Well Day 4 of the Roadshow is over and I am now wondering if I will make it to Day 11 (it is actually 20 days counting the travel days) – I feel incredibly weary yet my brain is buzzing with so much new information. Also great today to catch up with a lot of my Melbourne friends and colleagues.

We rearranged the lectern this morning and I was pleased with my presentation Archives You May Not Know But Should! The session was so popular we had to put more chairs in the room. Good to see the interest in archives especially after yesterday’s #followanarchive day on Twitter. Also received good feedback from the attendees and remember, there is a handout to all my Roadshow talks on my website under Resources. Take time to explore some of the other Resources as well.

Today’s talks included a session on the Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV) given by Susie Zada who focussed on what GSV members can do online at home – I have long been a fan of their members only online database GIN (Genealogical Index of Names) although I still maintain it needs a more sexy name or a name that reflects all the wonders within!

Bruce Smith’s talk on Family History & Sports Archives reminded me that this is an area that I have not explored in my own family history – not that I need more to do! He showed some interesting family photos of his own sporting family members and the teams they played with. He didn’t have a handout but has promised to give me one and I will put it up on my website once I get it.

The final new talk for me today was Susie Zada, this time talking about Look Local: It’s Not All On The Web which was looking at what can be found within local government records. She also looked at family and local historical societies and all the indexing and transcription work that is being done by these societies. There was no handout.

The international speakers Elaine Collins, Dan Lynch and Louise St Denis again gave presentations in the main stream while the local speakers and myself were in the alternate stream. A new exhibitor today was Cassie and Ben with their new magazine Inside History. They will also be in Canberra on Monday.

In a quick chat with GSV just before they left, I learnt that they had 17 new members sign up today which is really good news and shows that a lot of people are doing family history without realising that there are family and genealogical societies that they can join to help them with their research.

It was also good to see that some people had travelled considerable distances to attend including Traralgon, Bendigo and Mildura. Tomorrow we are the ones travelling and after an early flight, we will have the rest of the day in Canberra to prepare for Monday’s roadshow. Hope to see some of my old Canberra friends and colleagues there. Until next time, your increasingly weary roadshow correspondent.