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The staff of the family history unit are generally very experienced with the records held by the library and their advice can be invaluable. If you are in any way unsure what to do, ask them. Generally the library seem to try to ensure that at least one member of the family history staff is on duty at all times, augmented by some casual staff (particularly on weekends). The casual staff are generally well-meaning and helpful but not the most well-informed, so you may need to seek out the regular staff member for a complex family history question. As a general rule, the regular staff tend to be older and the casual staff younger, but it's not an infallible principle. | The staff of the family history unit are generally very experienced with the records held by the library and their advice can be invaluable. If you are in any way unsure what to do, ask them. Generally the library seem to try to ensure that at least one member of the family history staff is on duty at all times, augmented by some casual staff (particularly on weekends). The casual staff are generally well-meaning and helpful but not the most well-informed, so you may need to seek out the regular staff member for a complex family history question. As a general rule, the regular staff tend to be older and the casual staff younger, but it's not an infallible principle. | ||
Apart from the online catalogue, there is a book that usually sits on the desk of the unit which lists the newspapers for the different areas. Most of the microfilms are stored on the shelves so you can access them yourself, but there may be some that have to accessed from storage -- the catalogue normally indicates when you need to ask the staff or whether you can access the microfilm direct from the shelf. | |||
The microfilm readers themselves are very "state of the art", but like most microfilm readers there are fiddly things that have to be done to load the film. The librarians will happily show you how to use the machines (indeed, they are very patient and helpful) as I think they prefer you to ask than have you damage the machine or the film through your ignorance. | |||
Most of the microfilm readers are also "printers", but not in the traditional sense of having an attached printer. Once you have found the item of interest, you can "print" in three different ways: | |||
* send it to a printer "holding area" in the library - later you then go and print them (a fee per page applies) | |||
* save your image to an attached PC and then email it to yourself (note you need to have access to a WWW-based email tool to do this -- if you don't have one, sign up with hotmail or gmail just to send the file to your normal email address) | |||
* save your image to the attached PC and then copy it onto a USB drive (remember to bring one with you) | |||
There is no charge for saving the image to the PC and then emailing it or copying it onto a USB. You can then view the images at home at your leisure and/or print them at home. Personally I find the USB drive very convenient. USB drives (aka "thumb drives", "memory sticks") can be bought from most "computer stores" from around $10+. | |||
== Current Electoral Roll == | == Current Electoral Roll == | ||