State Library Workshop

On Monday I attended a workshop, Tracing Irish Ancestry, at the State Library of NSW, an

Fellow attendee, Sharon, with her booklet

institution that I love.

The blurb for the talk that was supported by the Consulate General of Ireland in Sydney stated:

Do you have Irish Ancestry? Join us for an introduction to resources for tracing your Irish roots including eresources, books and original materials. We will have some of this material on display. At the end of workshop we will take you on a tour of the family history area and the Mitchell Library.

I was prepared for a beginner level presentation and attended because I believe that one will always learn something new and be reminded of resources that one hasn't consulted in a while. 

The first hour of the talk was presented by a librarian who read from a script and didn't appear to know her topic. However, Nina, the librarian from the Mitchell Library, who presented the second half of the talk really knew her stuff. She spoke off the cuff and used her slides to illustrate her talk, it was evident that she loved her work. I was going to bail out after the first half of the workshop but am so pleased that I stayed. 

After the talk we were given an opportunity to look at a selection of the treasures available to researchers in the Mitchell Library. We were then taken on a tour to the Mitchell Library where Nina showed us some of the card catalogues there that have not yet been digitised and which contain a wealth of references to ordinary early Australians. A ride in an elevator took us down to one of the five underground levels where resources are housed in climate controlled comfort before we were brought back up to the Family History area of the library for an overview of the resource there. I noted that some changes had been made since my last visit earlier this year.

Thanks to the Irish Consul for supporting this event and for the useful booklet "Tracing your ancestors in Ireland" that was distributed to attendees. Thanks also to The State Library for making this event possible.

Nina, a Mitchell librarian

Treasures from the Mitchell

A convict's Ticket of Leave from the Mitchell collection