The Unlock the Past authors have busy putting pen to paper (or should I say fingers on keyboards?), and have been busy writing a whole host of new books. Two of the new books are due within 1-2 weeks, and are now available for pre-order. Interestingly both of these new books relates to land records, one for Australia and New Zealand and the other for Scotland.

Don’t you love it when you hear of new projects that start up, and you can see the potential for it to not only be huge, but so useful to others as well! This is how I feel about Find & Connect. This is a project that is designed to connect forgotten Australians, former child migrants, orphans and those in Children’s Homes to their families as well as information and resources …

Back in July 2011 I posted Trove’s digitisation schedule of historical Australian newspapers, now they have released an update on this list, and have included the schedule for newspapers in 2012-2013.

It seems to be the season for history grants, and now it is South Australia’s turn, as the South Australian History Fund grants for 2012-13 are now open. This annual fund, which totals $35,000 in funding from the Government of South Australia and is administered by History SA, has three categories: Projects, Publications and Research.

News from the Public Record Office Victoria is that applications for the Victorian Community History Awards for 2012 are now open. These Awards recognise excellence in historical method, and the range of award categories acknowledges that history can be told in a variety of formats with the aim of reaching and enriching all Victorians.

The BIG, EXCITING news just in, is that the brand new findmypast Australia website is live, and officially launched. Visit www.findmypast.com.au to see their fantastic new website including an exciting blog and findmypast family tree so you can build your family tree online! You also now have more choice with 6 and 12 month subscriptions and credit packages available. Stay tuned for details of brand new records and features coming really soon …

A BIG congratulations to the 58 Victorian oganisations who have just been awarded Local History Grants. The money used by them will go toward projects which will aid in preserving different aspects of Victoria’s history.

In this May-June edition of Inside History Magazine (issue 10) you’ll find: Cemeteries, HMAS Kuttabul in 1942, the Australian Women’s Weekly gets digitised, 50 genealogy blogs you need to follow, and discover Historypin.

Issue 10 of the Inside History Magazine arrived this week, as always it is packed with amazing articles. One that I found particularly great was an article written by Jill Ball (aka @geniaus on Twitter), titled 50 Genealogy Blogs You Need to Follow. Reading through the list, I can personally verify that so many of them are a great read, as I follow them myself.

Now the Flip-Pal mobile scanners are starting to get out there … but where can they be used? We need your help as we’re wanting to create a list of organisations (societies, archives, museums and similar – big or small) which do (or don’t) allow use of the Flip-Pal scanners on their premises. This list will make it easier for users.

Let me introduce to you a new magazine that has hit the streets “History Queensland”. Issued quarterly, the first issue came out in November 2011, with Issue 2 released in February 2012. And really, the name really says it all! It is a magazine that contains articles and information about Queensland’s history.

In honour of ANZAC Day, Ancestry.com.au are making it even easier to discover the military heroes in your family. Until Sunday 29th April you can access over 46 million military records from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the United States for FREE.

South Australia’s big history event (or should I say history MONTH), officially called the ‘About Time History Festival’ is being held throughout May 2012. From Victorian style funerals, to antique appraisals, even devonshire teas and discovering the meaning behind strained glass windows, and playing curator for a day, it’s all on in May!