Where to dig for family roots

How much do you know about your family tree? Internet genealogy Web sites abound, and the World Wide Web is a great resource for researching your family history. But often they don't tell the whole story.

The local office of the National Archives and Records Administration is open to anyone with an interest in genealogy research, with many records that are unavailable online and the help of knowledgeable volunteers to help you find information and resources for tracing your ancestors.

Periodic workshops include "Using the U.S. Census Records" for information and "Beginning Genealogy" (Saturday), and monthly "brick-wall" chat sessions with archivists to help genealogy sleuths break through research problems.

The Seattle Archives office has extensive microfilm holdings on U.S. censuses from 1790 to 1930, military-service records and some passenger arrival and naturalization records. Whether you're a beginner with as little as your own birth time and place or already an expert in family genealogy, you'll find interesting information and suggestions for lots of other ways to delve into your family history.

The National Archives and Records Administration, 6125 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, is open to the public 7:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday, until 8 p.m. the first and second Tuesdays of the month and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. the first and second Saturdays of each month. Admission is free, with copiers available for a fee. Saturday's workshops are $10 each, with preregistration required. Call 206-336-5115, or see www.archives.gov/pacific-alaska/seattle/.