| Product: |
Family History Monthly |
| Date: |
26/07/08 (32 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Read participation, offers, reviews, useful information.
Disadvantages: None
I'm really into genealogy at the moment (and have been for a number of years now), so I often pick up genealogy magazines when I'm in the supermarket or newsagents and Family History Monthly is one of them.
Priced at £3.75, the current issue has around 100 pages, so well worth it's price. There are a few adverts inside but they are all family history related, so I don't mind them.
The front section of the magazine includes the News pages, ranging from what's new with the big websites such as Ancestry.co.uk and FamilyRelatives.com to honoured heros, from new digital archives to current news such as Bletchley Park being under threat due to a lack of funding.
There is also a letters section incouraging readers to contribute to the magazine. The star letter is currently rewarded with a set of archives boxes by I Waterman Box Makers, which are "perfect for preserving the memorabilia and personal treasures in your family collection". The package includes 6 different sized boxes, folders, envelopes and more.
A page of "Dates for your diary" is very useful. Sectioned into counties of the UK, the pages lists various Family History Society events along with courses and other relevant conferences, meetings and events.
Well known presenter/researcher Nick Barratt has his own section, giving his thoughts, knowledge and predictions on various areas of family history.
The magazine also gives us various articles on useful sources such as censuses (before and after 1841), jobs our ancestors used to do, social history, local archives, parish records, work houses, as well as readers personal family history stories and those of others.
Another useful section is the "What's in a name?" section. Each month a different surname is selected, famous people with that surname listed, a coat of arms shown and various information given on the history of the surname. All very useful, especially if you have somebody in your family tree with that particular surname.
The "Real Life " section gives another opportunity for readers to share their family history stories with us. The best Family History Monthly reader story currently wins a free 12 month subscription to the premium Explorer package (worth £89.95) at FindMyPast.com.
The "Expert Advice" section focuses on a different subject each month, this month it's Land Tax Assessments. It gives us a Question/Answer style article , telling us where we fan find the recoards, what's in them and how easy they are to use, as well as showing us what they look like.
The "Photo Detective" section is one of my favourite parts of the magazine (what with being a keen photographer as well as having many old family photos in my possession). Readers are encouraged to send in scanned photos (rather than the originals) for the magazine to help date and maybe give a clue as to the people in the photos. The pointers can be useful when you're looking at your own old family photos.
Again with the encouragement of reader participation, we have the "Questions & Answers" section where readers write in with their various family history problems and brick walls. The answers given are very useful and informative.
The "Reviews" section is where Family History Magazine recommends and reviews recently released books, DVDs and CDs. They are very handy and before Christmas I read one of the reviews and decided to by the book for my Dad for Christmas.
Family History software (and other useful packages) are also reviewed in the magazine and walkthroughs are also given to help some readers use the software.
Another opportunity for readers to interact is the "Help" section. Readers are encouraged to write in with their problems in tracing ancestors. Other readers can then write in or contact the writers to give their help. The letters are headlined with the surname of the person they are researching.
Towards the back of the magazine is a "Local Focus" section where the magazine focuses on an area on the country and their local family history society.
Other sections include Classifieds, competitions, the crossword, Back Issues and more.
The magazine also includes a CD-ROM (for PC & Mac) of useful software, demos, directories, charts, tips and other resources.
I love how reader focused Family History Monthly Magazine is. Readers are encouraged to participate every step of the way! The competitions have great and relevant prizes and sometimes you can find vouchers for family history fairs, events and websites within the magazine.
Definitely a great buy if you're interested in family history!
Summary: A valuable magazine.
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