President's Keyboard

Dear GSV Members

There has been a lot happening in the world of genealogy.

Our online connectness continues to expand and

it was interesting to see our Prime Minister tracking his early family through local Cornish archives while in the UK recently.

Hopefully our own archives can return the favour for UK visitors in future.

 

Our National Archives of Australia needs more Government investment

Genealogists like all historians are very concerned about the funding crisis at the National Archives of Australia and the imminent loss of fragile and irreplaceable records. I urge GSV members to write to their local member and the Prime Minister or the responsible Minister, the Attorney-General Michaelia Cash expressing our concerns and pointing out the need for additional government funding to preserve Australia’s history.

 

We will soon launch a new Digital Communications Hub at GSV

Many thanks to our members who have generously donated to our fundraising appeal to meet the costs of our Digital Communications Hub. Our IT team is busy assessing and purchasing the hardware and other requirements to enable meetings, talks, education etc. to take place simultaneously by Zoomand in the GSV meeting room. 

This is an exciting development. It will give all our members, no matter where they live, the opportunity to participate in and enjoy the society's range of events.

 

GSV is adding two Saturdays each month to our opening times  - starting from 26 June. 

 

Now that the latest Covid constrictions have been eased, the GSV is fully open for business again, 10 am until 4 pm, Tuesdays to Fridays. And we are adding two Saturdays a month, from 10 am- 4 pm, starting 26 June and thereafter on the 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of the month. 

 

There will be research assistants in the library to help you with your research and it is a great opportunity to make use of our databases. Unlike weekdays visits, booking is required to come into the GSV on Saturdays. Bookings must be made by noonon the Friday immediately preceding the Saturday opening. Please phone the GSV on 03 9662 4455 or email gsv@gsv.org.au to book your Saturday visit. 

 

A further incentive for members to come in on a Saturday is that parking in the Bond St carpark is only $12 per day on Saturday. We look forward to seeing you at 10 Queen Street soon,

 

Your ongoing support is still needed and is very much appreciated

Maintaining our GSV Education and Research centre and continuing all our genealogical and family history activities does rely on the ongoing support and generosity of our members. Although the Communication Hub appeal has been met, donations are still very welcome. 

 

Jenny Redman

President

 

 

To the GSV Fundraiser Campaign donors and all our wonderful members

 

Thank you so much for your wonderful support, your generosity has been quite overwhelming. We have already reached the target we set to help us cover our operating costs during this Covid lockdown period.

 

Although government restrictions are being gradually relaxed, we do not envisage opening the Centre to members for a while yet. We can limit numbers and can social distance and sanitise at the Centre, but public transport into the CBD (which is steadily returning to pre-Covid passenger levels), is a major issue of concern for many of us. We are monitoring the situation and planning for a staged reopening of the Centre as soon as it is safe and practicable.

 

On the upside, we have used the closure period to work from home developing our digital skills. Using Zoom we can now resume some of our monthly Discussion Circles and members who are unable to get into the CBD can now participate. New members can access talks via the website introducing them to the society and our resources. We can now offer our Ancestorjournal in two digital formats as well as hardcopy.

 

In addition to having access from home (for the duration) to many of the major databases (find my past, TheGenealogist, MyHeritageand Ancestry), staff and volunteers have been working hard producing more digital resources for members to access from home. More than 128,000 new records have been added to our catalogue.  Members can now access a beta version (pre-release software) of the GSV Presto catalogue by going to the bottom left of the Members’ page and clicking Presto.

 

These Victorian databases are unique to the GSV and we encourage you to explore them. There are now more than 3 million records in the GSV Genealogical Index of Names(GIN) database of people mentioned in our library holdings and elsewhere. These include names from hospital, criminal and school records, directories and newspapers as well as pioneer registers and published books. A new separate database called Milestonesnow contains nearly 1.4 million entries including births, baptisms, deaths and burials plus obituaries, cemetery and church registers. There are even more new records in the updated catalogue that can only be viewed at the GSV due to copyright requirements.

 

Once again, I thank you all for your ongoing support of the GSV. With your help, we are working to ensure that the GSV continues to educate family historians and provide research assistance for many years to come.

 

Jenny Redman

President

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If you are not a member, you can see from the activity above that this is a good time to join - you have the time and we have the resources. Go to our website www.gsv.org.au and follow the links. 

 

On behalf of the GSV Council and staff, I hope this email finds you in good health as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts all aspects of community life. 

 

Given the increased risks to our members from the virus, over the weekend it was decided that all events at the GSV will be cancelled from tomorrow, Tuesday March 17, until the end of April. 

 

The situation will be reviewed as the crisis continues and in all likelihood the cancellation time period will need to be extended.

