The end of 2011 is almost here, so we thought we’d get a list our of top 50 best selling titles for the year. And what an interesting list it is. With software, archival storage, heritage scrapbooking papers, and the Unlock the Past guides all dominating the list.

1. History and Genealogy 2011: Australia and New Zealand

2. Certificate Polypocket (single)

3. Discover Scottish Church Records

4. Family Tree Maker 2012 Upgrade Australia and New Zealand Edition

5. Family History on the Cheap

6. Scrapbook Pages 12×12 (1 sheet)

7. A4 Polypocket C1 (single)

8. Getting Most Out of FindMyPast.com.au

9. Google Your Family Tree

10. Death Certificates and Archaic Medical Terms

11. Family Tree Maker for Macintosh Australia and New Zealand Edition

12. Family Tree Maker 2012 Deluxe Australia and New Zealand Edition

13. It’s Not All Online: A Guide to Genealogy Sources Offline

14. Locating Your German Ancestor’s Place of Origin

15. Copper Brought Them Here: Pioneers Buried in the Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo Cemeteries
16. Family Tree Maker 2012 Platinum Australia and New Zealand Edition

17. K & Company Ancestry.com 12×12 Pedigree Chart

18. Family and Local History Resource Directory for Victoria

19. Writing and Publishing Your Family History

20. Social Media for Family Historians

21. Your Family History Archives: A Brief Introduction
22. What Was the Voyage Really Like?: A Brief Guide to Researching Convict and Immigrant Voyages to Australia and New Zealand

23. DNA for Genealogists

24. Solving Riddles in 19th Century Photo Albums

25. 7 Generation Pedigree Chart

26. Irish Family History Resources Online

27. AIF Unit Histories of the Great War 1914-18

28. Family History Research in South Australia

29. 15 Generation Pedigree Chart

30. Which Genealogy Program?

31. A4 Journal Holder (single)

32. Paper Loft 12×12 Double-sided Family Tree Pedigree

33. Sewerage Records: An Untapped Magnificent Resource

34. Irish Family and Local History Handbook

35. A4 Polypocket C2 (single)

36. Organising a Family Reunion

37. 9 Generation Pedigree Chart

38. Historical Records of New South Wales Volumes 1-7

39. A3 Landscape Polypocket (single)

40. National Burial Index for England and Wales CD 3rd Ed

41. A4 Landscape Polypocket (single)

42. A Primer for The Master Genealogist

43. Biographical Index of South Australians 1836-1885
44. A4 Polypocket C4 (single)

45. Legacy Family Tree 7 Deluxe (CD & printed manual)

46. Researching Scottish Family History

47. London Marriage Licences 1521-1869

48. New South Wales State Electoral Roll 1913

49. Tracing Your Family History on the Internet

50. South Australian Government Gazette Compendium 1841-1850

This list only lists the top 50 best sellers for 2011, with over 10,000 titles on our website there’s a whole heap more for you to checkout. If you’d like to keep up to date with the new titles and the latest specials, you can subscribe to our weekly email newsletter (look for the Join Our Newsletter box on the right hand side).

Along with a new year, 2012 will see the release of many more genealogy-related titles, so it’ll be interesting to create new year’s Top 50 Best Selling Titles list in a year’s time, and compare it to this one. But before that we’ve got a whole year of living and researching …

Well, the time has come to pack the suitcases, then repack and repack again till it fits, trek off to the airport and head on up to Brisbane, before setting sail on my very first ever cruise voyage.

Our sister company, Unlock the Past is proudly hosting their first ever History and Genealogy Cruise on the P&O Cruise Ship Pacific Dawn, which sets sail this weekend.

Staff from both Gould Genealogy & History and Unlock the Past will be on this voyage which incorporates all the regular features of a cruise … relaxation, accommodation, meals, entertainment, shopping, and day tours on islands, together with history and genealogy themed meetings.

While the ship holds around 2000 people, our group of 240 or so (many well versed in numerous topics of history and/or genealogy) guarantees that there is bound to be some interesting conversations around tables.

