Web Notes

First of all, a warm welcome to our newest members and I should also mention some of the new studies now on the site. Our most recent additions are from two members interested in the community of Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, with one focused on the community as a whole and the other focused on the High Street. Our other new addition, Hoar Oak Cottage, is quite a different study focused on a single remote shepherd’s cottage filled with history. We look forward to hearing of your discoveries!

Also, special thanks to Suzie Morley who took the time to publicise our Society at the recent Suffolk Family History Fair. She has sent along photos which I will soon add to our Members’ Area.

You may have noticed some changes to the way that the Members’ Area is laid out. Our Society has grown quickly and is now filled with members who have lots of ideas. The new layout should help us to accommodate the growth and change that the website needs to keep pace with you. If anyone has difficulty locating something, just send me a note.

Now that we have such an interesting group of members, I look forward to us developing as a learning community, the aspect of the Society that is of most interest to me personally. There are many opportunities to share, for example:

• Be sure to check out the new studies as they show up on our Home Page under ‘Recent Studies’.
• Each month, we also feature a different study which you can find on the Home Page. This month it’s about Homer, New York. Although it has nothing to do with how the Feature Study was chosen, I do find this one of special interest since it’s quite near where I used to work before moving to England twenty years ago. Small world!
• Contribute Articles, a new feature that you can find on our main Navigation bar. If it’s a subject that would be of interest to other OPSers, then please send it along.
• Add Events to our Calendar, also on the main Navigation bar. Let everyone know what’s going on in your part of the world or with other groups that you are involved in.
• Write an In-Depth Report for your Study so everyone can learn more. The Guidelines for this type of report are in the Members’ Area under Studies and we would be delighted to support anyone who would like to share more information about their study.
• Keep up with the Forum. Have you introduced yourself and joined into the conversation on ‘What I have done for my OPS this month’? You might discover neighbours and certainly people with common interests.
• Help us to build our Resource lists in the Members’ Area. Do you have any publications that you would like to share? Read a good book or seen a good website lately? Get in touch.

And for all of you groundbreaking social media types, be aware that we’ve got lots going on with Google+, Facebook and Twitter. We just had our first public Hangout and we have ideas for many more.

I look forward to getting acquainted with everyone.

Kim Baldacchino