A course for absolute beginners (or those who want to revisit the basics) on how to plan, research, record and share genealogical discoveries. Included are handouts, practical examples, how to access records and the pitfalls to avoid.

Your Tutor is Benjamin Hollister

Benjamin Hollister BA(LbryInfMgnt), GradCertAppHistHerSt, GradDipLocFamAppHist, AALIA(DCP) has been teaching at WEA since 2022.

Ben has been a professional historian since 2007. Currently contracted as a Project Archivist with Lutheran Archives, he also owns and operates History Helper, a historical research business, focusing on German-Australian migration, general family history services, and specialist family history services for adoption and Stolen Generation cases. 

He also offers education, mentoring and publishing services to other researchers, and provides historical tours, presentations and digital literacy mentoring to the general public. Ben has provided professional services to the AIATSIS Family History Unit and the US production of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, and speaks and teaches regularly at a state, national and international level.

A Distinguished Certified Professional with the Australian Library and Information Association and a member of the Australian Society of Archivists, Ben holds tertiary qualifications in information management, educational management, and applied history, and vocational qualifications in business management, and event management and design.