading are Geniaus and Family History Across the Seas .  I'm not quite sure why that is...maybe it is because they are written by Australian women and so I identify with their struggles and also am inspired by their passion. Geniaus aka Jill Ball is very excited by new technology and Web 2.0 and her enthusiasm is positively infectious! Cassmob ...