Library festival will help lift lid on family history

THE first taste of a new service for those keen to research their family history will be available in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Visitors to the Capital's Festival of Libraries in the Assembly Rooms will be able to discover the resources of the ScotlandsPeople Centre, which is due to open in the city in spring next year.

It will provide access to records of births, marriages and deaths and censuses, the wills of Scots up to 1901, and also coats of arms up to 2004.

The centre is a joint initiative of the General Register Office for Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon.

There will be a talk on the new centre as part of the libraries festival.

Help will be available to discover more about local and family history in the National Archives of Scotland, as well as the resources available in many other libraries, including the National Library of Scotland and Edinburgh's Central Library.

ScotlandsPeople is just one of more than 40 Edinburgh-based library and information services that will be showcasing the wealth and range of their information resources at the festival.

The one-day event will also feature other talks, exhibits, demonstrations and children's activities. Entry is free and doors are open from 10am to 4pm.