genie on the go
History apps Though hardly hallowed by the passing of time, these apps harness the latest technology to help you link with the past in informative and interesting ways. We roadtest four of the latest to see how they fare.
name maps AU99c/NZ$1.29 iOS compatible
The Peerage FREE/AU$2.99/NZ$4.19; iOS compatible
Curio Free; iOS and Android compatible
State Library of SA Free; iOS and Android compatible
Name Maps shows surname distribution across the US and may be useful for anyone wanting to find other branches of your own immigrant family. This could offer leads, given there was considerable US immigration to New Zealand and Australia, particularly of miners, in the mid-to-late 1800s. See the states in the US where your surname is represented on a map, displayed in absolute or relative distribution. Absolute distribution gives an approximate number of people with the last name living in certain states, while relative distribution indicates the proportion of people with that last name in a certain state in relation to the total population.
Peerage is an easily searchable, ever-growing database of royal and noble genealogy containing more than 600,000 names. The free version comes with discrete ads, or pay $2.99 for the ad-free version. I was amazed to find distant cousins in both sides of my family listed here, even though they are both many generations removed from the member of the peerage. The site is kept well up-to-date, and includes recent noble births and marriages. Certainly worth checking out by anyone who has English ancestry with the possibility of finding nobility in the family tree, and a good tool for anyone interested in the Royals’ family tree. — Mark Pearce
Amaze is the State Library of NSW’s first new gallery since 1929, and it seems fitting that it has a brand new app to accompany it. Curio not only explains the exhibition but shows you where you fit with it. What do I mean? Well, like an audio tour you can listen to more about the object you’re looking at but unlike the old headphones, Curio finds the objects nearest you and saves what you’ve seen during your visit. When you get home you can continue to enjoy the collection by viewing your tour again. It even shows what you missed, so you can see it next time you visit. Plus, all this costs you nothing; Curio has its own WiFi you can access while you’re at the Library. — Ben Mercer
This app presents the State Library of South Australia’s new self-guided walking tours of Adelaide. The Lost Adelaide Tour allows you to compare photographs of the city’s demolished buildings from the Library’s rich collections with the streetscapes of today. Also included are a tour of Adelaide’s War Memorials and a tour of sites associated with significant South Australians, as well as library orientation tours. It’s a terrific package for visitors to Adelaide as well as for locals wanting to delve into their city’s history. — Mark Webster
— Mark Webster
Inside History | May-June 2013 |
27