Library branches out online to help Islanders delve into the past

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Jersey Library has expanded its online services to meet the growing demand from Islanders wanting to research their ancestry or family tree.

The service has subscribed to two well-known sites - Ancestry.com and Forces War Records - which are both free for library users to access.

Ancestry.com contains birth, marriage and death records, census records, military records, immigration records and many more records from around the world.

Forces War Records is a site containing the military records of more than five million British Armed Forces personnel dating back to 1350, along with an online library of historic documents.

The "Find my Past" website has been available in the reference library at Halkett Place for more than two years. 

Senior Librarian Local Studies Helen Barette said: “Over the past couple of years we have seen an increasing number of people coming to the Jersey Library to research their family history. Our new online resources will help people to delve into their past and create their family tree.

“We felt that the Forces War Records site was particularly relevant in 2014 with the current interest in researching World War I for the forthcoming centenary.”

 There are two open learning computer suites in the Central Library, with trained staff who are on hand to help visitors get online and to access resources.