There are some great opportunities to learn more about family history research in the next few months, and I will be taking advantage of them.

The Unlock The Past Expos are being held in four Australian States this year, starting with the NSW Expo in Coffs Harbour this weekend, on 3-4 June 2011.  There will be an exhibition hall with exhibitors from around the area and across the State; a great program in two streams, with something for everyone; and lots of prizes and special offers totalling thousands of dollars.

This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a range of events in regional centres like this has been tried, and I hope that many people take advantage of it.

History, Genealogy and Heritage Events

3-4 Jun 2011 - Unlock the Past New South Wales Expo (Coffs Harbour) - Coffs Harbour

24-25 Jun 2011 - Unlock the Past Queensland Expo (Cairns) - Cairns

22-23 Jul 2011 - Unlock the Past South Australia & Victorian Border Expo (Mt Gambier) - Mount Gambier

2-3 Sep 2011 - Unlock the Past Victorian Expo (Geelong) - North Geelong

I will be speaking on Social Media and Family History at all of these events, as well as giving demonstrations on a range of family history sites such as Find My Past and Scotlands People, and generally trying to be useful, so please come and say hello.

I will also be at the 2nd Annual New Zealand Family History Fair in Hamilton on 26-27 August, which promises to be even bigger and better than the first Fair last year. I will be speaking on Social Media and Family History and Google, helping out at the Australian Research stand, and generally trying to take in as much as possible.

I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can and meeting as many of you as can make it. Please come if you can!

World Vital Records is one of the more recent entrants to the online genealogy records market, and has access to a lot of material from Archive CD Books and the Queensland Family History Society.

Their World Collection, which includes Australia, New Zealand and the UK, is normally double this price, and so this is great value. If you are already a subscriber the year will be added on the end. I am now a subscriber until March 2011!

This is a real bargain. It cost me $72.77 in Australian dollars this morning.

The free access announced on the 11th August has proved so popular that they are extending the deadline to the 18th August.

I already have an account with them which I use frequently. Government Gazettes, Police Gazettes, directories, and a lot of content from Queensland FHS make this worthwhile to have a good hard look around!

The ad seems to have miraculously changed, but the half-price offer for the World collection is a great deal, especially if you have, as I do, ancestors from the States as well as Australia and New Zealand.

An announcement from World Vital Records:

World Vital Records is announcing the addition of the largest number of records to be released in a single day since the site launched in 2006.

To commemorate this milestone, for the first time World Vital Records is offering FREE PUBLIC ACCESS to its entire online collection beginning August 11 through August 13, 2009. This is a perfect opportunity to participate in this incredible promotion.

This is a great opportunity to have a look around at the Australian content in this site, mostly, but not only, provided by Archive CD Books Australia.

Just click on the link below!

The next Australian and New Zealand Genealogy class offered by Genclass.com starts on the 1st May. Genclass is a USA-based company that offers online training on a wide range of genealogical topics and geographic areas. The instructors are all experienced educators in the field of family history research. Courses last for a month, two lessons per week. Students receive the materials for the class by email and take part in online discussions with the instructor, who is also available for questions via email.

The Australia and New Zealand class is taught by Kerry Farmer, a member of the Education Committee of the Society of Australian Genealogists who has given classes to community college groups for over 10 years.

I have seen the preparation and commitment that Kerry puts into all of her classes and seminars and I can highly recommend this course.

You can see more details of the class topics here.