 

For now the centre will be open to members as normal for independent research but we will no longer be opening late on Tuesdays.

No library volunteers will be rostered although volunteers may of course choose to come in.

 

We are in the final testing stage of our capacity to offer members video conferencing and video presentations of some of our classes. Members will require a computer, web browser, speaker and microphone to access this facility. Follow the GSV Website and Events page for further information over the next week or so.

 

You will be able to contact the GSV office on 9662 4455 during normal office hours if you have any queries.

 

Feel free to contact me at president@gsv.org.auif you have any questions. Please stay safe. 

With best wishes

 

Jenny Redman

President

Like us at the GSV you've undoubtedly been dismayed and saddened by Australia's ongoing bushfire crisis. 

 

We are particularly concerned about the welfare of our country members, some of whom will have been directly affected as they protected their homes and communities.

For those whose families have been directly impacted by the fires you have our deepest sympathies. 

We also join with others in thanking our volunteer firefighters whose incredible efforts and courage are an inspiration to the whole country. They, together with emergency services, defence force personnel and the many other volunteers are still out there dealing with ongoing threats as I write this.

In some areas vital local heritage, buildings and historical records may have been lost. When the immediate danger is passed and losses to historical assets and collections are assessed, the GSV may be able to help with the rebuilding process. If your Family History Group has been affected by the fires please contact us directly.

 

Jenny Redman

President GSV

 

Hello all members (and soon-to-be members),

 

Even though it has been a bit wintry, we have been quite busy at the GSV. There has been a lot on, marking National Family History Month.

 

David Down and I recently met with the new president of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria(RHSV), Emeritus Professor Richard Broome and Rosemary Cameron, their executive officer, at the GSV. In addition to showing them over the Centre we had a very productive discussion about the two Societies. Like us they are concerned about the ongoing viability of organisations, such as ours. We look forward to having a closer partnership with the RHSV, exploring possible joint events and cross-promotion early in 2020.

 

Many of us still have one or more ancestors that appear to have arrived in Victoria by swimming, as there seems to be no trace of them in the usual passenger records. If you need help with 'when and how did they get here’, the new GSV Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle is a good place to start. Meeting on the fourth Friday morning each month, they now have their own Facebook group. See 'What’s on at the GSV' pages in Ancestor and our website for details. But note there is no meeting in September, as the Centre will be closed for the AFL Grand Final public holiday.
 

Tuesday evenings are a good time to come into the Centre if you want one-on-one help with your research. There is normal entry into the building until 6 pm when the front doors are closed. If you want to come in later, ring the GSV before 6 pm and we will arrange to open the doors for you. If you work nearby even 2 hours a week researching each week could help fill out that family tree.
 

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on Saturday 5 October 2019, 2.00 - 4.00 pm. We will present the 2018/19 reports on the activities and financial position of the Society, and elect Office Bearers and Councillors for 2019/20. All members are welcome. Nominations for positions close on 30 August at 4 pm. Members can see the Notice of the Meeting and download the Nomination Form in the Members Area of the website.

 

With the first signs that Spring may be coming, now is the time to check the GSV Events calendar for the coming months and thaw out your family-history endeavours.

 

We'd love to help you at our Research Centre.

 

Jenny Redman

President - GSV

April 2019 - but still endless summer! Or maybe autumn is coming with leaves finally changing colour.

 

We are changing how this blog, Family History Matters at GSV, is linked to our website, so my apologies for some glitches you may have experienced with recent notifications. We will tell you more about this in another post shortly.

 

But there is plenty going on. The new Discussion Circle starts Friday May 24 and will continue monthly on the fourth Friday. The Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle will include a range of topics including convicts and the goldfields.

 

Our IT upgrade is progressing well with faster download times in the library, better security and storage for our email system (changed to Gmail). All library computers have been replaced and work on the new cataloguing system is progressing. Unfortunately we still have a large item to replace in the near future , our scanner-photocopier is showing its age. This is obviously a vital piece of equipment used everyday by GSV members and staff and we are appealing for funding to cover this cost.

 

A reminder to update your research skills and learn about new online sources by attending GSV classes on topics such as using Ancestry, the National Archives UK, and Australian archives. See Website for details

 

As talked about in my last blog post, we are investigating ways of providing our journal electronically (to save the environment and reduce the impact of increases in printing and postage costs). One possibility is a 'flipping book'. We would like to hear from any member who has experience with this format.

 

A local lurgy has affected many in the community including many of our volunteers. This, together with school holidays and extra grandparenting duties, exposed our need for more volunteers in all activity areas but especially Research Assistance in the library (six and a half day a week). New RAs will be trained and supported. This is a great way to improve your own research skills!

