Find yourself a community
Family history research, just like just about everything else, can be helped by seeking out the support of a community around the topic. Thanks to the internet and all the online platforms we have now access to, finding a community of interest is a just a few search terms and clicks away.
Directories
Cora Num has compiled and maintains a great index of family history resources in Australia including family history groups and clubs organised by state/territory.
Another great portal to the genealogy web is Unlock the Past. It has sections on resources (online and other), blogs, events (including cruises!), and books and journals.
Like a telephone directory, these online resources are a starting point. Once you have found something that has inspired you, get in touch, visit your local library and talk to the librarians, talk to people you know share your interest in family history.
If you can’t find a that suits your needs, start your own. Book a meeting space at your local library, meet some friends at your favourite café, have people over in your lounge room—whatever works for you.
I hear some of you groaning at the mention of Twitter—it’s a strange beast and an extremely odd concept to get your head around if you haven’t used it before or you have tried on your own with no frame of reference. I really believe that Twitter is one of the most valuable tools for people to communicate with each other that we have at our fingertips, though, so I’m going to persist in advising you to give it a chance.
Start by using the site’s internal search function to find people and organisations who might be posting things you find interesting. Use search terms like ‘family history’ and ‘genealogy’ and click ‘follow’ on any of the results that seem interesting. You can always unfollow then later. Every time you log into Twitter, you will see a list of all the most recent posts by those accounts that you have followed. People often tweet links to resources or articles on their topics of choice. And of course, follow Zahmoo!
Blogs
The great thing about blogs is that people write about what specifically they are interested in. that means that there are thousands, if not more, of blog posts out there which means that no matter how obscure or niche, you can usually find someone who wants to explore exactly what you’re interested in too. Because you can comment on their posts, bloggers with similar interests often find each other and become part of a broader community of interest—something you can tap into.
To start you off, here are some blogs that we like:
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Image credit: Meeting nieuwe leden by Voka Kamer van Koophandel Limburg under a Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
November 2nd, 2011 by Sarah Jansen Filed in: For Community, For Family
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