Downloads Page

This page provides free access to downloadable files on various topics that VicGUM^® makes available to assist members with their genealogical computing. These files will generally be in PDF format and require Adobe^® Acrobat^® to view them. See Adobe's Web site for a free downloadable copy of the Acrobat viewer, and information on how to set up your Web browser to use Acrobat. {Acrobat and the Acrobat logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated}.

If you are having problems downloading the files on this page by simply clicking on the link, try either holding down one of the "SHIFT" keys then click on the link which may open a file save box, or right click and use "Save Link as..." (or "Save Target As..." depending on whether you are using Firefox/Netscape or Internet Explorer) which will bring up a file save box. Save the file and open it later with your Adobe® Acrobat® reader.

Scanning and Digital Imaging Workshop (May 2009)

Lessons from the bushfires a presentation on backup options and procedures by Irene Fullarton.

Family Tree Maker 2009 Chart Template

FTM Chart Template to download and try, see page 8 of John Donaldson's FTM article in the May VicGUM^® Newsletter. This download is a compressed ZIP file, simply extract the "Template for GUM.ftmt" file to the location specified in John's article and try it out.

Family Tree Maker 2009 SP1 Patch (April 2009)

FTM 2009 SP1 Patch presentation by John Donaldson at the April meeting.

Family Tree Maker 2009

FTM 2009 article – an overview of the features of FTM 2009 by John Donaldson.

Scotlands People & British Origins (August 2008)

Old Parish Register Records Available on Scotlandspeople from the March 2007 newsletter, written by Irene M Fullarton and Graeme Simpson and referred to in their presentation at the August meeting.

Family History Week Open Day (August 2008)

Selecting a Family History Program slide pack presented by John Donaldson, originally written by Ken McInnes and updated to include current genealogy programs (Note file is large ~3.2Mbyte).

Women's Suffrage Petition (June 2008)

Women's Suffrage Petition document with links used by Irene Fullarton at the June 2008 VicGUM^® Meeting.

Family Tree Maker 16 (2006) vs Family Tree Maker 2008

Navigating in FTM 16 (2006) and FTM 2008. This document by John Donaldson compares navigating around Family Tree Maker 16 (2006) to navigating around Family Tree Maker 2008 and would be helpful for people moving to the latest version of Family Tree Maker.

Internet Workshop (May 2008)

Shipping, Passenger Lists and Images a document with links used by Irene Fullarton for her presentation on Researching the ship Dover Castle on which the Homewood family arrived in early 1862.

Grabbing Images from the Internet document with links used by Graeme Simpson for his presentation.

Registering Family Tree Maker 2008

Registering your copy of FTM 2008 a document prepared by John Donaldson to answer some of the queries VicGUM^® has received about problems registering Family Tree Maker 2008.

Shipping on the Internet (April 2008)

Shipping on the Internet document with links used at the VicGUM^® April meeting, prepared by Irene Fullarton.

Sample Enabled PDF File (March 2008 Newsletter Article )

Download sample enabled PDF files that can be used to practise features mentioned in the March VicGUM^® Newsletter article "Enabled PDFs: Yellow Stickies". They were provided as a single ZIP file by the author Merv Leeding.

GUM Internet Security Presentation (February 2008)

Protecting Your Computer VicGUM^® Internet Security Presentation paper by Irene Fullarton & Graeme Simpson.

Protecting Your Computer from Viruses, Spyware and other Nasties slides from the presentation by Graeme Simpson (produced with input from Irene Fullarton.

Stopping the Nasties slides from the presentation by John Donaldson with particular focus on firewalls.

Compares the shortcuts in Family Tree Maker 2008 and earlier versions (December 2007)

FTM 2008 shortcuts

AIGS Presentation (November 2007) -

Using Family History programs to assist you with your genealogy

Useful Links

VicGUM^® Privacy Policy (July 2007)

Privacy of Information Policy

Marco Polo podcast GUM Meeting (October 2 2007)

Marco Polo - the sailing ship an audio recording of the presentation by Ken Shewan.

Family Tree Maker 2008

FTM 2008 article - download version an overview of the features of FTM 2008 by John Donaldson.

Family History Week Open Day (August 2007)

Researching your Family History on the Internet a list of useful Web sites used in Irene Fullarton's Internet sessions.

Windows Vista (May 2007)

Windows Vista presentation slide pack used by Graeme Simpson.

Internet Workshop (April 2006)

Sample PDF Journal Report from TMG as presented by Graeme Simpson.

Understanding Windows XP (July 2005)

Understanding Windows XP (~900k) presented by John Donaldson.

The following links are to relevant information on the Microsoft Web site

• Windows XP Home Edition Comparison Guide.

• Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Scanning Workshop Presentations

Photo Story 3 notes from the presentation by David Meale.

Digital Cameras for Genealogists presentation by Ken McInnes.

Image File Formats - when should I use which format handout prepared by Ken McInnes.

Overview of Scanning presentation by Graeme Simpson.

OCR Scanning presentation by Graeme Simpson.

Some useful links relating to scanning and digital cameras

• Interesting document on care and handling of CDs/DVDs aimed at Librarians and Archivists, but good advice to everyone who wants to maximise the life of their precious data.

• A few scanning tips web site by Wayne Fulton is an excellent site with lots of scanning information.

• Digital Photography Review site provides lots of information on digital cameras, including reviews of their features, good/bad points etc.

Family Tree Maker Workshop (Updated March 2006)

FTM Short Cut Keys presented by John Donaldson.

Index to Newsletter Articles (Updated to December 2009)

Newsletter Index for 2009 (32Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2008 (27Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2007 (29Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2006 (28Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2005 (29Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2004 (80Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2003 (67Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2002 (68Kb)

Newsletter Index for 2001 (70Kb)

Newsletter Index for 1989-2001 (133Kb)

Index to FTM Newsletter Articles (Updated to December 2009)

Family Tree Maker Articles Index for 1998 - December 2009 prepared by John Donaldson. (105Kb)

Documenting Your Sources (September 2000) Presentation Notes

A genealogist's guide to documenting sources presented by Meg Bate.