Who's Your Mob family history research workshop in Mt Isa
By Fiona Dixon, Librarian, Library and Client Services | 31 March 2023
Last week, State Library of Queensland presented and facilitated the first in a series of regional workshops on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family history. We had a full house for the dynamic workshop at the Mt Isa City Library, with enthusiastic attendees asking questions and diving into their own online research using resources demonstrated on the day.
Who’s Your Mob? Workshop. Image: Mt Isa City Library
The Mt Isa workshop was the first of three planned regional workshops supported by Telstra’s Deadly Digital Communities program, with other workshops to be held in Townsville and Mossman in May. State Library is committed to supporting digital literacy, and exploring online resources for family history research is an ideal way for people to discover and share their stories, get communities involved and strengthen connections.
Who’s Your Mob? Workshop. Image: State Library of Queensland
During the workshop, we looked at State Library’s online guides on getting started with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family history, then delved into some of the ways to access birth, death and marriage records, genealogical records from the Tindale and Margaret Lawrie collections, photographs, newspapers, station records, church records and databases. We also looked at how to access other records, such as government files on individuals, as well as information from Queensland State Archives, National Archives of Australia, AIATSIS and the Centre for Indigenous Family History Studies.
Who’s Your Mob? Workshop. Image: Mt Isa City Library
In the afternoon, participants used laptops and ipads to explore these resources with assistance from State Library staff, all while enjoying a good yarn and some delicious food. And most importantly, people learned how to contact State Library’s Ask a Librarian service for further assistance as they continue on their family history journey.
We received wonderful feedback from everyone who came. A couple of people even discovered that they were related, and it’s hard to imagine a better outcome than that from family history research!
Visit our website or come and visit us to start your own First Nations family history research.
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