*Genealogy SA e-Newsletter* ISSUE 16 JULY 2013 *After production hiccups in June we're pleased to get back into contact, with updated News and our Feedback Forum*. ------------------------------ *News Library Foyer Upgrade After about six years from concept to construction we're pleased to announce completion, and we're delighted with the result. As one member said "It looks like we are in business and we are here to stay." Patrons coped admirably with the back door entry during the two weeks or so of building work, but as the front office had to vacate and improvise elsewhere, it just became too big an extra task to publish the June e-Newsletter 40th Anniversary Dinner If you've been to a slap-up 70th birthday party recently that's close to what you'll get at the Society's 70th Anniversary function. On the menu will be a smorgasbord of reminiscences and large serves of good fellowship. And to sober guests up before they hit the cool night air we plan to talk about what we need to do over the next 10 years to ensure the 50th Anniversary is even bigger and better. RSVP closing date is July 12 for the August 10 dinner, and there are a few opportunities left to come as a group at the one table. For details check out the website. Special Interest Groups At present the Society has five thriving Special Interest Groups, the Irish, Germanic & Continental European, English, DNA and Writers. In recent years the Scottish Group suspended activities due to insufficient member interest, and the West Country and South East England groups merged into the English group. A number of members have expressed interest in reviving the Scottish Group, and others in forming a "Computer" Group to focus on Genealogy and Family History software. We'd like to know whether you might be interested in participating in one or both of these suggested Groups, and particularly whether you'd be prepared to take on some sort of active role in conjunction with other Group members. Please let us know. Anzac Centenary Project Planning **is well underway for t**his project to collect and publish stories about the impact of WW1 service on the South Australian families at home. We expect to launch the Project at the end of July, and should be able to post our first Anzac story on the website so potential contributors can see what we are trying to achieve. Feedback Forum In May we set out to discover what sort of demand there was for a wireless internet connection within the Library, and there was plenty. So we've costed it up and we'll be installing sometime this month July. We also explored the potential for an email "Helpline" for members who are up against a brick wall with their research and are looking for alternatives. Again, there was considerable demand, so we'll proceed with this suggestion as well. This won't cost much, but we'll have to wait until "Members Only" is operating on the website, which shouldn't be too much longer. The service will operate as part of the Research Services we offer, and as always we are looking for experienced volunteers who could help out. It should be possible to set this up for remote access, so if you are interested please let us know. This month's feedback forum topic is the broad subject of Training. We already have a broad curriculum worked out including Starting Out, Researching On-Line, Writing Your Family History, and various other more specialised topics. We have a good idea of the course content we think that people want. Our problem is first, finding suitable people to conduct the training, and second, to find suitable time slots at the Library that are also convenient for patrons. Eventually we heard the sound of pennies dropping, and the obvious solution is to provide training modules online. Pay-per-view for non-members, and probably free or heavily discounted for Members only. This approach lets us develop the best presentation we can, it will be consistent every time, and it can be delivered at the patron's convenience. We'd appreciate your thoughts on this approach, and if any member has experience with developing online training courses and would like to help out, we'd be delighted to hear from you*