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TRACKING DOWN YOUR ANCESTORS JUST GOT EASIER

Public interest in Family History is booming, fuelled by popular TV series like the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?Kent Libraries and Archives can now help you even more. They offer a wide range of resources to support family historians, including census records, parish registers, old newspapers, directories, maps, photographs, memorabilia, original archive material and electronic sources.They have taken up a subscription to the popular family history o­nline product:Ancestry.com (Library Edition). The service is supplied free in all of our 106 libraries and 3 archive centres. Just enter http://ancestrylibrary.proquest.com in any of the library's internet public access computersFully digitised versions of census returns 1841 to 1901 are just some of the resources available through Ancestry Library Edition. The full range of databases includes more than 4 billion names in over 4,000 collections.There are a number of ways to search the Ancestry.com databases, but a simple search using your ancestor's Christian and Surname may produce results worth investigating and you can view or print any of the records.An o­nline Library catalogue and a range of other o­nline Library services are available remotely via  www.kent.gov.uk/onlinelibrary . They are also subscribed to the Times Digital Archives - a fully digitised version of The Times newspaper 1785 to 1985 - enabling you to research people, events and social conditions across two centuries.For its 3rd series, Who Do You Think You Are? is moving to BBC 1. The family history boom is set to intensify and this new recourse can help you find your family history.For more details contact:Rob Illingworth,Local Studies Development Librarian, Centre for Kentish Studies, Sessions House,County Hall, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQTel: 01622 694460 www.kent.gov.uk/archives