In the first week of February, Auckland Libraries was delighted to have hosted several events to support New Zealand Cemeteries Heritage Week, which was to celebrate the launch on Ancestry of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) cemetery microfiche.


The cemetery microfiche was the culmination of almost 50 years' worth of work by volunteers from the NZSG - a painstaking process of recording and transcribing cemetery headstones from 1400 public and private cemeteries nationwide, including Māori urupa from 1800 right up until 2007.

The official launch day was held on Monday, 2 February, 2015, at the New Zealand Society of Genealogists head office in Panmure where current NZSG President Gay Williams discussed the history of their Cemetery Collection and explained the work that was behind it.

The launch made the news on TVNZ.


Auckland Libraries hosted events in support for the following three days. Subjects presented were:

• S.S.Tararua  - our worst civilian shipwreck, 29 April 1881 - Gay Williams, President, (NZ Society of Genealogists) 

• The shipwreck of the HMS Orpheus on 7 February 1863 - Michael Wynd, Researcher, (National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy)

• The ‘Great Flu’ pandemic, 1918 - Gay Williams

• Hawkes Bay Earthquake 3 February 1931 - Christine Clement

• The Tangiwai Railway Disaster, 24 December 1953 - Gay Williams

• The Air NZ Erebus disaster, 28 November 1979 - Gay Williams

• Why can't I locate my NZ ancestors place of burial - David Verran, Local Historian and Team Leader, Central Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries

• Locating your ancestors through NZSG burial records and Ancestry online (NZ cemetery records 1800 – 2007), Diane Wilson and Gay Williams 

In the first week of February, Auckland Libraries was delighted to have hosted several events to support New Zealand Cemeteries Heritage Week, which was to celebrate the launch on Ancestry of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) cemetery microfiche.


The cemetery microfiche was the culmination of almost 50 years' worth of work by volunteers from the NZSG - a painstaking process of recording and transcribing cemetery headstones from 1400 public and private cemeteries nationwide, including Māori urupa from 1800 right up until 2007.

The official launch day was held on Monday, 2 February, 2015, at the New Zealand Society of Genealogists head office in Panmure where current NZSG President Gay Williams discussed the history of their Cemetery Collection and explained the work that was behind it.

The launch made the news on TVNZ.


Auckland Libraries hosted events for the following three days:

• S.S.Tararua  - our worst civilian shipwreck, 29 April 1881 - Gay Williams, President, (NZ Society of Genealogists) 

• The shipwreck of the HMS Orpheus on 7 February 1863 - Michael Wynd, Researcher, (National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy)

• The ‘Great Flu’ pandemic, 1918 - Gay Williams

• Hawkes Bay Earthquake 3 February 1931 - Christine Clement

• The Tangiwai Railway Disaster, 24 December 1953 - Gay Williams

• The Air NZ Erebus disaster, 28 November 1979 - Gay Williams

• Why can't I locate my NZ ancestors place of burial - David Verran, Local Historian and Team Leader, Central Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries

• Locating your ancestors through NZSG burial records and Ancestry online (NZ cemetery records 1800 – 2007), Diane Wilson and Gay Williams 

This year we are celebrating a decade of lock-ins from when the idea first came to the then Family History Librarian, Karen Kalopulu.

Back in 2004 Karen Kalopulu proposed the idea to library management saying that, although the ‘concept is new to libraries in New Zealand’ there are ‘many libraries in United States of America which have strong family history collections hold[ing] very successful lock-ins’.

Since Karen sadly passed away in 2009, the lock-ins have continued under the leadership of Family History Librarian Seonaid Lewis.

Family historians and aspiring family historians start arriving during the afternoon of the last Friday of August, working overnight on their family histories and helping other people with theirs, until leaving at 8am the next day.

The lock-ins have been a collaboration between Auckland Libraries and the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG), who have supported this venture right from the very beginning with their volunteers contributing to the expert knowledge available on the night. The event has proven to be great fun, we have all learnt so much from each other and have made some good friends along the way.

There are a handful of customers and NZSG volunteers who were at that first lock-in and are still coming today.

The inaugural Lock-in group, 2005.

Geraldene O’Reilly, the NZSG president of the Irish Interest group, has attended every single one of the lock-ins, helping many a fledgling search their Irish ancestry.

Geraldene O'Reilly busy at work.

The format Karen started has carried on, with a few unavoidable tweaks along the way.

Before the evening kicks off at 8pm there are the options of a tour of the Central Auckland Research by Seonaid and then a seminar on some subject, whether it’s Scottish family history or, as it is this year, beginning your New Zealand family history.

The night begins with Seonaid leading a 'meet and greet' and then the library staff  NZSG volunteers share their areas of specialty.

A happy researcher!

We then hit the computers, Microfilm readers and books and the momentum continues. Flagging souls help themselves to coffee and snacks in the library atrium and we are all revived with pizza at midnight.

Some succumb to a nap, in a cosy nook but it is amazing, with kindred family historians around and lots to share and learn, how the buzz keeps you going.

