Genealogy Gifts
Top five gifts for genealogy, should save your loved ones time and money. Because I don’t know about you but I find that most of my Christmas preparations involves hours of walking around the shopping centre trying to find the “perfect” gift. I always wish I knew what the avid fisherman would like, or the wine and cheese connoisseur would prefer. But having no interest in any of those things means I’m at a bit of a loss. So I thought I would put a list together to help out those poor people that have a genie in their family.
- Stationary Gift Card – If your loved one is just starting out or their folders are bulging, stationary is a must have in genealogy gifts. I personally use a concertina folder for all my paperwork that I keep at home. Then I have a folder with plastic sleeves that I can zip up. I love having a zipper because it always saves my USB and pens from falling out. I carry pencils, pens, a USB stick and a note pad in my folder. Stationary cards can be bought from places like Officeworks –http://www.officeworks.com.au/.
- Genealogy Magazine Subscription – Inside History is an Australian based magazine and you can buy a year subscription for $50. I really enjoy this magazine and find it really good value. http://www.insidehistory.com.au/ I am really quite interested in UK history with much of my heritage coming from there and avidly read the “Who Do you Think you Are?” magazine also. This genealogy gift is great because it really inspires you to dig deeper with your own research. http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/issue/november-2015
- Genealogy Subscription website – This is an expensive genealogy gift, as annual subscription can cost a couple of hundred dollars. There are many websites out there, from Ancestry, Findmypast, Myheritage, TheGenealogist. If you were to buy a subscription I would personally ask your loved one which they would prefer before splashing out. But once you do, you may not see them for days as they delve into a genealogy frenzy.
- Camera – This is another high price item but really worth it for what you can do. There are many situations that a camera is invaluable. For example, I would always take a good camera to a cemetery, when visiting relatives that may have family photos, going on your own family history tour that takes in old churches or houses your family lived in. I would look for a camera with macro mode. Macro allows you to zoom in to get a clear shot, which is very handy when trying to take photos of old family photos. To make the shots as high quality as possible you will need a lot of memory so get a camera that takes a high amount of memory, the range you can afford.
- Membership of local family history society – I am a member of my local family history society and it’s worth the membership. If your loved one wants to find a truckload of information or they have hit a brick wall, your local family history society can help. Also, it’s great to meet other people that have an interest in what you are doing. So if your loved one, is boring you to death with records that they have found, this is a great place to drop them off to indulge their passion.
I think I could have made the list a bit longer with more Xmas gift ideas that I recommended last year. But this list of awesome genealogy gifts is a great start at giving you some ideas. (You could always print this list and leave it laying around your house to encourage the gift givers in your household.) So I hope you have a great Xmas and spend some quality time with your ‘living’ families. Enjoy.
Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!
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