Sunday 12 January 2014

Croeso i'r Blog Worldwide Achyddiaeth o Gymru


or Welcome to the Worldwide Genealogy Blog from Wales

Although I have lived in Wales for almost 21 years I do not speak the language. I used Google translate for the title phrase.
I know this is a tool that genealogists have used when researching in countries which do not use their native tongue. They have found it an asset as it is much cheaper than getting a translator for the records. It is not infallible but for most genealogists it has opened up the records they can use especially now more of them are becoming available online.

A bit more about me. My name is Hilary Gadsby and the title of my blog is The Edge of Snowdonia which pretty much describes where I live in North Wales. My research areas are all in England which is where I was born, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire for my family and Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire and Norfolk for my husband's family. We have one or two people from other areas in our direct lines but the majority of the family have stayed in a small geographic area for centuries.
I started researching when the only internet we had available was using a dial up modem and you paid for each minute you were online, at this time or a little later I signed up for some rootsweb mailing lists in order to connect with other family historians, I also started with a free genealogy program which did little more than record basic details.
Over the years I have used various websites to connect to others with a shared interest  http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/http://home.ancestry.co.uk/http://www.lostcousins.comhttp://tribalpages.com and http://www.wikitree.com being the main ones. 
I also use social networking websites such as  www.facebook.com and plus.google.com to connect with friends family and fellow genealogists. These are great if you want to connect with other researchers but what if you want to share with your own family and in a way that they can get involved as much or as little as they want. Most of these have varying amounts of privacy but none are totally private.
Famberry is different from most family history sites in that in order to be able to access the tree and any accompanying images you must be invited and a member of the family. Access is granted by the tree owner and can be restricted, the owner may also choose to grant access to the entire tree. So here is a place where you can share and collaborate without everyone having access. This makes it an ideal place for photographs and announcements, including living members of the family. To access the website go to http://famberry.com/ 

We discussed this website with the developer on last week's Mondays with Myrt which can be viewed on YouTube at 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXTRg5UDeM8&list=UUZlX5znu6d7CCz6xobwMXOA&feature=c4-overview
you may have to subscribe in order to view the video.

There are many ways in which we genealogists or family historians (whichever term which wish to use) can share and collaborate you may have others which I have overlooked. Please feel free to share them with us as collaboration is what we aim to foster with this blog.

11 comments:

  1. I remember when we only had dial-up internet too. I wish I had been an investor in those days instead of a user. Looking forward to learning more about your research.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is plenty more I could add but decided a short discussion about how collaboration and sharing has changed over the years seemed appropriate. I also know how many are loath to put things online because of privacy issues so I thought Famberry which is relatively new might be the answer for some.

      Delete
  2. Snowdonia - such a beautiful place, but at the moment I imagine you've been getting quite a lot of, er, interesting weather. It's great to meet you, Hilary.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Hilary, thanks for the Famberry link. Looking forward to reading more about your research.
    Cheers
    Di

    ReplyDelete
  4. There's no doubt the internet has revolutionised how we do family history these days. look forward to future posts, Hilary.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good to see another Hangout on Air girl here, Hilary. Julie has managed to snag some really interesting people for this collaboration. I'll be watching out for your Snowdonia stories as I have neglected that area in my travels.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How nice to read about you to get to "know" you after running into you on so many Social Media sites. Look forward to to stories from you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Hilary! I'll have to research and find out what the Edge of Snowdonia is all about! Sounds Heavenly. I'm glad to meet so many new people Across the Pond. It's just wonderful. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is great to meet you Hilary! That dial up internet was something else back in the day. I remember it would take me hours just to see a few pages online. I look forward to reading your research!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Welcome, Hilary to this international gathering. It is good to have someone from Wales, as, although I am British, I must admit my knowledge is rather vague about the country, which I have never visited. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for all your lovely comments. Hope you enjoy this month's post.

    ReplyDelete

Hello, thanks for leaving a comment on the World Wide Genealogy Blog. All comments are moderated because of pesky spammers!

Best wishes
World Wide Genealogy Team