Family History Workshop Day 1 - Saturday March 1 2024

Today I attend day 1 of Family History Workshop at the St. Catharines Public Library from 10am to 4pm.  

Things that we covered:

• Ancestry Library Edition vs. personal membership for Ancestry.ca [https://www.ancestry.ca/]
• My Heritage (membership need to view most records)  [https://www.myheritage.com/] and My Heritage Family Tree Buillder (free download) [https://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder]
• FamilySearch.org (free access to records) [https://www.familysearch.org/en/]
• St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre online eMuseum[https://museum-cityofstcatharines.msappproxy.net/]
• Library and Archives of Canada [https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng]
• Archives of Ontario [https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/tracing/index.aspx]
• British Home Children Registry  [https://www.britishhomechildrenregistry.com/]
• Scanning photos, documents, diaries etc.
• Discussed if the index of records is all that is available online  how to go about requested the record and that there will be fees attached which can vary
• Resources available at the St. Catharines Public Library: Special Collections Room which includes biographies, city directories, wills and more, Norval Johnson Heritage Collection, Local Names Index,  Historic Images of St. Catharines and Niagara Database, microfilm machines to view newspapers.

Day 2 of the Family History Workshop will take part on Saturday March 16 from 10am to 4pm at the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre.

St. Catharines Family History Workshop

Booked a spot for the upcoming St. Catharines Family History Workshop which takes places over two days on March 2 at St. Catharines Library – Central Branch and March 16 at. St. Catharines Museum from 10am to 4pm. I am looking forward to it.

Details about the St. Catharines Family History Workshop: (https://events.myscpl.ca/event/3785055)

Presented in partnership with the St. Catharines Museum, the St. Catharines Family History Workshop offers residents the tools, resources, and skills to begin to gather, preserve, and share their personal family histories.

This two-day workshop takes place at two locations, the first day (March 2) at the St. Catharines Public Library – Central Branch and the second day (March 16) at the St. Catharines Museum.

This workshop will cover:

• How to use and access family history research tools like Ancestry and MyHeritage 
• How to access and use the local history research material available at the Library and the Museum 
• How to decide what to keep and what to let go of 
• How to organize and preserve family photographs and archival material 
• How to care for family heirlooms 
• How to record family stories and oral histories interviews.

Each participant receives a family history kit with equipment to start on their project and a Family History Workshop Workbook.

 March 2 and 16 from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.

Advance tickets only | Space is limited | $55 plus HST per participant.

Registration is available through the St. Catharines Museum. Call 905-984-8880 or book online

at www.stcatharinesmuseum.ca

Upcoming Genealogy Fair At St. Catharines Public Library

St. Catharines Public Library is holding their first even Genealogy Fair on Saturday, October 5 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM it is a free event but registration is required. Go to the website for more information and to register for the event.

FamilySearch.org Class Attended At. St. Catharines Public Library

Today I attended the FamilySearch.org class at St. Catharines Public Library from 2pm to 4pm. In this class, we learned what is available on FamilySearch.org to search for free from anywhere. Which you can search family trees (submitted by users), historical records, user-submitted genealogies, FamilySearch Wiki, digitized books available for public use, and memories (submitted by users). 

We learned how to submit your own tree to FamilySearch.org, search the website for records, memories, trees, etc; how to add your own memories on FamilySearch.org 

Also learned that St. Catharines Public Library is an affiliated library with FamilySearch.org which means some images for records might be locked as it is actually on another website which is a paid website. But since the St. Catharines Public Library is affiliated library you can view those records at the library using one of the computers with their IP addresses and save the image of the record to a flash drive.

Ancestry News Update/Upcoming Genealogy Class

I currently don't have a paid membership for Ancestry.com as I am trying to save money with genealogy. I have been doing lots of research at the St. Catharines Public Library using the Ancestry Library Edition at the library so I can still search on Ancestry and you can be sent the records home thru email. I have also been using FamilySearch.org a lot to do searches about my ancestors as it is free to use. 

Another reason I currently not paying for Ancestry.com is I am trying to organize all my research in Family Tree Maker 2017. A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog about creating a task list in Family Tree Maker 2017. And I mention that in the personal notes I am created a timeline of the person's life, and the research notes I am adding notes to help with my research. And I would like to work on this before I go back to having a paid Ancestry.com membership.

