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.
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April 2012
We reviewed the recent AFFHO genealogy congress in Adelaide - a couple of dozen of us went there. Alastair showed us the new familysearch site and how to use it. Mike showed some of his favourite blogs.
 CIG minutes Apr 2012 71.08 Kb
March 2012
After a quick look at some interesting things, Mike rushed off to Mandurah and Chris spoke about Drop-box, Skype and other communications tools.
CIG minutes Mar 2012 45.80 Kb
February 2012
During a short AGM the following positions were filled: Convenor: Mike Murray; CIGCOM members: Ian Dew, Alastair Honeybun, Chris Loudon. We developed a list of topics to be featured over the coming year (see minutes attcahed). Looked at a few websites and demonstrated some of the new material that has appeared in the big websites such as ancetry and familysearch.
CIG minutes Feb 2012 44.72 Kb
December 2011
A few websites, a preview of Mike's Top Ten Tips for finding lost ancestors (to be presented at the Adelaide Congress in March), a demonstration of the (free) tools that Alastair uses to manipulate images (census, newspapers), followed by lunch to finish off the year.
CIG minutes Dec 2011 33.00 Kb
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.
December 2010
A shorter than normal meeting, as we had a lunch to go to, but we talked about a few new sources and also discussed how to synchronise your family tree on www.ancestry.com with the version on your computer. Turns out to be harder than you think!
November 2010
New items on ancestry and findmypast were discussed as well as lots of other interesting items.
October 2010
We had a general discussion as usual and also looked at a few of the Online Newspaper sites. Unfortunately our LAN/Internet connection was playing up so couldn't do justice to the sites we planned to visit.
CIG Minutes - Oct 2010
September 2010
As well as a few good websites we spent time discussing how we enter data in our genealogy programs and covered such things as standardised locations, the vagaries of sourcing information and the dangers of just grabbing other folks' family trees off the internet.
CIG Minutes Sept 2010
August 2010
We talked about broadband in the future, looked at a few websites, and spent time comparing ancestry's new Australian BDM indexes with the ones available from the various State Registries.
CIG Minutes - August 2010
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
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
December 2009
Shortened meeting today prior to adjourning for a shared lunch. We had a look at some of the capabilities in MSExcel.
CIG minutes - Dec 09 12.27 Kb
November 2009
Mike went through the process of making a family history movie and saving it onto DVD.
CIG minutes - Nov 09 62.46 Kb
October 2009
As well as the normal program, we spent some time looking at sites where you can find English parish records. Mike has prepared a summary by county, which should be considered 'work in progress' as more and more parish records are being digitised and transcribed.
UK Parish Records Online - Oct 09 106.56 Kb
September 2009
We celebrated the award for the new website and Chris gave us a rundown of current plans for the site and also the computers and intranet in Unit 6. We also spent some time looking at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
CIG minutes - Sep 09 56.53 Kb
August 2009
Chris gave us some useful tips for checking our systems against nasties and viruses. You can download a copy of his presentation here. He also gave us a look at phpGedView, which is a fully functional program for looking at GEDCOM files and basically acts like a full-scale genealogy program.
Virus prevention tips 17.76 Kb CIG Minutes - Aug 09 71.83 Kb
July 2009
This CIG is now 25 years old, and the first convenor (Graham Bown) gave us a brief reminder of the days of TRS80's and Commodore 64s. And, after the normal discussions of scams and viruses and great websites, Alastair Honeybun took us to the 'cloud', which some say is the future of genealogical computing.
CIG Minutes - July 09 53.72 Kb
June 2009
As well as the usual discussion and a few new websites and updates, we had a good look at www.ancestry.com. At the moment it's going through a series of major changes to the look and feel of the site, and some of the ways the searches are carried out have changed. Some of these changes will not apply to the Library Edition versions in WAGS and the various libraries around the State.
CIG Minutes - June 09 58.99 Kb
May 2009
Lots of discussion and some good websites to look at. Mike finished off the demo of familysearch by looking at the pilot site, which shows us the future of this vast repository.
CIG Minutes - May 09 77.16 Kb
April 2009
Mike demonstrated some search strategies using the IGI and the family history library catalogue on the LDS website www.familysearch.org. He will finish off the demo next month with a look at the 'pilot site'
CIG Minutes - Apr 09 66.56 Kb
March 2009
We looked at a few more good websites, and Chris gave us a look 'behind the scenes' at the details of the new web-site. He showed us plenty of stats, such as where the traffic was coming from, how many first-time users compared with frequent visitors there are, and much more. It is fascinating just how much of a trail we leave behind whenever we visit a website.
CIG Minutes - Mar 09 60.86 Kb
February 2009
Some great new websites to look at; and the great Genealogy Software 'Cook-Off'; volunteers gave a brief demonstration (using the same GEDCOM file) of Family Tree Maker 2009, Legacy 7, PAF 5.2, TMG 7, Reunion for Macintosh. Download the minutes for details.
CIG Minutes - Feb 09 79.10 Kb
December 2008
General discussion, next year's program and end-of-year lunch
CIG Minutes - Dec 08 82.09 Kb
July 2008
A few good websites and demo of three free image manipulation tools by Chris Loudon. They were:
Gimp - http://www.gimp.org/windows
Paint.net v3.35 (v3.10) demonstrated - http://www.getpaint.net
Irfanview - http://www.irfanview.com
June 2008
General discussion, a few websites and search tips and we revived the list of users of various genealogy programs, so that newbies can find someone to help them if needed.
May 2008
Lots of discussion about computer issues and a few interesting websites
April 2008
General discussion, website demos, and a Demo of the new Legacy Charting package by Ian Dew.
March 2008
Demo of the new things that LDS is doing in indexing and making their vast library of microfilmed available to us. http://labs.familysearch.org
February 2008
DNA for the family historian. Presentation by Mike Murray
2007 Meetings
During 2007 we looked at many websites on the big screen and covered lots of topics. Some of the highlights included:
- Using Batch Numbers and downloading GEDCOM files from http://www.familysearch.com and sorting them out using your genealogy software.
- Basics of document design and layout.
- Websites that specialise in sharing your genealogy information.
- Genealogy software programs: Legacy, Reunion
- Photostory 3
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