 

My own research? Just attended Alan Rhode’s talk on DNA Painter. A fantastic tool and after getting the basics (thanks Alan), not too difficult to construct a multi-coloured chromosome map of your DNA.  Just need a few spare hours to play with it.

 

Jenny Redman - GSV President

 

I am slowly getting into my role as the President and it is quite a learning curve. It makes me appreciate the job done by my predecessor David Down.

Last month I met with the President and the Business Manager of South Australia Genealogy who were visiting Melbourne. We compared notes on how to tackle a range of issues including ways to encourage new members, our numbers, how we digitise our paper resources and make them available to our membership, and how to encourage more members to volunteer. It is always helpful to exchange ideas and we plan to keep in touch.

Council is lucky to have very good support for our developing IT matters with Peter Johnston as a Councillor and Tom O’Dea as volunteer. We have updated servers and replaced computers. Last year we moved our network to a new content-management system. With this move we hope to build better links between our members database and other parts of our systems, so, for example, we can offer members better ‘at-home’ access.

Our blog has produced over 100 posts in the past 12 months, which we hope you find interesting and informative. We use this to give emailable members updates more frequently than we can by relying only on our quarterly print journal. So if you are changing your email address, please make sure you update it with the GSV. You can do this very easily through your member account online.

As print and mail costs continue to rise, Council will be looking at being able to offer our journal as an electronic version for those members who would accept this option and help us reduce our environmental impost. It is hard to see a time when our high-quality print version is not produced, but just as SLV offer the choice with their flagship The Latrobe Journal, and as many other groups now do, we will be looking seriously at this.

More space has been allotted in Ancestor in ‘Around the Groups and Circles’ to the increased number of Discussion Circles that were formed last year (North England, London, British India). We hope all the groups will use their space to let you know about their coming activities.

And on a personal note I have learned that when looking at the information about my AncestryDNA matches I should not forget to look at their ethnicity report. I was recently able to trace a new family line via a distant cousin on AncestryDNA. The ethnicity report included mostly British Isles origins but several West African locations were also mentioned. I am now exploring 19^th Century records from British Honduras at the GSV and on FamilySearch. Fascinating where genealogical research leads you!

Jenny Redman - President GSV

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GSV Council has been working hard to support members in their family history endeavours.  In this post, David Down, GSV President gives us an update. There are more benefits than ever from joining GSV and many ways you can contribute to helping others. [Ed.]

***

The GSV was very pleased this week that its quarterly journal Ancestor was, once again,  selected as the winner of its category in the 2018 Nick Vine Hall Awards, which were presented at the AFFHO launch of Family History Month.

Strategic Plan: Council met this week to review the Strategic Plan that we developed one year ago. We have introduced a number of new programs such as our contact with new member’s scheme, our DNA for Family Historian program and our new Discussion Circles. These efforts have resulted in an increase in new members and the slowing of the decline in our membership. We intend to reinforce those programs and introduce other initiatives such as a website Forum for members to replace the old ‘GSV-L’ Rootsweb bulletin board and new Discussion Circles.

AGM: The Society’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday 6 October at 2 pm in our meeting room. The GSV Council is responsible for ensuring that the human, physical, financial, and research resources are available to ensure that the Society is acting in your best interests both currently and in the future. We are seeking members prepared to serve as Councillors for the next two years. The challenges of guiding the Society’s future are exciting and fulfilling and if you are interested in learning more about how you could contribute please email me and I will contact you.

Our new computers are being installed.  I would like to thank everyone who has very kindly donated to our ongoing appeal for the renewal of our IT infrastructure – we have raised almost $9,000 of the $15,000 appeal target. The funds raised so far are sufficient to replace all the library PCs and those who have visited recently will have noticed that we have commenced installing the new PCs and monitors and a few new ergonomic chairs. After considerable hard work from our IT volunteers and librarians we are implementing a new universal menu system that enables the user to access all our resources from each PC. We are still very keen to raise the remaining balance of $6,000 as the back-room IT equipment, especially the servers, need to be replaced to ensure a stable and secure IT system.

Opportunity for people to help as Office Assistants. We have an ongoing requirement for Office Assistants to join a team who support Linda to handle the day to day running of the Office. They are the first point of contact with members, volunteers and visitors. Major responsibilities include reception duties, administrative tasks such as handling cash, processing cheques and credit card payments, and processing within our membership system. A program of training and mentoring will be provided. If you are interested in assisting in this way please contact Linda during office hours. She will explain what is involved and send you more information in the form of a position description document.

