Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc.

 

Our monthly meetings are designed to cover items of interest to the group and we generally follow an agenda like this:

• Items of general interest from the Computer World
  
• Keeping your computer safe and healthy from viruses, malware, scams and spam
• Genealogy programs – who’s using which one, problems, queries
• Genealogy sources, like CDs, websites, mailing lists, etc.
• Open forum – queries, comments, successes, problems
• WAGS/CIG business
  
  Followed by a session using the big screen; either a demo of a pay-site or a website that may not be well-known, or a workshop/presentation/demo of some technique or genealogy software.

For information on Email Scams, Phishing, Netiquette, Newsgroups, Mailing Lists, and Free Software Downloads, have a look at our:
Hints and Tips Online  

Contacts: Co-convenors

Mike Murray:             tel:  (08) 9339 8078

Lesley Silvester:      tel:  (08) 9339 8078

Email:                       Convenors - Computer SIG  

Next Meeting/s - Have a look at:

WAGS Event Calendar

Computer SIG Events List 

Sat 14 August - 11 am start

As well as the normal agenda items, we'll have a close look at some of the new items on Ancestry, including the Australian BDMs - what's there and what's not.

July 2010

We had a look at alternative Browsers, tips for your PC's health (give it a spring clean), and viewed various sites for Convicts, including UK, Ireland, NSW & Tasmania.

  CIG minutes - July 2010 16.39 Kb 

June 2010

Following some publicity in the West about hoax websites we explored a few 'suss' genealogy sites and gave a few tips about how to work out whether they're genuine or not. Moral - stick to the well-known pay sites.

  Cig minutes - June 2010  67.72 Kb 

May 2010

Usual agenda items and a discussion about how to manage your genealogy files on your computer. We learned all about metadata!

 CIG minutes - May 2010  62.74 Kb 

April 2010

We spent some time debating what topics we'd like to feature over the next twelve months and then looked at various ways to keep up with the new genealogical information that's regularly appearing on the internet. The minutes have lots of links to blogs, podcasts, etc.

  CIG minutes - April 2010  75.53 Kb 

March 2010

 As well as looking at a few good websites we had great fun trying out different tricks and techniques for searching with Google

 CIG minutes - Mar 10 59.09 Kb 

February 2010

We had a good look at the website findmypast at this meeting

 CIG minutes - Feb 10 69.82 Kb 

Please Note: WAGS does not recommend any particular Genealogical program. Whatever you choose, make sure that the program supports the import and export of GEDCOM files.

Many of the programs listed here are used by WAGS members; have a look at the various features and select one that suits you best. Most can be purchased on line and many have trial or demo versions freely downloadable. Most of these programs have User Groups on the Internet to help solve problems and get the best out of the program.

A recent survey of the Computer Interest Group members showed that most members use one of the following popular programs (listed alphabetically, not in order of preference)

• Ancestral Quest: www.ancquest.com A versatile genealogy program ideal for the beginner and yet powerful enough for the most advanced genealogist. An unregistered 60-day trial version is available on-line.  
• Brother's Keeper: www.bkwin.org This shareware program will help you organize your family history information and let you print a large variety of charts and reports. BK6 works with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista. There is no charge to download BK so try it out.
  
• Clooz: www.clooz.com Described as an electronic filing cabinet. You can download the programme or a demo version.  
• Custodian Software: www.custodian3.co.uk A series of databases with pre-defined forms for the Family Historian to store genealogical information.