Library to help find family ties

For anyone interested in digging up family roots, Gibbs Library is offering a workshop about online genealogy sources.

The informal workshop, which will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, is a PowerPoint presentation that teaches free sources available on the Internet for Georgia.

Instructors will be Dottie Demarest, a local history librarian at the Augusta Main Branch Library, and Sherryl James, a reference director at Gibbs.

Demarest said genealogy is a "very popular hobby right now, particularly with the older people who want to find information to pass on to their kids."

Also, certain groups or clubs, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, require proof of genealogy for membership, she said.

"A lot of information and photographs can be found online," Demarest said. "People get to see a different side of their family, where they lived, where their parents lived when they were young."

Along with Georgia sources, Demarest said there also are a few other sources available on the Internet for cities throughout the nation.

"You are very lucky if you have a black sheep in the family. Black sheep are good for genealogy research. They always make the news, so they are easy to find information about," Demarest said. "Also, military service makes people easy to track down."

Registration is required for the free workshop and may be done by telephone up until class day.

The workshop will be held in a classroom that holds 75 people. Call 863-1946.

Gibbs Library is at 326 N. Belair Road.