Genealogy is moving with the technological times. Why post material just to your own website (where some people may not think of looking) when you can post using the social interaction sites such as youtube and flickr.

Whilst none of this will appeal to the technophobe, genealogists of any generation and almost all computer ability will appreciate what the archivists are trying to do. Get the information normally stored in archives and available on a single use basis (first come first served so to speak) out to as many people as can access the various sites at any one time.

Imagine what these kinds of initiative will do for online genealogical research!

Canada's archives shares 19th-century photos on Flickr

Canadian images and documents from the 19th century and early 20th century are getting the 21st century treatment on the online photo sharing network Flickr as part of a new project by Library and Archives Canada.

About 80 scanned photos and documents of Irish-Canadian history have been posted and tagged with geographic information for the public to comment on and tag as part of the 2008 Irish Studies Symposium. The two-day meeting of historians, students, genealogists, and researchers wrapped up Tuesday in Ottawa.

Ruth Blair, a professional genealogist from Oakville who was attending the symposium said she thinks the initiative is a good idea that will reach a larger, younger segment of the population that isn't likely to hang out on Library and Archives Canada's own website.