TGP 48 - Audrey Collins & The UK National Archives

Featured Guest Audrey Collins

Audrey Collins is a Records Specialist in Family History at The National Archives (TNA) at Kew in England. Audrey Collins worked as a freelance researcher for 15 years before joining the staff of The National Archives. In 2001 she was engaged by the Office for National Statistics as their official Census historian for the bicentenary

Photo Courtesy of Jill Ball

census in that year, and also served on the advisory panel for the 1901 census digitisation project.

Audrey is the author of three titles in the ‘Basic Facts’ series of family history guides, co-wrote The Complete Guide to Tracing Your Family History and has also contributed sections in the Family History Companion, and Census: the expert guide. She regularly gives talks at external events and conferences in the UK, Ireland and the USA. Her research interests include: the history and operation of the General Register Office, Civil Registration and the UK census; Scottish and Irish records in The National Archives; newspapers and periodicals and retail history.

Contact Links

Facebook – Audrey Collins

Twitter - @AudreyCollins23

Other Links

The National Archives

One Action Genealogists Can Take Right Now

"Find out what other genealogists do. Work out what the opportunities are . . . Look for something that not that many people are doing that you know you can do well.”

Recommended Book

The Family Tree Detective: A Manual for Tracing Your Ancestors in England and Wales by Colin D. Rogers

Productivity Tool

Evernote

Advice

"Always go back and look at what you did before. "

Action Item

I loved what Audrey had to say about networking. She said she was able to learn how Americans do research and the assumptions they have because of networking with them. And that helps her better serve them when they come to the archives.

Networking is important and it can change how you perceive other genealogists, your clients, and the people who serve you such as librarians and archivists.

ACTION:

I want you to get and do some networking! I'm going to give you two options for this action item.

Your first option is to find a local genealogy society, club or group near you. Find out where and when their next event is and attend, in person.

The second option is to choose someone you know already know (but not too well) and invite them for coffee (or tea as the case may be). This can be done either in person or virtually using a tool like Skype.

Connecting with other genealogists will help you see a different side of the community and it will be fun! So get out there.

Direct link to this post: http://www.thegenealogyprofessional.com/audrey-collins/

NEWS

In News items, I am just back from the APG Professional Management Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was one of the best conferences I've ever attended. And I so appreciated that it was focused on the professional and business aspects of genealogy.

I'd like to do a followup podcast episode dedicated to the PMC 2016 and I'd like your help! I'd like to hear from attendees, speakers, committee members and board members so that they can share the positive benefits that the conference had on them. This involves recording a short audio clip that can be used in the podcast. I'd like to do the recordings on Tuesday September 27th or Friday, September 30th 2016. If you'd like to participate, send me an email at contact@thegenealogy professional.com Everyone is welcome so don't be shy!

During the Month of October I will be offering two webinars.

The first on Thursday October 20th is called "Boosting Facebook Posts and Creating Saved Audiences." I know what you're thinking - "I'm never going to need to Boost a post." Learning to Boost a post on Facebook is actually an important skill that you should have before you need to use it. You might not need to use it for your own business but it would be a great skill that would benefit a society or organi...