Date: December 11th

A family history evening with Seonaid Lewis

Family history librarian for Auckland Libraries, Seonaid (Shona) Lewis, will share her knowledge and expertise during an evening on family history at the Hastings War Memorial Library on Thursday 16 January at 5.30pm.

Seonaid is based in the Central Auckland Research Centre and is responsible for an extensive international family history collection and a hugely busy outreach programme.

Her own family history research extends over 16 years and she joined librarianship 8 years ago in order to help others with their research. Seonaid also had a long career in design and print - which included 10 years as a Typographer Printer for the Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune in the 1980s.

Local genealogist and heritage advisor Lily Baker says the free evening talks will cover both Family History at Auckland Libraries and Social Media for Family Historians.

“We heard Seonaid speak in Auckland and thought it would be valuable to have her present similar information in Hastings,” Lily says.

“Anyone who is researching their family history will really benefit from this opportunity to hear about the wonderful resources held in the Central Auckland Research Centre, as well as learning how you can trace your ancestors through online research.”

Auckland Libraries' holds many treasures of interest to the family historian - a large international family history collection and a richness of old colonist records that covers the old Auckland Province and beyond.

Ms Lewis also discusses how resources like chatrooms, message boards, and mailing lists have now expanded to include Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and websites like Flickr.  

Seonaid Lewis says “Social media can be effective "cousin-bait" and is also valuable in sharing research with relatives, friends and strangers. Come and hear a few tips and tricks on how to get Social Media working for you.”

ENDS

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