Showing posts with label Technology Interest Group. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology Interest Group. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Technology Interest Group

Last night the Technology Interest Group (Liz Stratton - Chair, Jenny Davis, Gail Burkholz, John Tholking, Kathy Reed and Dave Bossart) met to plan possible programs for the future and to discuss the technology needs of the society as a whole.  Committee Member, Dave Bossart, attended the meeting via Skpe from Louisiana.

Dave Bossart via Skype



In previous meetings, the committee had identified possible topics that we thought could be of interest for our members.  Sticky notes were made for each suggested program and we began the process of prioritizing them.  Following this process, the topics were divided into level of difficulty.  The next step will be to plan for program delivery, dates and times.

Program Summary

The best part of serving on this committee is the excitement of the members! As we plan for you, we can't help but get excited for ourselves. There are so many things that we can do to improve our genealogical experiences. Stay tuned for the programs we plan for the 2012-2013 year.

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Submitted by:
Kathy Reed

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Blogs? Wikis? Oh my . . .

Yesterday the newly-formed Technology Interest Group met to plan the kinds of topics we would like to explore in 2011-12. The committee is chaired by Liz Stratton. Gail Burkholz, John Tholking and Kathy Reed were also in attendance.

Shortly into our discussion, we realized that the four of us have different skill sets. If the four of us had such different comfort levels, what about our members? For many of us, this is a brave new world -- one we want to learn about if only we had the opportunity. On the other hand, there are certainly those among us who feel very comfortable with certain technological applications that they could share with the rest of us. We seek those people!

I had an experience recently with a cousin who wanted to take copious notes regarding our shared family history.  I kept telling him that there was no need to do that because all of the information was already on my blog.  About the tenth time I referred to the blog he asked, "What is a blog?"  I realized then that what we assume is a "common understanding" in this world of technology often is not.  So I thought I would take the opportunity to give a brief introduction to what a "blog" is and how it is different from a "wiki."  A very creative person  addressed this issue by using the old black and white film of a Kennedy/Nixon debate.


As a user of both blogs and wikis, there is a lot of overlap. The design of this particular blog enables multiple "writers" to contribute.  You really can't "mess it up", so I encourage you to send an email and get on board.  If there is anything we learned at our meeting yesterday, it is that all of us have a different piece.  What a powerful group we could be if we all share our area of expertise!