CHESTERMERE – For anyone who is interested in finding out how to find out more about their family history, a new workshop is being held in Chestermere next week.
The Chestermere Public Library’s director, Gemma Noon and local Historical Foundation member Audrey McDonald have been instrumental in getting the workshop organized. It will take place on Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Library.
“The workshop will basically offer information about where to go and research your relatives, how to apply that information, how to cite it and indicate where the information was found, and all of the other important things that go along with keeping records,” McDonald said. “It will off the basics of getting started, what you need to do, where you can go, and what to do with the information you gather along the way.”
McDonald said that if time allows, some of the workshop time may be spent on the computer doing some actual hands-on research.
“We hope we’ll have time to get into that and actually learning how to do it,” McDonald said. “I’ve heard that looking up family history and ancestry is a very intriguing thing.
“I’ve heard from people that are into it that it’s actually a little bit addicting, because once you start it’s amazing what kind of information pops up.”
Jean Tilbert of Hanna, Alta. did a seminar at the Life Begins at 50 seniors expo in September, and is coming back to do the full-day workshop.
McDonald said that Tilbert has been doing this kind of research for a long time and is very knowledgable.
Tilbert herself said that she enjoyed working with people at the expo, and is looking to being able to provide more people with the information needed to get started.
“We’ll cover everything from what resources are out there, what kind of system to use, how to keep your own records,” she said. “There is so much to know before you even get to the using the internet to start researching, so we’ll go over everything there is to know, and maybe if we have time we can actually check out some websites.
“But before we even get to that, you have to know what kinds of things to look for and just how to go about it.”
Tilbert said that she got into genealogy around 1982, when she moved into the house that her grandmother had lived in.
“All of her stuff was still in the house, so I have photos, pictures, letters, the old family bible and all of that stuff,” she said. “So I just started putting all of the information together and I haven’t stopped.”
Tilbert said that the workshop will be a good place to start for anyone who is interested in researching their genealogy.
McDonald said that the workshop should be the first of many, and that she and Gemma hope to eventually see a genealogy club or something similar formed in Chestermere.
“We just wanted to get things kicked off and see how much interest we have,” McDonald said. “So this will be a start, we hope, of many things to come.”
The Genealogy workshop is being sponsored by the Library. It is a free workshop but it will be limited to 20 people. Coffee, tea and water will be provided, but participants are asked to bring their own lunch.
For more details and to register, contact Audrey McDonald at tel:403 272-9280″403-272-9280.
Anyone who can’t make it is still encouraged to contact Audrey, so she can keep everyone updated about future workshops.
