Happy Blogiversary "Janet the Researcher"

Well, I made it to the 3rd anniversary of this blog. Sometimes when you embark on a new project, you wonder if you will be able to finish it or to keep it going. I am pleased that I have reached another milestone.

What had started as a part of the 23 things learning  project with the library, has become for me a great source of satisfaction. The blog's primary focus is genealogy but I venture into some local history, family history, photos of people and places and of course, gardens.

I don't write something everyday as other obligations need my attention, but I do enjoy writing my stories.

Thank you to all my readers. Thank you to all who take the time to leave comments.
© 2010 Janet Iles

Follow Friday: Genwriting

 Update: Phyllis has moved her blog to a different platform. It is now entitled Genwriters instead of Genwriting. The links have been updated 2017-10-6.

Most days, I take time to read some blogs. Most are genealogy related. Some are connected to writing and editing. Some blogs feature both as their prime focus. Genwriters does both. Phyllis Matthews Ziller provides great pointers on writing your family history as she describes it "one story at a time".
Phyllis also as a companion website where she provides some very useful guides.

If you haven't visited Phyllis's blog, I hope you do as she may give you the inspiration that you need to write your family stories.

© 2010 Janet Iles

update: 2022 -- the link is no longer active.

Time to Vote

It's time to vote. No you didn't miss a news item saying that there is an upcoming election.

It's time to vote for some of your favorite genealogy blogs. Last month, Family Tree Magazine, asked for nominations of your favorites. The staff went through all the nominations and created ten categories. Depending on the category it will determine how many you can vote for.

I was excited and honored to see this blog in the personal/family category and the Graveyard Rabbit of Grey  County, Ontario is in the cemetery category. There are many interesting and well done blogs, so making a choice is difficult.

Congratulations to all the nominees.

FootnoteMaven prepared a list of all the nominees with a link to the blogs. Thank you.

The May 2010 issue will proclaim the top 40 blogs. The voting will narrow it down to 80 and the editors will make the decision on which ones will be featured as the top 40. 

To vote go here.



© 2009 Janet Iles

The blogging continues - Start of Year 3

Today is my 2nd blogiversary. My first post was about life long learning. Although retired, I was working on a very part time basis at the library when the staff undertook the web 2.0 learning experience. I was invited to participate. I am certainly happy that I did. At first, many of the posts related to the assignments but with time the focus has shifted to genealogy, family history, local history and of course, gardening and other items that strike my fancy.

I enjoy being a part of the geneabloggers, (an informal community of blog writers who blog mainly about genealogy and family history).

If anyone is new to my blog, I hope you read some of my past blogs. Please leave comments as they are always appreciated.

Another Blog, Another Website

The last little while, I have been busy with the creation of a new website and blog. I didn't do the design of the website but I was involved with a committee that worked on the content and concepts for the site. Dr. Steve Briggs donated his time and his expertise in website creation to bring our ideas together. The website is the Grey County Historical Society site. I will be the webmaster. The blog is Grey County Historical Society Blog.

Since, I started this blog, Janet the Researcher, I have been posting notices of meetings, etc. here but in future these announcements will be on the Society's blog. I will be the main contributor to the Society's blog.

So now I have four traditional websites that I manage --
Stiver/Stober family
Knox United Church, Owen Sound
Markham Berczy Settlers Association
Grey County Historical Society

I now have three blogs where I am the author --
Janet the Researcher
Graveyard Rabbit of Grey County, Ontario
Grey County Historical Society

I will need to use my time management skills to keep everything up to date and to remember to schedule breaks, to step away from the computer to do other things on my to do lists. You can get very absorbed with what you are doing on the computer whether it is writing an article or doing research. The time passes so quickly.

Now, it is time to step away from the computer for awhile. Oh, but first, I must check my email.

Blogging for Genealogists - the Presentation

Here is the presentation that I gave several weeks ago about Blogging for Genealogists.

Blogging for Genealogists (revised)

View more presentations from researchergal. (tags: genealogy blogging)

Of course, you do not get the benefit of my comments but it will give you an idea of what I talked about during my presentation to the Bruce Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Thanks once again to all the fellow geneabloggers who gave me permission to use screen shots of their sites in this presentation.

