Saturday, July 29, 2006

Exit "GC" Magazine, Enter "Digital Genealogist"

Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL posted this note on a message board about the demise of Genealogical Computing magazine, and the birth of Digital Genealogist as a PDF online magazine:

Many of you know that I have been the editor of Ancestry's Genealogical Computing for the past nearly seven years. Ancestry has chosen to discontinue the magazine, effective with the July/August/September 2006 issue that is currently in the mail.

I still believe there's a need for a magazine devoted to genealogy and technology. To that end, I am starting my own magazine later this year. It will be called Digital Genealogist and will be delivered to subscribers as a PDF. It will be similar in format and content to Genealogical Computing. In fact, a lot of the authors and columnists will continue to write for me in the new publication, including Drew Smith, popular Cybrarian columnist. The first issue of Digital Genealogist will be send out via PDF attachment to subscribers in November 2006.

If you are interested in subscribing, the annual rate is $20. You can subscribe at www.digitalgenealogist.com. Payments are being taken through PayPal by clicking on the PayPal button on the Digital Genealogist website. Subscriptions will begin with the first issue.

One of the advantages to subscribers of a PDF is that the URLs in
both articles and ads will be live links, allowing you to immediately explore ideas suggested by authors and websites of advertisers. I am hoping that the format will be agreeable to subscribers.

Bravo, Liz!

Of course, this new magazine will be a competitor to the new Internet Genealogy magazine recently started up by the Family Chronicle magazine folks. Is the market big enough for two magazines?

My humble opinion is that this is the future of genealogy magazines - online subscription content and email distribution of PDF files with clickable links.

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