New databases launched for National Family History Week!

As of today, two exciting new databases have been launched at the State Library just in time for National Family History Week.

17th & 18th Century Burney Collection

This collection has nearly 1 million pages of digitised rare 17th and 18th century material published in Britain and the colonies including pamphlets, broadsides and newspapers.

19th Century British Library Newspapers

This database consists of over 2 million pages of digitised 19th century newspaper titles held in the British Library. Newspapers are from all over Britain including Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as England.

British Newspapers 1600 – 1900

Select this option to search across the two collections at once.

Because there are so many regional newspapers in the database, you have a very good chance of finding references to your ancestors. Even if you can’t find them mentioned, try searching for the name of their town or village and limiting your search to their lifetime to discover local and national events which may have affected them. These collections will also be of enormous interest to historians. For instance, searching for the keywords “Swan River” results in over 5,000 hits.

You can access the new databases from any public computer within the State Library and they are very simple to use. Next time you’re in the State Library, why not pick up one of our promotional bookmarks and have a go.

For information on the wonderful events we have lined up for Family History Week have a look at our website at www.slwa.wa.gov.au/famhistwk.html

 

 

BizLinks Seminar showcases information for Small Business starters in WA

Ready to start the BizLinks seminar

Last night we hosted the BizLinks seminar here at the Alexander Library building (Apologies, I should’ve blogged it before it happened  – I’ve been away and missed my chance there!).  Speakers from government agencies had the opportunity to present an overview of some of the many services they provide to small business starters (and operators). It was also great for presenters and support staff attending to learn more about the roles and services of the other agencies! 

So if you missed out and are a small business starter or operator in WA, who should you be contacting for information and advice?

• Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC)
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
• State Library of WA (SLWA)
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
• Department of Consumer and Employment Protection (DOCEP)
• Office of State Revenue (OSR)
• Australian Tax Office (ATO)

Thanks to all our presenters and to those who attended – I’m sure we all learned something new!

National Family History Week 2 – 10 August

• How did the makers of the Australian TV series “Who Do You Think You Are?” select their subjects and go about researching their histories?
• What’s the best way to store precious family archives?
• What are some of the best websites to use for family history?

Discover the answers to these questions – plus many more – with a stimulating programme of FREE events for National Family History Week at the State Library.

 There will be regular tours of the Genealogy Centre and the Battye Library as well as presentations on a wide range of family and social history topics by professional historians and library and archives staff. For full details of this exciting programme, go to www.slwa.wa.gov.au/famhistwk.html

WA artists rock the ARIA Hall of Fame

WA proved yet again that there is something in the water over here, when two of the state’s greatest musical exports were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on July 1at the Melbourne Town Hall. Rolf Harris, the “Boy from Bassendean”  has had many strings to his bow since leaving our state over forty years ago.  Painter, children’s entertainer, television presenter, music has been part of Rolf’s life since a child. His hit Tie me kangaroo down, sport became the first of many. Iconic West Aussie band The Triffids, part of the fabric of comtemporary musical life in Perth in 70s, also got a guernsey, with special tribute paid to original member, the late David McComb. The State Library holds a pretty complete catalogue of both these artist’s recordings but if you find you have something at home that you would like to donate to our WA sound recording archive, please just give us a call. More information about both artists can be found at  http://www.ariahalloffame.com.au/

Handy hints on Web 2.0

One of my colleagues has pointed me in the direction of Commoncraft’s sweet little hand made animations explaining in simple terms the basics of various things Web 2.0.  You can find them on YouTube at  http://www.youtube.com/user/leelefever So if you are in a twitter about Twitter, can’t face Facebook, are bothered by Blogs,  worried by Wikis and don’t know an RSS feed from your elbow, check them out.

These videos are released under a creative commons licence  If you want to use them in the workplace then you need to get a license – more at   http://www.commoncraft.com/

 

Thankyou CommonCraft, thanks to you I’ve now finally set up my RSS feed reader!