Wordless Wednesday - Warning Sign

Warning Sign Created with Warning Sign Generator (Created sign for my presentation on Blogging for Genealogists.)

Blogging for Genealogists

During the last few weeks, I have been working on my presentation on blogging for genealogists. Thanks to the assistance of fellow genea-bloggers who gave permission to use screenshots from their blogs, the presentation is coming together very well. It will be a colourful presentation.


I wish I could highlight all the genea-blogs out there, but I can't; but I will point to places where the audience can find them.


The talk will be divided into two sections: reading blogs and writing your own blog. Not everyone will want to have a blog of their own but genealogists benefit from reading the work of others.


Some of the points I will cover

What is a blog and how does it differ from a web site?
Different parts of the blog.

Reading
How to find blogs
How to keep updated on postings - RSS feeds and readers
Different types of blogs with examples


Writing
Getting Ready to blog - Who, When, Where, Why and How
Setting up a blog
Tips concerning layout and writing

The details on the presentation
Grey Bruce Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society
will meet January 24, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.
at the Family History Centre at the LDS church
490 2nd Avenue South East
Owen Sound, Ontario

All are welcome to attend.

View Larger Map

A new blog is born

I have started another blog -- The Graveyard Rabbit of Grey County, Ontario. This blog will focus on the cemeteries of Grey County. I hope you will hop over there and read my articles. These articles will be written as part of my membership in the Association of Graveyard Rabbits. Why the name Graveyard Rabbits? Terry Thornton, is the founder to find out. Since the passing of Terry Thornton who started the Graveyard Rabbit blog group, his website is no longer available. The poem that was the inspiration for the name can be found on this site

Janet the researcher will be my main blog where I will write about genealogy and local history and other topics of interest.

blog post updated 2017

Do you care to comment? - Places I left a comment

Last weekend Katherine at Looking4ancestors sent out a challenge to comment on 10 blog postings. Well, I went straight to work, only making a quick list. I didn't make a note of addresses so I will remedy that now.

I stopped by Linda's blog From Axer to Ziegler

Paula's blog Paula Goff Christy's Blog

Sheri at The Educated Genealogist

Donna at What's past is prologue

The Family Curator

Amy at We Tree

Brenda at Grand Traverse Region & Genealogy

GeneaDiva's History, Genealogy & "Stuff"

Thomas at Thomas 2.0

Apple at Apple's Tree

I found some more blogs that I will want to read

Getting to know me, getting to know all about Janet the Researcher

This posting is response to meme hosted by Terry Thornton Getting to Know Me over at Hill Country of Monroe County

Janet the Researcher (aka researchergal) is Janet Iles from Grey County, Ontario, Canada. Except for time away from the area for education - London Teachers' College in London (1 year), and Sheridan College in Oakville (2 years) and Trois-Pistoles French Immersion School (3 different summers 1968, 1969, 1983) and 1 year teaching French for the Central Algoma Board of Education, I have lived all my life in Grey County.

I only taught for two years. The rest of my working years were spent at the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Library aka Owen Sound Public Library. I provide research services through my business Janet Iles Consulting & Research Services.


My interest in genealogy grew out of helping people with their genealogy in the library. As I approached retirement, the opportunity arose to take online courses in genealogy through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I completed my Canadian Studies and earned my Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies. I am still taking courses from time to time.


I am active in the Markham Berczy Settlers Association and the Grey County Historical Society. I am also a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society and several branches.

My goals in writing this blog are to share some of my family stories and to talk about Grey County or other places and topics that interest me. I hope to use some of the articles in a family history.

A. brightest

http://researchergal.blogspot.com/2008/05/mom-how-did-you-get-so-smart-theme-for.html

It is the brightest as it includes not only research but remembrances about my mother.

B. breeziest (funny or sassy or provocative or sprightly -- breezy!)

http://researchergal.blogspot.com/2008/05/bathing-beauties-in-ontario-we-have-had_28.html

I looked for fun family photos with us sporting our bathing suits.

