Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc.

• 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:               (08) 9339 8078
Lesley Silvester:        (08) 9339 8078 

Email:                       Convenors - Computer SIG  

Next Meeting/s - Have a look at:

WAGS Event Calendar

Computer SIG Events List 

Sat 10 December 2011 - 11 am start, followed by LUNCH

As well as our normal program, Alastair will demonstrate some of the tools he uses to manipulate images.

AND, let's do lunch - bring along something to share and we'll celebrate the end of the year.

WAGS Computer Interest Group Forum

If you would like an answer to a burning question on any topic of interest discussed at any of the Computer Interest Group Meetings, perhaps on an aspect of Computers and Genealogy, a Genealogy software program, or particular website that we have visited, post your question on the WAGS CIG Forum. One of our members will answer as soon as possible. 

WAGS Members are already registered and just need to log in to post a message. Members of the public are also welcome, but need to register before being able to post, read the Forum FAQ's to find out how.

November 2011

We talked a bit about the group and agreed that a small Committee would be useful to spread the load, stimulate ideas and prevent staleness. Alastair Honeybun, Ian Dew and Chris Loudon have agreed to join Mike as an interim committee...we'll formalise it all at the February meeting next year.  

We looked at some websites, talked about many things and then Mike did a demo of some good websites for WW1 information and records.

  CIG minutes Nov 2011 62.37 Kb 

October 2011

As well as  a good discussion on many topics, including organising files on different computers, Mike ran through the challenges of tracing forward in time to find descendants of our ancestors, i.e. cousins. Slides are attached.

  CIG minutes Oct 2011 45.71 Kb 

 tracing_descendants_presentation 330.43 Kb 

September 2011

Went through the new material that's been uploaded onto familysearch, ancestry and findmypast over the last few months. You can keep up to date with all of those sites by checking their 'what's new' pages from time to time.

   CIG minutes Sept 2011 55.60 Kb

August 2011

Had a laugh, and a cry, looked at; how Geni progams might handle difficult relationships; Opera magnifier; other Societies websites; links to online tools; another online Geni program; telephone scams "Mumbai calling..."; plus "the answer to the ultimate question is ...." >>> ????

 WAGS CIG Minutes August 2011 11.20 Kb

July 2011

Today we had a look at the Opera Browser, discussed Phone Scams and where to report them + Demo's of the WAGS EDR project & phpGedView Genealogy software.

 WAGS CIG Minutes July 2011 10.25 Kb  

June 2011

What about Mac Viruses? are they real or imagined? We also had a look at Jewish Genealogy websites and Demo's of the WAGS Forum and SIG's Forum, and how to search the various tables on the WAGS Website. In particular we had a search of the "Members Only" table of Western Australian Reverse Marriages Index 1829-1857.

 WAGS CIG Minutes - June 2011 7.47 Kb

May 2011

A 'relaxed and informative' meeting; covered a range of items including the new Liverpool parish records on www.ancestry.com and the new filters on www.familysearch.org.

 CIG Minutes - May 2011 59.93 Kb 

April 2011

We revisited the 'cloud' and looked at various websites where you can store and share information, and also where you can run applications (like Google Docs). A key limiting factor for storing and sharing large files may be upload speed. 

  CIG Minutes  - April 2011 48.68 Kb 

March 2011

We heard disturbing reports of malicious hacking into the WAGS website and steps taken to counter the threat.

February 2011

First meeting after the New Year; planned a few topics for the rest of the year and looked at a few new items on some of our regular websites. 

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.