Here is what it contains:

Table of Contents

Features

The pain and principles of plagiarism, by Debbie Mieszala, cg
Be a virtual volunteer, by Cari A. Taplin
A greener office, by Donald W. Moore, cg
‘Future proofing’ your data, by Thomas MacEntee
Storage, by Midge Frazel
Indexes and databases for American Indian research, by Paula Stuart-Warren, cg
New offerings at FamilySearch, by David E. Rencher, ag, cg, fuga, figrs
Electronic source citation resources, by George G. Morgan
Genealogy reference wikis still growing, by Mark Tucker

Columns

Editor’s desktop: Savings that really add up, by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL
Newsbriefs
Cybrarian: Reaching librarians in the twenty-first century, by Drew Smith, MLS
Essential technology for genealogists: The power of PDF, by D. Joshua Taylor
Web of deceit: Buying the kazoo, by Susan Zacharias

Review

My Heritage Family Tree Builder, reviewed by Gary M. and Diana Crisman Smith

Reviews of this ‘n’ that

Getting Started on Your Genealogy Web site, reviewed by Reed Powell
Google Your Family Tree: Unlock the Hidden Power of Google, reviewed by Richard Aurand Sherer

I really believe in this publication and not just because I write for it from time to time.  An annual subscription of 6 issues costs $25 or you can purchase a single issue for $5.

The September/October 2008 issue of Digital Genealogist was sent out this last weekend and I am pleased to announce that I have an article published in it.  The article is titled The legacy of ‘The Last Lecture’ and talks about the story of Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, that inspired millions through a talk he gave while he was dying of pancreatic cancer.  The content of his lecture and some of the backstory has been released as a book called The Last Lecture.

I first heard Randy’s story back in April 2008.  Soon after that I felt compelled to write about how his story inspired me and how I felt it related to family history.  When I wrote the article, I gave no thought about publishing it.  After a few months, I felt like I wanted to share it with others so I contacted Digital Genealogist who agreed to publish it. 

For those who subscribe to DG, I hope you enjoy the article and encourage you to share it with family and friends.  If you don’t subscribe, check out the current issue, read the free articles and then consider ordering a subscription for $20 a year (6 issues).  You also have the option of buying past issues for $4.  For those who may be new to this magazine, Digital Genealogist was started in 2006 by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL and is delivered via the Internet in PDF format.

Table of Contents - September/October 2008 issue:

Features
Computers vs. humans: comparing outputs of genealogy programs, by Debbie Parker Wayne
E-mail black holes, by Richard Aurand Sherer
The legacy of ‘The Last Lecture,’ by Mark Tucker
On becoming a virtual speaker, by Sandra MacLean Clunies, CG
Addicted to the blogs, by George G. Morgan

Columns
Editor’s desktop: Creative change is in the air, by Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL
Inbox/Newsbriefs
Cybrarian: Stalking the wild book, by Drew Smith, MLS
Essential technology for genealogists: Print-on-demand, by D. Joshua Taylor
Mac genie: Bibliographic managers for Mac genies, by Donald Moore, CG
Web of deceit: Searches gone sour, by Susan Zacharias

Review
Genlighten, reviewed by Jana Sloan Broglin, CG

Reviews of this ‘n’ that
Your Family Story in Photographs: Capturing Memories, reviewed by Linda Woodward Geiger, CG, CGL
The Family History Research Toolkit, reviewed by Elizabeth Powell Crowe
Genealogy Online, 8th edition, reviewed by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG

As a surprising twist, The Last Lecture article will also be published in the next issue of another magazine.  What an honor!  I think that I will keep the name secret for now.  Those who subscribe to DG will have the inside scoop though.

