The Internet is an excellent resource to use when undertaking research in family history. In fact researching one’s family tree and ancestral background can often lead to people’s first taste of the internet and there are plenty of quality research avenues to follow. The topic is too broad to review in depth therefore this article will refer you to key sites where you can find guides to Internet resources on family history.
Searchlight recommends using the experience and know-how of the National Library of Australia (NLA) and the State Library of Queensland (SLQ). These institutions hold specialist collections in family history and field questions from all over Australia about the topic on a daily basis. Both libraries have developed excellent subject guides which list freely available internet resources on family history.
The SLQ website for family and local historians (www.slq.qld.gov.au/serv/fh) has some very handy guides about how to start your research. Topics include How to trace your family tree and Convict information: getting started. The guide also recommends searching in Queensland Web or Netlinks (www.slq.qld.gov.au/find/sites) where you can browse through geographical and other subdivisions. This is a great way to find the details of family history associations in other towns and cities.
THE NLA’s guide is titled Australian Family History and Genealogy on the Internet (www.nla.gov.au/oz/genelist.html). This guide lists the key original source websites which can provide records on births, marriages, deaths, cemeteries, convicts, military/service records and more. For those searching for ancestral information overseas, the NLA site points to important and interesting resources such as the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, where you can search through the accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court!
For a more local flavour the Family History Association of North Queensland Inc. has a website useful for those interested in their North Queensland origins located at http://members.hn.ozemail.com.au/fhanq
Take advantage of the free valuable expertise and collections that your State and National libraries have to offer to make your family history fact finding as successful as possible. Both these institutions provide email and telephone contact details for further advice.
Need some help searching the Web? Contact us and we'll do our best to help. Anything useful or interesting will be included in future articles (Confidentiality and your privacy are assured).
Thuringowa Library Services - Information Desk
Ph: 4773 8601
Email: infodesk@thuringowa.qld.gov.au
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Searchlight is a weekly column written by CityLibraries Townsville. It is published in the Townsville Bulletin newspaper and on this 'blog every Monday. Searchlight aims to make your internet searching more effective, efficient and fun by reviewing search tools, providing searching hints and tips, and helping with tricky search topics.