C. most beautiful of your work

http://researchergal.blogspot.com/2008/03/womens-history-month-womens-history.html

The photo essay about my paternal grandmother is my most beautiful to date.

I hope that readers will comment when they stop by to read, if they remember a place or activity that relates to the topic.

My blog - its focus

Janet the researcher is the blog of Janet Iles, a retired library technician (but still doing some supply work). In my post retirement life, I do genealogical and historical research.

Most of the articles relate to my personal genealogical research or life and history of and in Grey County, Ontario and other parts of Ontario where my ancestors lived. Also included are postings about my various interests. Therefore you will see photographs of my garden.

As a member of the geneabloggers, I enjoy writing various articles as prompted by the various carnivals and memes. I plan to incorporate many of the stories in a family history book.

Photo-sleuth posting on James Iles, Photographer & hairdresser

Brett Payne of New Zealand recently wrote an article about James Iles, hairdresser and photographer at his photo-sleuth blog. What an interesting combination of careers. A link from a posting in the Genea-blogger group of Facebook, led me to Brett's blog. When I saw the Iles name, I was of course eager to read the information.

I do not know if any of my Iles relatives ended up in New Zealand. I do have Mackenzie connections there.

If you are interested in photography and carte de visites, you may wish to check out Brett's blog. He gives information about the photographers and shows examples of their ads.

I've been tagged - Blogging Friends Forever

I am behind in reading my blogs so I am late in catching up on the news and activities of fellow bloggers. I have been awarded the BFF (Blogging Friends Forever) award from Kathryn of looking4ancestors and Terry of Hill Country of Monroe County Thank you to both of you.

Here are the rules:

Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award

4 of them followers of your blog

One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world

You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

Whom do I pick? As I continue to blog and submit to the Carnival of Genealogy and now being part of the Geneabloggers on Facebook, I am getting to know some of the bloggers who read my postings and sometimes leave a comment or two. Thank you to all who comment. Some who read my blog do not have blogs of their own such as, my brother and sister.

The number of genealogy related blogs I am reading has increased since I joined the Geneabloggers on Facebook.

So here is my list. Except for Bill, the others, I believe are new to my blog and do not live in Canada. My cousin who lives in Ireland reads my blog but she is not new to my blog.

Bill at West in New England.

Kathryn at California Genealogical Society and Library Our historical society is gearing up to go on the web and I have found some of the articles on this blog of great interest for ideas for our group.

Kenneth at Beyond Fiction

Virginia at ValleeHill Genealogy Blog

Craig of Geneablogie

Blogging - One year later

Happy Blogging Anniversary to me! Happy Blogging Anniversary to me!

One year ago, I posted my first blog. As part of a learning initiative in Library 2.0, I was introduced to social networking and I began to blog. The first blog postings were prompted by the assignments we had. Since then, I have participated in the Carnival of Genealogy and Advent Calendar of Christmas memories 2007. I have posted a few Wordless Wednesday postings.

Here are some of my favourites that I posted:

Bathing Beauties

A Place called Home

You look just like your Mother

Women's History Month Salutes

Guess Who is coming for Dinner?

Nativity Scenes

To see forward, we must first see backwards

One posting Blog, Website or both resulted in Thomas MacEntee posting a response on his web site.

The rewards from blogging - writing about genealogy and about other items of interest. Some of which will go into a family history and the sense of community by being part of a great group of geneabloggers. Recently, some geneabloggers have connected on Facebook and thanks to Thomas MacEntee through the creation of the group for geneabloggers, we are learning more about the individuals behind the blogs.

Fun with Words & Promoting our blogs

Early on in my blogging experience, I talked about different styles of learning and especially visual learning. On Sunday morning as I was reading my blogs in my feeds - Successful blog and Liz Strauss introduced her readers to Wordie. I went and tried it out. First I tried it with my url of my blog - Janet the Researcher. Because I don't put my name of my blog or my name in the postings, they are not included. I noticed it focused on words from my most recent blogs.

I also did one where you can enter your own set of words. Repeating key words over and over will increase their size. I experimented with one concerning the Grey County Historical Society. I didn't save it or print it out so I will try it again.