Membership System Emails: I must apologise as recently a number of regular membership emails failed to be sent out whilst follow-up emails advising that membership was overdue or had expired were distributed. The system is designed around three emails:

• a membership renewal email sent one month in advance of the renewal date
• a reminder email sent a few days after membership is due
• an expired membership email sent one month after the due date

Understandably if the sequence is disrupted then it is not easy to determine if your membership is current. If you have any queries at any time please email us or phone the office during business hours. We are investigating the source of the problem with a commercial company experienced with the software and hope to resolve the matter promptly. Again, please accept my apologies for any concerns that the disruption may have caused.

All the best with your family history research.

David Down - President GSV

***

As winter descends on Victoria the place to be seen is at the GSV Centre for Research and Education. The Society conducts many talks, classes and other events to assist with researching our ancestors and developing an understanding of the times in which they lived. Our meeting room holds a maximum of 40 attendees and some events book out quickly. Please use the website to book into events to ensure your attendance.

Our DNA for Family Historians talks are proving to be very popular. We intend to repeat all the talks in a cycle so that everyone is given an opportunity to attend. We will shortly issue a separate blog outlining the full program and schedule of talks.

We have decided to extend the coverage of the Northern English Counties Discussion Circle to include Yorkshire in addition to the other northern counties. A talk will be held on Tuesday 26 June at 12.00 am where a panel of speakers will discuss the records available to assist you research your ancestors from that area. If you have an interest in that part of England then please come and share your experiences and interests.

Classes: We conduct a number of classes each month which are free to members. In addition to Orientation and Starting Your Family History, there are a series of classes designed to help you obtain the best results from various online websites including accessing the vast resources of the GSV through our catalogue. On average there are few attendees at these classes so come along and you will be assured of personalised assistance from our presenters.

Our award-winning journal Ancestor, our Facebook site and this Blog Family History Matters at GSV are all produced by volunteers.  As you are aware we are posting to this blog and our Facebook site regularly to provide updates and useful information for our members. And soon, we hope to add a 'Members Help Members' forum.  If you would like to help us with the production of our media then you may like to join our Communication Team. No technical skills required and we can help you learn. Contact Janne Bonnett at e: socialmedia@gsv.org.au.

Donations

The GSV relies on the ongoing support of our members and volunteers and we ask that at this time of year, when considering tax-deductible donations, could you please give favourable consideration to making a donation to the GSV. Donations of $2 or more to the Society’s library are fully tax-deductible. Thanks to the people who jumped on board with a donation on the opening day of our campaign. We hope that starts the ball rolling so we can upgrade our facilities and equipment for our members. You can donate here http://gsv.org.au/donate-now.html

Enjoy your researching and join us over winter by participating in our numerous events.

David Down - President GSV

I am very pleased that recent GSV events have received ringing endorsements from members.

DNA: Our recent 'DNA for Family Historians' talk followed on from our well-patronised event in December. Further talks are scheduled – an introduction to DNA for family historians entitled ‘DNA Testing – should I do it?’ will be conducted on 13 June and ‘Using Your Ancestry DNA Results’ will be held in July. Check our events pages for details and ensure you book your place. The DNA Discussion Circle continues to be held monthly on every second Wednesday at 10.30 am.

Discussion Circles: The first meeting of the British India Discussion Circle was held 0n 17 April. Attendees resolved to continue to meet and I thank the convenor Mary Anne Gourley for her hard work and enthusiasm in establishing the Circle.

The newly formed London Research Discussion Circle met with great success on Thursday 26 April and will meet thereafter on the fourth Thursday of the month.

A Discussion Circle is a  great opportunity to discuss your research successes or seek assistance from GSV members interested in the topic. The Circles work on the basis that the participants contribute to the meetings. We have seven Circles at present and there are more in development. Check the events calendar for all Circles.

If you would like to see a Circle developed around a particular topic or area please let me know by email to the office. I will do my best to help you to find like-minded members and to assist with the establishment of the Circle.

Volunteers needed: We are looking for members to help us in many areas but two in particular are important at the moment.

We are looking for volunteers to assist Linda Farrow conduct the administrative duties necessary to ensure that the Society operates smoothly. We have step-by-step detailed instructions for all the administrative tasks, which makes the role easier to understand and learn. We have four members who can undertake parts of the role and need additional helpers who will also learn and assist to understudy Linda.

Our IT systems are essential these days for the conduct of the Society. We are looking for members with IT experience and skills to assist Peter Johnston maintain and develop our systems.

If you are interested in either of these areas or any other area of the Society please email Margaret McLaren on gsv@gsv.org.au

With autumn now here, it is the perfect time to retreat indoors and pick up those family history lines of enquiry that have lapsed over summer.

Happy researching!

David Down - GSV President