There have been many eureka moments:

I finally found something that could possibly lead to more information on my maternal grandmother's birth - the first really good lead in 25 years!

Came away with some exciting information it was certainly well worth it.
Can't wait till the next one.

I got so much information on the night that I am going flat out working out what I need to do next.

I managed to stay awake all night much to my surprise - the time seemed to go so fast.  I found a really good skeleton in my mother's side of the family so was very happy.

As Karen said in her proposal, back in 2004, ‘a family history lock-in is an opportunity to promote the Auckland City Library and it’s family history collection in an innovative way and provide a platform for Auckland City Libraries to work collaboratively with the New Zealand Society of Genealogists on a venture that both organisations are passionate and enthusiastic about.’

We are looking forward to more great research and sharing in August 2014. To register for this year's event, click here for more information.

Bridget

Six steps to beginning your own One-Name Study 

by Anne Brady, guest blogger 


A One-Name Study is a project researching all occurrences of a surname (and its variants), as opposed to a particular pedigree or a particular descendancy. 

The object is to discover things about the actual surname and the people who have held it.

Step One Is it already being done?

Check http://www.one-name.org/ or Google your surname

Step Two Find out more about the name

• How big a study will it be?
  Estimate by using the totals from the 1881 English census:
  - 1-30 Tiny (T)
  - 30-300 Small (S)
  - 300-3000 Medium (M)
  - 3000-30,000 Large (L)
  - 30,000-300,000 (XXL)

Multiplying the number in this census by 10 will give a very approximate count of the total (English) BDMs 1837-2006.

• How common is the name? Look at the ranking of your surname on
  http://surnames.behindthename.com/top/ or
  http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php

• How widespread is the name?
  www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk
  www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames
  www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/

• Variants and Deviants
  A VARIANT is an alternate spelling used by individuals themselves, or is one used consistently in official documents.
  DEVIANTS are typos, misreadings of handwriting and any other spelling that is not a true variant, it occurs only randomly.
  
  How many variants and deviants are there? Check the IGI (International Genealogical Index) for a good overview, but remember that you will continue to find more.

Step Three Make some decisions

How will you store and record your research? This will be influenced by the size of your study – from Tiny up to XXL

• Family History program?
• Spreadsheets – Excel, Access (e.g. Custodian)?
• All info on one spreadsheet, or broken down by e.g. type of record, country?
• How will you cope with different spellings?
• How far down the line will you take females who marry out of the name?
• Paperwork or scans
• Filing system?
• Odd bits of information?

Step Four Setting up and getting organised

• Make a list of known variants/deviants. Keep a printout of your list with you at all times, and amend it whenever you find more possibilities
• Once you have a basic list, work out how few online searches you can manage with careful use of wildcards (BL*X*G, BL*C*G etc) and record them
• Set up a new family file in your family history program
• Copy across any data you currently have on that name
• Create whatever spreadsheets you have decided to use. Remember to input from large to small, eg YYYYMMDD, or Country/County/Parish to make sorting and searching easier.

Fields I use on my log: Date searched / Repository / Category / Search Type / Website / Record Title / URL/Catalogue Ref / Country/County / Years searched / Names checked / Result / Notes

• Set up files and folders, both hard-copy and on your PC. Mine are organised by place in descending size order, then by type of record and/or repository. (E.g. UK-ENG-KENT- Cemeteries, Census, Certificates, Directories, Houses, Newspapers, Probate, etc.) Or look at the Family Roots organiser system at http://www.123genealogy.com/organizer/
• Draw up a table of the total census records across all available websites for your name, as not all will be found in one place thanks to the huge variety of transcribing errors. You may find a separate table for each main variant is useful.

Census search results for the name Beachcroft across the major genealogy websites - demonstrates the variation of results you will find across them all Copyright Helen Osborn, www.Pharostutors.com, used with permission

• If you don’t already have a good backup system in place, set one up NOW
• Create a list of the order you plan to search the records in
• Label a folder with ‘To Do’ and keep a separate sheet for each Research Repository, or keep a list in a Word document folder

Step Five - Join the Guild of One Name Studies at www.one-name.org (in order to save lots of money).

Discounts on subscriptions / other offers for different sites:

• Findmypast – 10%
• Lost Cousins – 20%
• The Genealogist (Diamond Subscription) - GBP40 off
• Various other short-term offers are also made
• Use GOONS Marriage, Probate and Scottish indexes; the Wiki; join the Forum and/or the Bulletin Board; get a mentor
• (Use www.marriage-locator.co.uk, a free, public-access website to find the church for many marriages)

Do a Pharos course online about Beginning One Name Studies

Maximise your use of Family Search. If you aren’t sure how to get the best out of it, go to the ‘Learn’ tab and watch some of their videos

In Freebmd download records, and set up saved searches

Trawl Facebook, Youtube and Ebay, look through Gutenberg and Google free books
www.gutenberg.org , www.books.google.com
 
Use other Google products such as alerts, blogs, images, documents & news at http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/
 
Remember other search engines such as Mocavo at www.mocavo.com
 
Use www.genuki.org.uk/ to find lots of websites specific to your county and parish. 


