Share your family’s heritage with future generations by researching your roots and creating a family tree. Join Tulsa City-County Library’s Genealogy Center in July for its annual Family History Month series featuring a variety of free workshops for new genealogy researchers as well as lifetime enthusiasts.
All of the workshops, unless otherwise noted, will be held at the Hardesty Regional Library, 8316 E. 93rd St., in Frossard Auditorium. A hearing loop is available.
Family History Month workshops scheduled at Hardesty Regional Library are:
- “Beginning Genealogy,” July 7, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Learn how to begin your family history research and discover the resources you need.
- “Create Your Digital Genealogy Bookshelf,” July 7, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Can’t find that family history book you need in the library? Learn where to find genealogy books online and how to save them to your computer or The Cloud.
- “DIY Digital Archives for Genealogists,” July 14, 10-11:30 a.m. Learn tips for digitally preserving family photos, papers and more. Explore methods for digitizing family heirlooms and organizing digital assets, plus learn about digitization tools available at Central Library's Digital Literacy Lab.
- “Preservation Techniques for Family Historians,” July 14, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Join certified archivist Mallory Covington and learn techniques for storing and keeping your fragile family documents and photographs safe and protected for future generations.
- “Government Documents for the Family Historian,” July 21, 9:30 a.m.-noon. Record collections created by federal and state government agencies document historical events, legislative actions and a variety of other data. Discover the collections most useful to family historians and learn how to tap into the wonderful world of genealogical information found in these documents.
- “Introduction to the Draper Manuscripts,” July 21, 1:45-2:45 p.m. Learn how to locate hidden gems buried within the pages of the Draper Manuscripts, a premier collection of early American historical documents available at the Genealogy Center.
- “What’s New at the Genealogy Center,” July 21, 3-4 p.m. Learn about new services and resources available at the Genealogy Center.
The following workshops are presented by popular genealogist Mark Lowe and are scheduled at Hardesty Regional Library. They are sponsored by the Tulsa Library Trust.
- “Family Trees: Build One or Cut Them Down,” July 28, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Understand the advantages of creating a public family tree and what you should and should not include. Learn how to deal with incorrect or unsubstantiated information.
- “Finding, Locating and Using Online Manuscripts,” July 28, 10:45-11:45 a.m. Records about families, individuals and neighbors who moved back East often are elusive, but may hold hidden treasure for the persistent researcher. Discover the people with whom they worked, prayed, fought and married.
- “Live or Webinar: Learn More About Genealogical Resources,” July 28, 1:30-2:30 p.m. Today’s technology allows us to learn from resources far away from our home base. Learn what’s available, how to find media and where to most likely find the right answers.
- “Ten Tools You Need Today,” July 28, 2:45-3:45 p.m. Discover 10 books or web resources needed by every family researcher to build your reference shelf, and learn how to use these handy references to move your research to the next level.
- “Understand Your Ancestor’s Migration and Settlement Using Maps & More,” July 29, 1:30-4 p.m. With a combination of modern technology and historic maps, we can view the land in a unique and thorough way. Learn how to combine narrative text and stories with maps, deeds, photographs and other content to share your ancestry.
Family History Month workshops scheduled at other libraries are:
- “DIY: Digitization in Action,” Central Library, Digital Literacy Lab, Fifth Street and Denver Avenue; July 18 or July 31, 1-2 p.m. Looking to save your family history in a more updated format? Learn how to use our digitization equipment to digitize slides, photographs, vinyl and cassette for your genealogy projects. Registration is required. Register online at www.tulsalibrary.org/events or call 918-549-7323.
- “Explore Ancestry Library Edition,” Nathan Hale Library, 6038 E. 23rd St.; July 24, 2-3:30 p.m. Get an overview and learn how to use some of the most useful record collections found in Ancestry Library Edition.
Located on the second floor of the Hardesty Regional Library, the Genealogy Center has one of the largest genealogical collections in Oklahoma. A partnership with the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, gives researchers who visit the Genealogy Center online access to the Family History Library’s digitized records, including restricted content not available at home.
For more details about the Family History Month workshops or Genealogy Center, go to http://guides.tulsalibrary.org/genealogy/ or call 918-549-7691.