This 7 day voyage from Brisbane, to Noumea (New Caledonia), Lifou (New Caledonia), and Vila (Vanuatu) and back will hardly be long enough to explore the ship and islands, let alone fit in a bunch of meetings as well.

With 14 decks the ship not only has a whole range of restaurants and bars, but also includes a casino, beauty parlour, card room, childcare centre, cinema, fitness centre and gym, hot tubs, show lounge,  a library, pool and spa, medical centre, shopping boutiques and more … and even an internet cafe. However as the rates for internet usage are expensive, I do not know how often I’ll be logging on to give you updates.

Subject to no cyclones or tsunami’s or other possible holdups, the P&O Pacific Dawn is due to dock back in Brisbane on Saturday 26 March.

So just in case I don’t make it online during the trip  … happy researching … and I’ll let you know how it all went later … yes, with pictures too. 

Pssstt … have you heard about our second cruise?? It’s going to be a Scottish and Irish themed one!! Click for more info.

Firstly, for us it has been a year of a number of exciting developments.

We are in the learning stages of social media, but we now have our blog (this one) and you can find us on Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully we will get better at it over time.

Another change is that we have now combined our Archive Digital Books Australasia (formerly Archive CD Books Australia) into our Gould Genealogy & History company. There is really no difference for customers, except that you can now find all titles produced under the Archive Digital Books Australasia name on the Gould website, in its own category.

A small change, well, not so much a change, as an addition was that we have added an “Antiquarian Books” to our category list, for those books that we sell off. There is currently only one title in the list, but we do expect to add more throughout next year.

We have also seen a fairly significant increase over the year in the number of scrapbooking products (particularly papers) that we list. It is so good to see more heritage and family tree themed scrapbooking products coming from numerous publishers.

2009 saw the release of new versions of RootsMagic, Family Historian, Family Historian Aus/NZ, Family Tree Maker 2010 Aus/NZ … and I’m pretty sure a new The Master Genealogist is on it’s way soon.

One other big new thing was the printing and posting of our first printed catalogue in 7 years. It’s not an entire product list of what we sell, but it is a good selection. This was received well by customers, and it might be something we do more of in the future.

With the release of our catalogue we also announced that we now have a loyalty rewards scheme. A full blog post will be done on this later.

During the year we have had a few staff members leave, and we have had new staff come. We will put a page on our website with photos of each staff member soon.

Two other big changes are the new companies that have started. Unlock the Past, and Family Photo Book.

Unlock the Past started off as a collaboration between Shauna Hicks History Enterprises and Gould Genealogy & History in wanting to attend and talk at more genealogy/history events, as well as promoting genealogy and history to a wider audience. It has grown from there in its short existence already.

Family Photo Book is a collaboration between an Adelaide based printing company and Gould Genealogy & History. Photo books seem to be a popular way to present your photographs, as opposed to the traditional album method. While you can use them to create whatever you wish (pictorial memoirs of holidays, family, weddings etc.) they are also ideal for creating a memoir of someone’s life, or a pictorial history of several generations of your family. I’ve started my own, starting from my great grandfather who arrived in Australia in 1905, and aim to follow each line down to current generations.

As far as genealogy in Australia goes, GenealogyWise, a new genealogy social networking site was launched earlier this year, and there is an active Australian group on there. More Australian content was added to the Ancestry.com.au and WorldVitalRecords.com.au sites, and the National Library of Australia’s Australian Newspapers site, just keeps getting better.

There is a growing trend for societies, archives and other groups and individual genealogists and historians to be on Facebook, Twitter and blogs (see our list of Australian genealogy/history blogs) – so if you’re looking to keep up with the latest happenings from various people, places, groups etc. become a fan on Facebook, or a follower on Twitter.

Thank you for your support over the past year. I do believe that there will be even more changes in Australian genealogy and Gould Genealogy & History in 2010 … so stay tuned!

From all of us at Gould Genealogy & History, we wish you a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.