On Thursday, April 11, 2019, I will be taking a class a the St. Catharines  Public Library on FamilySearch.org from 2:00pm - 4:00pm it is a free class but if you want the handouts you need to pay $2.00. In this class, you learn how to piece together your ancestor’s history by learning how to search Historical Records, Genealogies, Memories, and Family Tree in FamilySearch.org, the world’s largest free genealogy website. Pre-registration is required. 

Upcoming Genealogy Classes

Upcoming Genealogy Classes at the St. Catharines Public Library (Central Library - 54 Church St, St. Catharines, ON) Contact 905-688-6103 ext. 211 to sign up for the classes

Ancestry Library Edition - (Thursday, March 21, 2019; 2:00PM - 3:30PM Free Class; Handouts are $2.00) This class will show you had to search Census Records, Wills, Passenger Lists, Birth, Marriage & Death Records on Ancestry.com Pre-registration is required.

NEW CLASS FamilySearch.org - (Thursday, April 11, 2019; 2:00PM - 4:00PM Free Class; Handouts are $2.00) In this class you learn how to piece together your ancestor’s history by learning how to search Historical Records, Genealogies, Memories, and Family Tree in FamilySearch.org, the world’s largest free genealogy website. Pre-registration is required. 

I have previously taken the Ancestry Library Edition class back in 2017, which I have already blogged about what I learned in the class.

I have signed up for the FamilySearch.org class on April 11, 2019, which I am looking forward to taking and I will blog about what I learn in the class afterward.

Ancestry Library Edition Genealogy Class Update

I took the Ancestry Library Edition Genealogy Class at the St. Catharines Public Library on May 11, 2017 from 2pm - 3:30pm. In this class we learned about Ancestry.com but from the Ancestry Library Edition which can be used for free at the St. Catharines Public Library which is their subscribe to Ancestry.com and it has a few difference from Ancestry.com which you would used at home with your own subscribe.

We learned how to search on Ancestry from a basic search, advanced search with exact match options, explore by location search feature, search by selecting a category or specific collection example Census Records or Birth, Marriage or Death Records, card catalogue search, how to use search filters to narrow down your search results, how to print records (when printing from the library it costs money), but if using the Ancestry Library Edition at library you have the can send the documents to yourself by email to print at home.

This video explains how to sent the documents home to yourself.

Upcoming Genealogy Classes

Upcoming Genealogy Classes at the St. Catharines Public Library
(Central Library - 54 Church St, St. Catharines, ON) Contact 905-688-6103 ext. 211 to sign up for the classes

Ancestry Library Edition - (Thursday, May 11, 2017; 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM; Free Class; Handouts are $2.00) This class will show you had to search Census Records, Wills, Passenger Lists, Birth, Marriage & Death Records on Ancestry.com Pre-registration is required.

Genealogy On The Internet - (Thursday, June 22, 2017; 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM; Free Class; Handouts are $2.00) Learn about and explore genealogical websites, and develop your research skills. Pre-requiste: Internet I or basic knowledge of computers and the internet. Pre-registration is required.

I will be attending the Ancestry Library Edition classes next Thursday and I am looking forward to it.

Genealogy On The Internet  Class Update From Attending Classes On Feb 9, 2017

I have already previously taking the Genealogy On The Internet classes on Feb 9, 2017.  In the class we learned about some of the free websites and paid websites that can be used to do genealogy research. We also learn about family tree basics and how to create a family tree.

Some of the websites we learned about were (click on the name to visit the website):

1. Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet
2. Roots Web
3. Geneanet
4. Family Search
5. GENUKI: UK and Ireland Genealogy
6. Canada GenWeb
7. Ancestry
8. Find A Grave

Upcoming Class: Genealogy On The Internet

I just signed up for class at the St. Catharines Public Library called "Genealogy On The Internet" the class is Thursday February 9, 2017 from 2:00PM - 3:30PM. The class is free but handouts cost $2.00 and you need to register in advance. I am looking forward to the class and hoping to learn more about Genealogy then what I already know.

To learn more about the class click here to go to the website.