Hi Jenni,

Sorry for the delay in replying. At the meeting it was decided to widen the areas of research and change the name of the group to the European Special Interest Group.

The change of name and focus allows the group to utilise the skills of members researching continental Europe eg Germany, Poland, Holland, France etc. [England, Scotland and Ireland are already covered by other Special Interest Groups within WAGS].

The research for Europe is similar for each of the countries and has comparable problems of language, history, border changes, etc.

The next European SIG meeting will be held in Unit 4 at 2pm on Sunday 22 April. There will be time for general discussion and WAGS member, Mike Kiely, will also share his research on Malta and Friesland in the Netherlands.

If you are doing any research in Europe, need help or can offer assistance in researching in Europe or are just interested in European history/research, you are very welcome to attend these meetings.

regards
Liana

WAGS has a South West European Special Interest Group and their next meeting will be held this Sunday 22 January 2012 at 2pm in Unit 4 at WAGS, 48 May St Bayswater WA. The group currently covers areas in the south west of Europe (particulary Italy) - however they, and the WAGS Library, are getting more and more requests for help in other parts of Europe, especially in Germany and Poland.

As you can imagine it is much harder to do research in these areas than in Australia or the UK. Researchers have to deal with changing borders, records destroyed by war, different languages etc.

At this meeting on Sunday the group will be discussing whether to widen the areas of research and whether to change the name of the group. If you are doing any research in Europe, need help or can offer assistance in researching in Europe or are just interested in European history/research, please attend their meeting on Sunday.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Regards
Liana
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Liana Fitzpatrick
WAGS PR Officer