'Where do you come from?'

What to know where you come? Whakatane District Libraries is now offering an online genealogy web research facility - Ancestry.com. This subscriber only website is available for free through the library’s computer system and is on trial until June this year.


The Council’s Libraries Coordinator Carol Spanhake says Ancestry.com is the premier international online resource for people interested in family history. It is a one-stop source of a range of UK, US, Australian and European birth marriage and death databases, which include shipping lists, censuses (eg UK 1841-1901), military, voter, immigration and others that can assist in the historic identification of individuals.


She says if there is sufficient demand and usage, the Library will look to providing the facility as a permanent service to the community.


Mrs Spanhake says the site also provides advice on researching family histories and a tool to help users publish the completed work. With more than 1.5 billion names in over 4,000 databases, which can be searched individually or by various criteria, it is a time saver for the amateur and more serious genealogist.

Using Ancestry.com researchers can:

Cross-search thousands of databases by single or multiple criteria.
Jump directly to specific collections or databases (eg UK Census 1841-1901).
Browse collections by state, province or country.
Browse original, full-text digital images in the census, immigration and military collections.
Download digital images in JPEG and GIF formats for more extensive viewing and printing.
Download helpful census extraction forms, ancestral charts, family group sheets, and more.
Instantly retrieve a list of genealogy databases posted or updated recently.
Library staff are also available to help.