Expand your family tree with online databases

 If you have not used any of them before the databases offer enormous amounts of information for the family researcher!

Want to know more about your family connections?  Then Ancestry.com is a great place to start.  The Library can provide access to the Library edition  (distributed by Proquest) of this database for use in the Library.

Make sure you have collected some information about your family to get started.  However if you are new to family history research take a look at the help and how to get started guides in the Learning Center.
If you go to the Card catalog and filter the collections by selecting Australia in the Location you will see a list of all the databases available to search.  By hovering your mouse over the title a pop up box will appear providing information about the database.



It is always best to start with yourself and work backwards. Ancestry.com allows you to enter details as basic as first and last names.  

It is always a good idea to have a year of birth for each person you are looking for.  If you don't know a guess is acceptable as there is a  search option to check  many years either side of the year you nominate.

Have a good look at the search screen to become familiar with the options available to you.  



Just remember there are many ways to get to the information you are looking for with Ancestry.com and because it is an American database first and foremost make sure if you only want to search in Australian databases to select Australia as the location.  Some databases can even be searched by state.


Findyourpast also allows the new family history researcher to explore their past but the databases are much smaller in number.  It is good for military records as well as immigration from the UK as it links with its sister database there.

 
You will notice that the search strategy is the same as Ancestry.com







Findyourpast is a database which can be used in conjunction with Ancestry.com to complement sources available.  Those who have done some research will know that it may be necessary  to use many sources when you are searching for your ancestors.


The final database to look at is different in many ways to the two already explored.  Internet History Resources(IHR) is a very old database and relates to a very small set of information sources.  

          The datasets have been extracted from sources such as directories like Sands as well as  Police and Govenrment Gazettes.  



If you are interested in the places and occupations of your ancestors this database will be useful to you.  It even has information on inquests which provide the date and cause of death for a person.
Enjoy you adventures with family history and if you have any questions please ask Library staff for help!