The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has a genealogy fair each year at its Washington D.C. location. This year, for the first time, a dozen talks are being broadcast live via the internet. They begin the day after Labor Day, Tuesday September 3rd, and end Wednesday the 4th. Starting time is 10 AM Eastern or 7 AM Arizona time each day.

The speakers are all professionals who work at one or another of the NARA offices around the country. The talks are specifically about records NARA has available that are useful to genealogists. One, for example, is on “Military and Civilian Personnel Records: The National Archives at St. Louis” where I found my grandfather’s personnel record.

The page National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair has the full schedule of speakers and topics, along with instructions for viewing. There’s also a genealogy help line number you can call during the fair, and several ways to ask questions of the speakers.

The streaming will come from the UStream website. You might want to sign up there ahead of time for a free account. Any web browser may be used to watch and listen to the talks, though Chrome is recommended. UStream has apps available for Apple and Android mobile devices. It’s also available on your television if you have a Roku or an Apple TV.

If you can’t catch them live, the talks will also be available online after the event.