Library Workshops

The Society runs workshops to help members with their research, they have already proved popular with our members. All workshops are held on a Wednesday between 10.30 and 12.30 at the Society Library and Resource Centre Summerhouse Drive, Joydens Wood.

These are the workshops that have been run so far.

Subject / topic	Leader
An overview and getting started on Family Tree Maker	Dr Allan Stapleton
Reading old documents	Jean Stirk
Drawing charts and trees by hand as a research tool	David Cufley
Wills, Probate and Administrations	Christine Hills
Searching the Internet	Dr Allan Stapleton
Beginning Your Family History	Janet Rose
Family Historian Genealogical Software program - further facilities and uses	Brian Eaton
Computer help - advanced with Family Historian Software	Brian Eaton
Illegitimacy	Mari Alderman
Insurance and Friendly Society records. Types and Sources of records	Cliff Scottow
Computer help (Advanced) with Family Historian Software	Brian Eaton
WORD use with table, pictures and graphs	David Cufley
Introduction to spreadsheets (Using Microsoft EXCEL)	Dr Allan Stapleton

These are the workshops that are planned:

Talk No.	Title	Leader	Date
6	Scanning photographs and documents for insertion into other programs. This workshop will show how to scan photographs and documents and decide on what format the picture need to be in to be accepted by software such as WORD, EXCELL and Family Tree maker etc. Send a list of programs in which you wish to add photographs.	David Cufley	30^th May
7	Insights into Occupations Records This workshop aims to introduce the range of records available for researching ancestors’ occupations, whether labourers, highly qualified specialists, skilled artisans, in business or in relatively mundane work; also to suggest how best to approach investigating each ancestor’s specific situation.	Jean Stirk	20^th June
8	An introduction to Databases (using Microsoft Access) The main topics that this workshop will cover are: The four main ‘objects’ (i.e. parts) of a database [Table, Form, Query, & Report]. Basic database terminology. Creating a database table. Choosing and using different ‘data types’. Entering data into a table. Creating a data entry form and using it to enter data into a table. Creating a ‘relational database’ (i.e. at least two linked tables). [N.B. *Creating ‘queries’ and ‘reports’ will not be covered in this workshop. Because they are advanced features their creation would need to be discussed in a separate workshop*.]	Dr Alan Stapleton	18^th July
9	No workshop		August
10	Pre 185 Wills and Inventories This workshop will examine examples of these probate records which can provide important information leading to a variety of other sources	Christine Hills	26^th Sept
11	Record keeping for Family Historians Filing family group sheets, certificates and other paper documents with cross referencing systems and descriptions to enable research results and sources to suggest your future research.	David Cufley	17^th October
12	Land tax and the 1909 survey (Detailed description to follow)	Joyce Hoad	November (Date to be arranged)
13	No workshop		December

The cost is a £5 donation per workshop, which includes refreshments.

Numbers are limited to 10 members per workshop. Booking can be done by email, please email your details with the workshop title you'd like to attend, to , or ask either David Turner or David Cufley for a form; or contact Janet Rose on 01322-384836.

You'll need to book a place in advance, they're not open to members who just turn up at the library. If you cannot get on the list we're taking names for reserves just in case anyone drops out. Another workshop will be organised if there is enough demand.

Workshop topics: suggestions for subjects are needed. What are the challenges facing you in your research? Do the subjects listed interest you? Mentors are needed: Do you have an expertise in some aspect of Family History research that you could share with a small group of members in the library setting? Or would you like to join a 'Mentoring' group?