Although this was disappointing, I see this as an opportunity for the various genealogy and family history magazines to contact Barnes & Noble and get their magazines listed. I am not sure what the trade-offs would be to have your magazine included on the Barnes & Noble site, but it might just be worth it for the extended exposure.  The following print magazines come to mind that could be included on this site:

• Internet Genealogy
• Family Chronicle 
• Discovering Family History
• History
• Family Tree Magazine
• Ancestry Magazine
• The Everton Genealogical Helper Magazine
• The American Genealogist

This list could be expanded to include magazines published by organizations such as the National Genealogial Society (NGS Quarterly / NGS News Magazine), Association of Professional Genealogists (APG Quarterly), and New England Historic Genealogical Society (The NEHG Register).

It didn’t take much time on the site to notice that this online newsstand didn’t just provide access to 1,000 print subscriptions but also 500 digital subscriptions and 12,000 single issue back issues in digital format.  This is good news for a digital-only publication such as Digital Genealogist that is looking to increase it subscriber base.

Since I didn’t find any magazines using “genealogy” as a search term, I decided to search for “history”.  This returned 27 items:

The results included magazines about American, natural, military, and aviation history including 3 dedicated to the Civil War.  Besides these results, I found 2 that dealt with family history.  The first is a one issue subscription to The Computer Active Ultimate Guide to Family History and the other is Family Tree Magazine.  If you are interested in subscribing to Family Tree Maker, you will get a better deal from Barnes & Noble ($21.96) compared to $24.00 on the Family Tree Magazine website. A search using “family” did not return any additional genealogy magazines besides the two already listed.

Not sure what kind of connections the makers of Family Tree Magazine have to be the only multiple-issue genealogy/family history magazine listed at Barnes & Noble, but hopefully we will see some of the others listed soon. Having multiple genealogy magazines listed on one site would be very helpful to genealogists and family historians who want to subscribe to genealogy publications and want to comparison shop. The Barnes & Noble Online Magazine Store allows readers to rate and review the magazines. This will help others pick the magazine(s) that are right for them.

The following are mentioned in the article:

People/Organizations

• Bill Buxton
• William Gibson
• Elizabeth Shown Mills
• Dick Eastman
• Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens
• DearMYRTLE
• Geoff Rasmussen
• Guy Kawasaki
• The Board for Certification of Genealogists

Software/Sites

• FamilyLink.com
• FamilyPursuit.com
• Geni.com
• MyHeritage.com
• WeRelate.org
• WorldVitalRecords.com
• Footnote.com
• Ancestry.com
• Clooz
• Legacy Family Tree
• Family Tree Maker

Topics

• Ideas
• Innovation
• Genealogy Software
• Design 
• Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)
• Source Citation

Books

• Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design
• Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian
• Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace

I encourage you to support this publication with your subscription.

The two main publications that discuss genealogy and technology are Digital Genealogist and Internet Genealogy which are each published six times per year.  To make this list, I totaled the number of feature articles, columns, and reviews from each author.
Listed below first in order of how many published items and then alphabetically by last name, are the Top 10 Most Published Authors of 2007:

1. Diane L Richard – Internet Genealogy (13)
2. Lisa A. Alzo – Internet Genealogy (6)
3. Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CG, CGL – Digital Genealogist (6)
4. David A. Norris – Internet Genealogy (6)
5. Laura Prescott – Digital Genealogist (6)
6. Drew Smith, MLS – Digital Genealogist (6)
7. D. Joshua Taylor – Digital Genealogist (6)
8. Leslie Albrecht Huber – Internet Genealogy (4)
9. Janice Nickerson – Internet Genealogy (4)
10. Gary M. & Diana Crisman Smith – Digital Genealogist (4)

The topics they discussed this year include:

• Online Databases & Research
• Online Maps & Downloadable Land Patents
• Search Engines
• Social Networking Sites
• Case Studies
• Software Reviews – Windows, Mac, and Linux
• FamilySearch Projects
• Military Sites
• Essential Technology
• Hardware  & Gadgets

I am looking forward to 2008 and all that we can learn from these authors and others.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!