Yesterday, I read Footnotemaven's post about Wordie. How could we use this tool to promote our blogs? She challenged anyone who created a t-shirt with their wordie creation related to their geneablog to post a comment on her site.

Yes, I too have joined Facebook recently but I still love and prefer blogging and writing so that is where most of my free computer time will be focused.

Update: Here is a direct link to Wordie

Destination: Austin Family: Website, Weblog, Blog, Blogsite

Destination: Austin Family: Website, Weblog, Blog, Blogsite

Recently, I posted an article on Web site vs blogs. Thomas MacEntee posted a reply in a posting on his blog. Thanks Thomas. Part Two of his comments provide more information.

My interest as posted in my original article is two-fold -- my own business and for the local historical society.

Our historical society is looking at how we can increase our presence on the Internet. I have been doing some postings on my blog as one way of advertising our interesting programs, but it would be good to have a site where people interested in the activities of the society would visit for information. We may have an offer to develop a web site for the group, but we are waiting for more information.

For my business, I will be working on ideas this year on what I would have in a web site. I will continue writing this blog.

I need to update my information on my listings in the members directory of the Association of Professional Genealogists. This is something I can do right away.

Blog, Website or Both?

Blog, Website or Both?

This is a question that I have been asking myself lately concerning my genealogical and historical research business. I already have a blog and I have a personal website for one of my family lines. One of my goals this year will be to develop a website for my business. I will let you know of progress on this.

My focus today is for our local historical society. It is time, I and others believe to increase our online presence beyond postings on community calendars. A quick Google search shows some historical societies have blogs but not all have kept them up. Some have websites and of course, some have both.

Since starting to blog last summer, I have grown to enjoy this format. One of the key benefits is RSS feeds. You can be alerted when there is new material on a site. The person or organization does not have to do anything to let you know that the site is updated, if you have added the blog to your newsreader.

So I am asking you, what do you suggest? If you are involved with a historical society or a genealogical society or another one of a related nature, I'd appreciate your feedback so that I could share your experiences at a Board of Directors' meeting.

Should we have - a blog, a website or both?

If we were to start with only one, should it be a blog or web site?

Has membership increased because of having either? What other benefits are there?

What type of information is included on the blog or website?

Any tips would be appreciated. I look forward to your comments.

Let the blogging continue!

Blogging - 6 months later

Today marks my sixth anniversary as a blogger. This is my 95th post.

When I began on July 17, my first post was Let the blogging begin

For the first two and a half months, the majority of my posts were part of a Library 2.0 learning initiative. As a contract employee at the local public library, I was invited to be part of the learning adventure that had 23 assignments. We used our blogs to describe what we learned. After we completed the assignments, I decided to continue to post.

Why?

1. I enjoy it.

2. It gives me an excellent opportunity to practice and improve my writing skills.

3. It is a way to record some of the events of the past and present.

4. To share some of my genealogical and historical research findings.

5. To be a part of the community of genealogy bloggers.

During December, I enjoyed being a part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas memories carnival. I learned so much from the other posters. As well, it got me to thinking about Christmases past and to record my memories. The photographs that I found were great triggers for the memories.

Let the blogging continue!

Blogs as gifts

My RSS fee via Internet Explorer finally showed a post on blogs being gifts. Vern the idea dude, guest blogger, at Successful and outstanding blog(gers) post was Giving dots

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Thanksgiving conjures up words like harvest, community, celebration, thanks . . . and giving. Have you ever thought of your blog that way?

Some great thoughts about blogging in both his posting and the comments.

Vern followed up with a posting The Dots are Free on his own blog The Idea Dude

And the most wonderful of things is when the recipient does reciprocate in another blog post or a comment. Because it means......the conversation has begun... It was liberating for me, because all of a sudden when you have this realization, there is no more stress of smart or good you should be. There is no counting of views and links. For most of us, we shouldn't need to care. To turn one head and one heart should be all you should wish for. And whether it is today, tomorrow or 5 years from now, someone will read the post and their hearts will be touched. Of that I am sure. Just give when you feel like giving...

Thanks for your post. Good food for thought.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.