And of course never forget Cyndis List . . .

Search Rootsweb message boards and lists at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Browse Wikitree www.wikitree.com
Use free webinars and blogs to learn how to research new areas, gather lots of tips and hear of new websites and programs to try, e.g.

• Genealogy webinar calendar http://blog.geneawebinars.com/p/welcome.html
• Legacy Webinars www.legacy.com
• Youtube how-to videos such as the ‘Twenty with Tessa’ series, which includes lessons on Excel, Freebmd, Legacy Family Tree program and One-Name Studies, amongst others

Make full use of the Auckland Libraries & New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) resources - What about the many free sites that are available at one or both places - have you tried

• Ancestry
• Find My Past
• The Genealogist
• British (and Irish) Origins
• Family Relatives
• Documents Online (now called Discovery)
• British Newspapers Archive
• Gale Newspapers (use from home)

Have you looked at the bookshelves, the fiche or CD drawers? Have you used the library catalogue to find what there is in any area? Set up Google alerts for your names and areas of interest.

Join Lost Cousins and add the families you find on the specified census pages as ‘One Name Study’ relationships.

Use pay-per-view / subscription sites which allow use of their indexes for free. Sign up for their newsletters so that you know when they are having free weekends for some of their datasets.


Step Six

Begin


About Anne Brady
Anne is the New Zealand representative for the Guild of One-Name Studies (GOONS and a member of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists NZSG).

Anne spoke about One-Name Studies to our audience at Central Library for our family history lunchtime series talks, that Auckland Libraries holds here fortnightly on Wednesdays between February and November. 

She very kindly permitted us to post her informative handout notes here on the Kintalk blog.

Happy hunting
Seonaid

On Sunday, we had the first ever Family History Club at Central Library.

It was very well attended, with approximately 25 people - about six of whom were newcomers to family history.

The day included a tour of the Central Auckland Research Centre, and "clinics" with our experts from Auckland Libraries and The New Zealand Society of Genealogists.

Alot of very useful research was accomplished and people are on their way to being acquainted with their ancestors!

"Experts" on the day included Viv, Gay, Robyn and Ray of the NZSG; and Marie, Maureen, Karen, Everett, Angeline, Wynne and myself from Heritage and Research @ Auckland Libraries.

We're all looking forward to the next Family History Club on May 5!

Don't forget to look for our other Family History events on our website!

Happy hunting

Seonaid

Auckland Libraries presents their family history club

Sundays:- 10 February, 5 May, 11 August, 10 November,

10.30am to 3.30pm

In response to demand . . . 

Curious about your family history? Want to know where to start?

Brick wall? Lack of time? Has your research been gathering dust and you want to restart? Then the Family History Club is for you!

Join experts from Auckland Libraries and the New Zealand Society of Genealogists for a day of research.

Tea and coffee supplied, please bring your own lunch.

Whare Wānanga – opposite the Central Auckland Research Centre, level 2, Central City Library

Contact the Central Auckland Research Centre 09 307 7771 to book
Or email arc@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Find out more:
http://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/EN/Events/Events/pages/familyhistoryclubfebruary.aspx

Discounted parking available in the Victoria Street East carpark - see your friendly librarian on the day!

See our other events for February and March 

On Wednesday, August 1, Family History Month begins here in New Zealand.

Auckland Libraries has a series of fabulous events across the region on a wide variety of topics nearly 50 events across 25 libraries - from Mahurangi in the North to Massey in the West and Pukekohe and Waiuku in the South! There is even an "overseas" visit to Waiheke Island.
Full details of the month can be reviewed here, and include links to the different events happening at the different libraries, speakers' profiles, and abstracts of the talks! These talks can be booked through the host library.

Launching Family History Month - 3 events on one day 

To kick off this exciting month, Auckland Libraries has THREE events in one day at Central City Library in Lorne Street.

Brad Argent is going to be very busy in New Zealand - as he will be doing a few different events for both Auckland Libraries and the New Zealand Society of Genealogists in celebration of Family History Month.


As well as speaking on "Getting More from Ancestry " for us on Sunday, Aug 5, Brad will also be with us on Wednesday morning, along with other special guests


Brad Argent, Ancestry.com.au

Challenging our national identity

What does it mean to be a Kiwi today?

August is Family History Month at Auckland Libraries. To kick off the month there will be a healthy discussion with a panel of experts on Identity and what it means to be a Kiwi in today’s society.

Join a free event featuring leading family history experts.

• Genealogist: Sandra Metcalfe, New Zealand Society of Genealogists
• Pacific Perspective: Fasitua Amosa
• Tangata Whenua Perspective: Margaret Ngaropo
• Chinese Perspective: Roseanne Liang
• International Family History Expert: Brad Argent, Ancestry.com.au

Facilitated by Family History Librarian: Seonaid Lewis, Auckland Libraries


11am, Wednesday 1 August
Whare Wānanga, opposite the Central Auckland Research Centre
L2, Central City Library, 44-46 Lorne Street, Auckland