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Thomas MacEntee
G
eography is no longer our master when it comes to genealogy. I’m a US-based educator and author who assists family historians in mastering technology and social media. Through my work lecturing and writing about how to use Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to expand the genealogy experience, I’ve come to believe that family historians need to get out and see the world, especially as it relates to one’s heritage. That’s what I keep telling newcomers to genealogy. Those folks who started researching their roots in the past five years seem to think that they can do everything online, which is not true. At least here in the US, only five per cent of all records pertaining to genealogy are digitised and available online. As for travel? Well, when I took my first genealogy cruise, I was amazed at how much it was like one
between talks. The facilities on board were superb, the crew could not have been friendlier (particularly to my boys, who both celebrated birthdays while at sea), and a drink listening to “Piano Man” ended each night perfectly. Having travelled from Scotland, I not only wished to be involved in giving talks on board the ship, I also used the opportunity to meet many genealogy folk in New Zealand and Australia during our stopovers, something I hope to do again on the fourth cruise. On each of our scheduled shore days I visited local family history societies to give talks there also, which allowed me to better understand how things are done within the genealogical world down under. That’s not to say I didn’t get to see any sites with my family! In Rotorua my boys and I risked life and limb on a Sky Swing, at Picton I visited the Edwin Fox (see http://youtu.be/K7e1V3vY8G0), in Burnie we took in an early morning helicopter trip within an hour of reaching port, at Sydney we visited the Opera House, and more. All great fun! On the fourth cruise, I will be giving a range of talks on Scottish and Irish topics, reflecting the areas within which I research the most, but also on more generic British topics. I’ll be looking at subjects such as the history and splits within the Scottish Kirk, the laws surrounding marriage in Scotland and our weird land
big genealogy society meeting or conference, but with better amenities! I can attend lectures, share a meal with cruise mates who have the same interests, and exchange information and resources with them. I love to see other genealogists succeed, whether it is with their own research or building their careers in the field. Even if you don’t consider yourself “tech literate,” you’ll find my lectures easy to understand and you just might walk away (or swim away since this is a cruise) with some knowledge to apply to your own research. My lectures will cover: social media and how to use it to improve genealogy research; blogging and writing about your ancestors as a form of ‘cousin bait’; using Facebook to connect with other genealogists and to share resources; tech tips and tricks including metadata for digital images, backing up your genealogy data, and creating a virtual research toolbox. During the cruise, I’ll also be available for consultations. This will be my third genealogy-focused cruise, and I’m excited about being able to see a new part of the world and to meet with new genealogists.
inheritance system (both areas being very different to equivalents elsewhere in the UK), and will examine how to trace the ‘down and out’ in Scotland, when times were tough. I’ll look at civil registration and newspapers from the British Isles, and the use of Irish land records — and in the centenary year of WWI, I’ll describe my Ruhleben Story project (http://ruhleben. tripod.com) examining the untold stories of thousands of British- and Empire-based civilians who found themselves in Europe at precisely the wrong time, for which they were interned in Germany throughout the conflict. Right John Paton (left) in Ruhleben camp, 1916. Courtesy Chris Paton.
Inside History | Jul-Aug 2013 |
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