Family Tree Magazine in your Mailbox

The July 2011 issue of Family Tree Magazine is hot off the press, and filled with a few nice surprises. I will admit that at first glance I missed the BIG news, but that was because I was excited to read another article.

“Taking Care” highlights tips for organizing, selecting, and caring for your family treasures with links to helpful websites and archival suppliers. I love working on assignments like this that give me a reason to contact experts with tricky questions. Peter D. Verheyen, head of preservation and conservation at Syracuse University Library was especially helpful, offering ideas and answers during an extended telephone interview.

This topic must be useful for at least some readers because I am already getting comments and questions via The Family Curator contact link. Please leave a comment or contact me if you have questions I can help with.

If your issue of the magazine hasn’t arrived yet, here is a brief look at what’s inside

• State Census Secrets, by Rick Crume
• Research Trip Survival Kit, by Lisa A. Alzo
• Croatian Ties, guide to tracing Croatian roots, by James M. Beidler
• City Guides to Detroit and Charleston, SC, by Sunny Jane Morton and Dvaid A. Fryxell
• Celebrity Genealogy, Take 2 — a look at Season Two Who Do You Think You Are
• Taking Care, by Denise Levenick (The Family Curator)

and the BIG news, publication of

• Post Masters, Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs for 2011, by Sunny Jane Morton

Geneabloggers will be interested to know that the 40 Best article includes an introduction to geneablogging and comments from GeneaBlogger Thomas MacEntee. The list is divided into eight categories and names the selected blogs with a brief overview of the blog’s focus and author. A sidebar, “Picking Winners” showcases the four panelists who made final selections: Lisa Louise Cooke, Thomas MacEntee, Dear Myrtle, and Randy Seaver. The “More Online” feature highlights further blog content.

I especially like the large graphic image providing the “Anatomy of a Blog” with a key to sections like the Subscribe button, Badges, and Blogroll. Renee’s Genealogy Blog is shown as the example blog in this sidebar.

It’s an honor to see The Family Curator included in the Top 40 listing, especially since the nominations are made by other genealogy bloggers. Congratulations to the Top 40 Bloggers, and thank you, friends, for your encouragement and support. As our ranks grow in number, this list would be much longer if it could include the many other fine deserving bloggers who contribute so much to this community.

Most Geneabloggers read the 2011 Family Tree 40 picks when they were first announced some weeks ago, but I think the magazine surprised us by adding “Panel Picks” in the print feature. One blog from each category was selected “to highlight exemplary blogging.” I don’t want to spoil all the fun — you’ll have to wait for your copy to arrive to see just which blogs were selected for this award!