A pathway to indexing

Local History Preserved

Volunteers at Cooroy Noosa Genealogical & Historical Group have created a new index. Over the last 20 years the members of the Group have collected and collated a wide range of historical documents, photos and newspaper clippings about the residents and events in the local Cooroy region and its surrounding districts in the Noosa Shire, Queensland.

These collections are housed in folders which until now have been of limited use except for those with amazing local knowledge. The scope of the collection covers the early days of the region up to and including local living legends from the last twenty years. It has been the long term intention of the group to provide a comprehensive index to these materials and now that the new Heritage Centre has been planned, paid for from extensive fundraising efforts, built and occupied for two years, the time for this undertaking has come.

Driven by stalwarts of the group, Bev Warner and Margaret Rickard, a planning meeting was held, the data fields decided and templates developed. I held an introductory session to indexing which was well attended by a representative body of members. A core group of six volunteers have commenced this task. We view this task as an ongoing one which may take several years to complete given the size of the collection.

In order to provide ongoing funding for the group it has been decided to publish a limited selection of the data to the public website so that further information about the resources can be sought through the group’s research services, or by visiting the centre for full access to the records indexed. The data fields include:

• Surname
• First name/Initial
• Date
• Business/ Organisation
• Town/Location
• Subject/Occasion
• Media
• Notes
• Source
• Shelf location

The data provided on the web includes these three fields:

• Surname
• First name/Initial
• Subject

Indexers have been provided with a range of templates in versions of Word, Excel, Writer and Calc along with a Google Form for those who may choose to enter data directly online. Not all fields will have data for each item.  Data is compiled into a master spreadsheet and stored in the Group's Google Drive and is also housed on local external hard drives.

In only one month of indexing almost 700 items have been added. These include newspapers articles that are not on Trove, local ephemera such as business receipts from the 1930s and much more. As more folders are indexed the data will be progressively updated. This new index is a valuable addition to the Group's research capabilities and will be a treasure trove of information for future historians and genealogists. If you had ancestors or relatives in this area, take a look at our newly minted local resources index or visit the Heritage Centre in Cooroy to learn more.

 This post first appeared on https://www.carmelgalvin.info/2019/05/a-pathway-to-indexing.html

Busy times bring rewards

Being thankful

Flowers from Saturday

This last week has provided me with plenty of opportunities to pause and appreciate life in all its variations. A visit to a local doctor supplied me with the means to get better from a nasty bug, good medicine and great care from the local surgery.

Its National Family History Month in Australia and on Thursday last I had the opportunity to present a session about online resources. The venue was the local Noosaville library and despite my misgivings, the attendees provided generous positive feedback. Here's the presentation and the handout.

On Saturday I participated in an ASG (Australian Sewing Guild) Suncoast Regional Day put together by three local sewing groups. Good food, genial company and learning opportunities abounded. Fabulous textile art was displayed and free motion embroidery was demonstrated by the talented Jan Hutchison. Martyn Smith presented a range of professional tips and trade secrets designed to improve our sewing skills. I presented a session on Digital skills for sewing enthusiasts which included suggestions for using Evernote for sewing enthusiasts. The accompanying handout includes a link to this shared Evernote notebook.

An unexpected communication from a sibling who has followed through a suggestion I made last year about writing up some of her childhood memories has given me great pleasure. I am in the midst of preparing for a trip to visit my siblings later this month and along with enjoying their company, I hope to snaffle many family memories and photos.

For book club this month our group has been reading The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie. This is a gentle, delightful read with words of wisdom on every page. I’m sure this Thursday’s group discussion when we meet for morning tea will be enlightening. The author has kindly reproduced the prologue and first chapter free online, enjoy.

This morning I’ve visited the local library again where my sewing and book club friend Stephanie, has mounted a display of her creative work. Amongst other things, she is the author of Noosa’s Native Plants. Her photography and computer mastery skills have produced some amazing works. Not content with pictorial display she has uploaded her photographic artworks to Spoonflower where they are printed on to fabric. Taking that one more step she has then created some beautiful tea towels and bags of every shape and description. Her works display not only her prodigious talent but are designed to promote the importance and beauty of the native flora of the region. Enjoy some of her work shown below.

Tea towels by Stephanie Haslam

Bag, tea towel and book by Stephanie Haslam

Paper barked Tea Tree by Stephanie Haslam

Bag by Stephanie Haslam

Unexpected rewards

What a rewarding experience I have had over four weeks. The regular family history/genealogy volunteer guru in our local library has been away enjoying a holiday break. When the call came for volunteers to fill his 3 hour spot each Friday morning, I hesitantly offered my time not knowing whether I had enough genealogical expertise to be of assistance.

Since then I've heard some heart-breaking stories and shared some delightful finds. It has been my privilege to assist. Here are a few highlights.

Case 1. A baby adopted out during difficult times in WWII in England now in her 70s was very pleased when we found the records of the births (with names) of two previously unidentified older siblings and her birth mother's death record.

Case 2. Trove came up trumps for a local seeking help to find details about a great grandfather involved in gold mining near Gympie, Queensland.

Case 3. The Discovering Anzacs site provided additional information for a woman who had with her a treasured World War I diary that belonged to her husband's father. Yes, the WWI veteran had a son at age 58. What a privilege it was to see that small diary written in beautiful script 100 years ago on some of the worst battlefields of the Western Front and to have the opportunity to provide some suggestions about conservation and digitisation.

Case 4. I knew nothing about PQ 17 a World War II convoy in the Arctic but was able to help the owner who had her father's original documents from his time on one of the ships in the ill-fated convoy. She was looking for a suitable home for the documents, so a simple Google search has provided her with appropriate contacts where she can obtain professional advice from either the Imperial War Museum or National Archives, Kew.  She is now looking forward to reading a variety of Internet articles with information about the convoy and intending to watch this BBC produced Jeremy Clarkson documentary.



Those of us with computer skills need to remember there are so many folks, not just seniors, who still do not have the confidence or skills to find the information they seek. Volunteering brings its own rewards.  Do not hesitate to share what you know.

This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2014/10/unexpected-rewards.html