RESEARCH & SOFTWARE GROUPS |
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Anyone can attend our research and software groups, but members enjoy a discounted price. You do not need to 'join' a group - you just book for their meetings when you want to attend. All our group meetings are currently virtual using the Zoom platform. Pre-registration is essential in order to receive the link to log into a meeting. If paying online via PayPal, registration is available up until the time the meeting commences.To find out when the groups are meeting next, see the Events Calendar or scroll to the bottom of this page. |
The Aotearoa New Zealand Research Group meets twice a year to assist members who are tracing their New Zealand ancestry. The convenor is Pauline Weeks and she can be contacted here |
CARIBBEAN RESEARCH GROUP | Our Caribbean Research Group is taking a break at the moment while we recruit new volunteer leads. If you would be interested in volunteering to lead this group or providing a presentation please email education@sag.org.au The Caribbean Research Group is for people researching family history with a connection to the Caribbean. A list of places within the Caribbean is available on the FamilySearch wiki. |
CHINESE AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH GROUP |
Information about this group will be updated soon.
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The Colonial Australia Research Group meets to discuss research on families arriving in any part of Australia between 1788 and 1901. All are welcome to attend our meetings.
This group meets 4 times per year.
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The first SAG DNA Research Group was established in 2015 to assist Society members to increase their knowledge of DNA research. Since that time it has covered a variety of topics that set the foundation skills for group members. The Society has developed a range of activities aimed at the wide spectrum of needs, from those just wanting to know what DNA is all about, to the advanced user. We now have two DNA Research Groups – Tools in practice for the intermediate level researcher and Research Discussion Group for those using advanced genetic genealogy techniques. |
The English Research Group is an opportunity to meet with others who have ancestors from any of England's many counties, or just have a research interest in England. Discuss research strategies and resources, and swap ideas and knowledge. This group is suitable for beginners through to those with many years researching experience. The research group meets about 3-4 times a year. You can become a member of the group just by attending our meetings. Newcomers are always welcome! The group is co-ordinated by Linda, Annesley and Diana. You can submit a question to the group in advance of a meeting by clicking here |
The FTM User Group meets to support those who use Family Tree Maker software to organise their genealogical research. The program was owned by Ancestry.com until March 2016 when it was taken over by Software MacKiev. The group is facilitated by volunteers who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences. Everyone is welcome, whether you are a potential, new or long term user of FTM software. Our focus group supports members with two main initiatives. 1. Meetings 2. Online discussion board |
If you already have DNA chromosome analysis skills and are using the GDAT database tool to manage your DNA information, you might wish to join our new user group. SAG user groups are aimed at ‘members helping members’ so this is a collaborative working group aimed at sharing information and knowledge. You must be a SAG member to join this group. Sessions will include a short presentation on a specified topic identified by the group, followed by discussion between group members, then round table Q&A regarding the product. |
The Irish Research Group is an opportunity to meet with others who have ancestors from either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland (maybe you have both) or just have a research interest in an aspect of Irish records. Discuss research strategies and resources, swap ideas and knowledge.
This group is suitable for beginners through to those with many years researching experience. The research group meets about 3-4 times a year. You can become a member of the group by attending any of our meetings. Newcomers are always welcome! |
The Legacy User Group is for people who use Legacy Family Tree software and wish to share their knowledge and experience with others. Everyone is welcome whether a new or long term user of this family history software program. Even if you are just considering using Legacy you are welcome to come along. The focus of the group is to give support to members using Legacy to enter and store family research. At meetings there are presentations on techniques, tips, and hints. All members of the group are encouraged to contribute information which could help others. Time is dedicated to questions and discussion at every meeting. Regular meetings are scheduled and details can be found in the Events Calendar. |
Reunion is a great genealogy program for Mac users that allows you to easily document and display information about your family. It features a navigable graphic Tree View in the form of an hourglass or ancestor chart, allowing you to navigate to everyone in your tree. It also has a variety of visually appealing, high quality charts and other useful reports, and an outstanding help manual.
The group coordinators Danny O’Neill and Dale Fogarty aim to work collaboratively with its members on how to best use all the features of Reunion and how to resolve any Reunion or Mac-related issues that you may have. We would love to receive any topic suggestions or questions in advance by clicking here to send an email to the coordinators. Please include your SAG membership number and expiry date of your membership in the email subject line. Coordinators Danny O’Neill is with the Canberra family history group FHACT (aka HAGSOC) convening the Digital Asset Management group (DAMSIG) and Reunion and Macintosh Support User Group (RAMSUG). Main interests are in photography, scanning and book designing, and struggles to maintain a large garden. He is retired from careers as a photographer and film archivist, and enjoys helping people where he can. He looks forward to working with Dale and the team in restarting the Reunion group that includes Mac related support, but is not an expert. Dale Fogarty is a long-time user of Mac and Reunion, who is open to exchanging information and ideas to support our mutual enthusiasm for quality family history research, combining traditional genealogy and DNA approaches, and using a range of tools to organise, analyse and report findings. Dale enjoys working collaboratively, helping and learning from others. Dale is also the convenor of the Irish Interest Group at the Qld Family History Society. |
The Scottish Research Group is an opportunity to meet with others who have ancestors from any of Scotland's counties from the highlands and Islands all the way down to the border areas, or just have a research interest in Scotland. Discuss research strategies and resources, and swap ideas and knowledge.
This group is suitable for beginners through to those with many years researching experience. The research group meets about 3-4 times a year. You can become a member of the group just by attending our meetings. Newcomers are always welcome! Cathie Sherwood and Diana Pecar re-established this group which deals with all things Scottish research in 2022. This year Cathie has stepped back and Diana will be joined by three new group leads - Sally, Sue and Elizabeth. |
TmG Software Group | The Master Genealogist (or TMG) software allows family historians to fully customise data, reports and charts to suit their own requirements. It is very flexible and powerful, and can be used by professional genealogists and beginners alike. Unfortunately development and developer support ceased in 2014, but the software and licences are still available for purchase through an agent. There is a very active Australasian user group known as TMG DOWN UNDER, supported by a large world-wide email network, and associated software to produce GEDCOM, eBooks and websites from TMG data. The aim of TMG DOWN UNDER is to allow members to exchange information, ideas, and techniques for using TMG and related programs in their family history, through monthly on-line workshops using ZOOM. Group members have different levels of experience with TMG, from many years through to complete novices. The group operates an email List where questions can be asked and answered, and events publicised. See the group website here for full information. |
The Writing Group formed late in 2013 and meets on a regular basis via Zoom, usually on the second Thursday morning of each month. Meetings consists of a presentation, show & tell, and an open forum for questions and comments. This is a support/self-help group, not one for expert writers (although we do have a few published authors in our ranks). Our aim is to encourage members to exchange information, ideas, and techniques for writing their family and local histories. In 2023 The Writing Group is excited to welcome Elizabeth and Emily as the new group leads, following the retirement of the previous lead, Lilian. |
This group is new in 2023 The inaugural meeting was held on 18 February. Led by Thistle, Larry, Melissa and Suzanne come along and find out how to research your ancestors from the USA & Canada. |
Image: Group of men at a party, SAG Manuscript and Image Collection, Item 5/10059 HERE IS A LIST OF THE NEXT GROUP MEETINGS: |