New York Public Library and The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society will once again be co-sponsoring a series of free lectures at the New York Public Library.

Feb. 17, 2010 at 5:30 pm

South Court Classrooms

Beyond the Basics: Newspaper Research for Family Historians. This presentation explores the variety of exciting new opportunities presented by newspaper research in the digital age, examines newspaper development and the evolving view of “public” and “private” information over time, and discusses the often-overlooked types of genealogical clues that can be found in both mainstream and specialty newspapers. In addition, the presentation discusses some short-cut techniques for locating newspapers (in original, microform, or digitized/searchable formats) and the limitations of the online search engines found on most digital newspaper sites.

Lecture by Meldon J. Wolfgang III, a member of the NYG&B Education Committee and owner of Jonathan Sheppard Books.

March 24, 2010 at 5:30 pm

South Court Classrooms

Of City-Slickers and Straphangers: Researching Urban Ancestors. Researching urban ancestors is fraught with difficulties. Dealing with large populations, multiple people by the same name, and the tendency of many city-dwellers to move frequently demands a unique approach to research and an understanding of which records will be most useful.

Lecture by Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CGSM, a member of the NYG&B Education Committee, and president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists

April 13, 2010 at 5:30 pm

South Court Classrooms

Trace Your Roots with DNA. DNA is the latest in a growing number of tools to find your family origins and connections. Learn how DNA testing may help advance your research.

Lecture by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, a member of the NYG&B, and Chief Genealogist for Ancestry.com.©

These lectures will be accompanied with PowerPoint presentations, and will run about 50 minutes with time for questions afterwards. There will be handouts for the attendees.

Lectures are free and no registration is required. They will be held at 5:30 at the NYPL, 5th Ave, between 40th & 42nd Streets, in the South Court Classrooms, First Floor (off Astor Hall).