Upcoming Genealogy Presentations in 2019

I have a number of upcoming occasions where I will be giving presentations on the subject of genealogy research methodologies. So if you are in the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada area and you have an interest in learning how to better research your family tree please drop by and say hello.

Yours Truly at the Dec 8, 2018 meeting of BIFHSGO. Photographer: Dena Palamedes

Date	Event/Location	Talk	Cost
Apr 6	OGS Ottawa Gene-O-Rama	Genealogical Miracles	$42 for the day
Apr 11	Ottawa Public Library: Nepean Centrepointe	Doing Family Tree Research in Your Pajamas	Free
May 11	Voices From the Dust	Top Ten Tips and Tricks for Finding Your Ancestors	Free
May 23	Ottawa Public Library: Nepean Centrepointe	Chipping Away at the Brickwall	Free
Jun 1	Ottawa Public Library: Nepean Centrepointe	So you want to start researching your family tree?	Free
Sep 27	BIFHSGO Annual Conference	Exploring your past with Findmypast	TBD

You can also usually find me helping out at the Ottawa Public Library - Nepean Centrepointe branch every second Tuesday at their Local History & Genealogy Drop-In Club.

Don't Be That Fool!

Backup Reminder

A Laughing Fool. Netherlandish oil painting
(possibly Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen) ca. 1500.
[Public Domain Image.]

Even though it is April Fools' Day, don't you be that fool. Take the time today to back up all your valuable, and in some cases, irreplaceable genealogy and family history data.

A few possible ways to make copies of your electronic information include:

• copying to cloud storage such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iDrive, Dropbox, etc.
• synchronizing to an offsite backup provider like Carbonite, Backblaze, CrashPlan, Mozy, etc.
• backing up to an external hard disk
• copying to USB Memory sticks

If possible, ensure that one of your backup processes¹ includes sending the information to someone outside of your home just in case the disaster that leads you to need to recover the data also damaged your home or place of business. This could be as simple as making a copy on a USB stick and giving it to a friend or family member.

Don't forget to make sure that you test out the process you use to restore that information from your backup. It doesn't help you if you have a backup and no way to get the data back to your computer.

As for those that do all their work on paper, what is your backup plan? Have you photocopied all of your work and given it to someone outside of your home?

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1. Yes, processes. You should be using at least 2 different types of backups with preferably at least one stored offsite.