Multi-media me!

It just struck me that I am communicating with the outside world in a whole variety of ways right now. Apart from writing this blog, my first post as one of  the contributors to The National Archives official blog will appear on Monday.

This morning I answered questions from members of the public as part of The National Archives Live Chat pilot scheme. And if America thinks it saw the back of me when I boarded my plane home last week, think again. Tonight I shall be one of the guests on Geneabloggers Radio, talking to tonight's host, my good friend Dear Myrtle, in an edition called  'Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor: 19th Century US Immigration'. (I'll be the one in the jammies, as it's the middle of the night in my time zone).

This will be a live session, but I'm also used to being recorded, and some of the talks I have given as part of my job live on as podcasts at The National Archives new media hub where you can listen to or download individual podcasts, or subscribe to the series via iTunes or RSS feed. Using the media hub you can search by subject or presenter, and when you have listened you can mark each podcast by clicking on the star ratings, or leave comments.  

Meanwhile, I am working on a presentation for next week's 'Who Do You Think You Are? - Live' event at Olympia, where I shall also spend some time giving one-to-one consultations in the 'Ask the Experts' area. Back at the day job, I take my turn at answering email and phone enquiries, as well as shifts at the enquiry points in the Research and Enquiries Room.

Some of my deathless prose also appears in old-fashioned print, too. I wrote a piece in the Irish Family and Local History Handbook to be launched in the UK at Who Do You Think You Are? Live, and (fingers crossed) a new book which Dave Annal and I wrote will also be out then. I'll post the details when I know it's definitely going to happen. I have written for a number of family history magazines, although nothing very recent. I have been quoted in a few, though, and contributed the odd paragraph, so I think I can claim magazines as a medium too.

If there is a moral to this tale, it is that THERE IS NO ESCAPE. You are probably safe watching the TV or listening to the radio, but there are very occasional fleeting glimpses or soundbites of me there too.

But apart from being an excuse for a relentless round of shameless self-promotion, this is a way of making a serious point too; there are now so many ways that we can send and receive genealogical information, ther must be at least one that is available to you. And of course when I hit the 'Publish post' button, notifications will be sent out via Facebook, Twitter and Google+...

 

We have lift off! - Rootstech Day One

Today's new badges and my fabulous blogger beads!

The much-anticipated Rootstech 2012 got off to a flying start when thousands (yes, thousands) filled the main hall for the keynote session at 8:30 am. Many more were following it remotely, and from the comments on Twitter the live-streaming seemed to work pretty well. Most of the tweets were in English, but I saw one who was tweeting in French, and another in a Scandinavian language, judging by the characters he was using. Some of the tweeters behaved like responsible adults and relayed the key points of the session to the outside world. But some of us couldn't resist having some fun, too, including a new tweeter @jayverklershair.

Jay Verkler gave the keynote address, but several other people took part too, including two guys from Google, and Chris van der Kuyl of brightsolid. The session was streamed live on the Rootstech site, and has been repeated. Hopefully it will be available there after the conference too. It's well worth watching, as there was a lot to take in. Jay Verkler is stepping down after ten years as the CEO of FamilySearch where he has overseen major developments in the integration of technology in genealogy. He set out his vision for the future, a key element of which is cooperation between companies and organisations like FamilySearch. My note-taking skills are not up to giving an adequate account of the proceedings, so I recommend that you read the comprehensive accounts by some of the other bloggers present; Dick Eastman, Genealogy's Star, Ancestry Insider, Randy Seaver, and of course my partners in rime later today Jill Ball and Amy Coffin.

I spent most of the day in the Expo Hall, and I still haven't seen all of it, there were so many people to gossip network with. I was able to catch up with Jay Verkler and other senior FamilySearch people to tell them that I appreciated the recent changes to FamilySearch, namely the restoration of the British Isles category; in the course of meetings with them over the last couple of years, and in my blog posts I must have sounded like a broken record on that subject (I was starting to bore myself). 

I had a ticket for the very well-attended brightsolid lunch, addressed by Chris van der Kuyl. He gave an overview of the company's various websites, and some interesting facts and statistics, especially about the British Newspaper Archive. He also made some important announcements about their entry into the US market, important enough to be reported on the BBC. I couldn't resist tweeting his comment that he their hot new signing D Joshua Taylor as the Michael Jordan of genealogy! Predictably, whenever Chris appears in the US, or to be more precise when he is heard in the US, Twitter feeds are suddenly full of comments about his accent (he's from Dundee), mainly from female tweeters - I can't think why :). I also noticed than more than one wanted to know why he wasn't wearing a kilt. Maybe next year? In fact, most of the brightsolid people were dressed in 1940 style costume, to mark their participation in the 1940 census project; Cliona from findmypast.ie as Rosie the Rivetter, some sharp-suited (and hatted) men, and Elaine Collins is a stylish suit (I believe they were called 'costumes' then), complete with seamed stockings! These people just love dressing up, and this was quite low-key - you should see them at WDYTYA Live! 

I can't believe it's almost time to leave my hotel for the second day; I should try to be on my best behaviour because Jill, Amy and I are having our panel discussion later this morning. I wore all my badges and pins yesterday, but I'm leaving them behind today. I don't want to jingle and clank when I am miked-up for the session!

 

History in the digital age - University of Warwick Knowledge Centre

Genealogists aren't the only historians who eagerly seize on digital resources (although I don't know of any other group that can muster upwards of 3000 people in one place for that purpose). I found this interesting article in the University of Warwick Knowledge Centre

The article also has some useful links, but with one notable omission - they do not mention the British Newspaper Archive probably because it does not have an institutional subscription option.

While you are there, it is worthwhile exploring some of the other resources in the Knowledge Centre. I came across the University's resource page Why Blog? which includes a variety of case studies - I see that one of my former lecturers blogs about the political economy of football (proper football where you don't pick up the ball, you have to kick it with your foot, that's why it's called football).

 

Rootstech - two days and counting

Throw a stone in Salt Lake City right now and you'll hit a genealogist. Not that I'm suggesting you throw stones at them; they (we) are nice people. I've been here since Thursday of last week, and a good number were already here then, for SLIG, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy January 23-27. That was a pretty intensive week, as I have gathered from my friends who were either studying or teaching there.

Now attention is turned to Rootstech, and more attendees are arriving all the time, from all over the world. So far I have met people from New Zealand and Australia, and another Aussie is somewhere over the Pacific en route right now. The full schedule has been posted on the Rootstech site, including the 14 sessions that will be streamed live, so that you can follow the proceedings from anywhere in the world. You can also catch the buzz by reading what the Official Bloggers have to say or by following   #rootstech on Twitter. Th Official Bloggers are not the only ones in attendance; at the last count around 90 bloggers were expected to attend, and Amy Coffin of the We Tree Genealogy Blog is making it her mission to meet all of them. I am not am Official Blogger, but I am pleased to be participating in a joint session with two of them; one of them is Amy, and the other is Jill Ball aka Geniaus. The session at 11:00 on Friday is Genealogy 2.0: International Panelists discuss their use of social media Sadly, our Canadian friend, Lorinne McGinnis Schulze of the Olive Tree Genealogy blog is unable to join us. We will miss her.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Expo Hall (which will include book vendors after all, following a bit of a fuss some time back). Its distinctive features include the Demo Stage,  the Media Hub where the Official Bloggers are based, complete with interview booths, and the Microsoft Playground where you can, well, play; last year there was table football and table tennis. Last year soft seating areas were dotted around, where people could resort for a chat - I had the impression that a lot of business was done this way.

I can hardly wait