Taryn Edwards from the Mechanics’ Institute of San Francisco—a historic membership library—will discuss how to start and sustain a historical research project in the San Francisco Bay Area. She will discuss these topics:
- Getting started
- Finding primary sources
- Overcoming roadblocks
- Holdings of local archives
- Free online resources that can help fill gaps in the historical record
- How to effectively talk to librarians about your research needs
- The writing community at the Mechanics’ Institute
If you are curious about archives and research materials available in the Bay Area, join us on Saturday, December 15, at 2:00 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton, 5115 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton to hear Edwards’ presentation. Check-in begins at 1:30 p.m. RSVP to Haihong Liao by Wednesday, December 12, at reservations@trivalleywriters.org and pay at the meeting. CWC adult members, $14, nonmembers, $18. CWC student members, $6, student nonmembers, $10.
Taryn Edwards works as a Librarian and Strategic Partnerships Manager for the Mechanics’ Institute of San Francisco. She manages the writers’ activities for the Institute, works with other nonprofits to achieve mutual goals, and spends a lot of private time digging up the history of the place and people associated with it. In addition to her professional duties, she is working on her first biography of a major San Francisco figure. She is fascinated by the “mechanics” of writing in the digital age: how authors and historians manage their research, design their project’s structure, and use technology to supplement their workflow. She lives in the East Bay with her husband, daughter, and two energetic dogs.