Monday, June 20, 2011

State and Regional Genealogy Journals: The List

Michael Hait and I have compiled a list of state and regional genealogy journals, with writers' guidelines when available, and posted it on both of our web sites. We hope this will help in three ways:

* encourage writers to submit their family histories (or portions thereof) for publication.

* encourage editors to seek out, prefer, and prioritize histories that are backed up with good documentation from original sources.

* enhance general awareness of the importance of state-level publications in publishing and preserving these accounts.

Please let either or both of us know about potential additions to the list and additions to each listing. We have not been able to consult paper copies of every journal, so accurate information on additional journals' guidelines, standards, and future plans is especially welcome.

7 comments:

nalexmanz said...

Hi Harold, I will speak to CT Soc of Genealogists about writers' guidelines. There is another "lighter" publication entitled "Connecticut Genealogy News." I'll contact the editors for guidelines to be included in your lists, but not until after tomorrow...my very last day of teaching after 37 years!

Cathi at Stone House Research said...

Hi Harold. I'm having trouble with your link. When I click on the link at the top of the article, it takes me to another page on your site with a similar link. When I click on that link, it just keeps reloading the same page. I never actually see the list.

Great idea to publish the list - I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Harold Henderson said...

Cathi -- I hope to get the site cleaned up soon, but it should still work. Click on the linked phrase, "a list of state and regional genealogy journals." That should take you to a page on my web site where that phrase appears twice, once in blue above the date and once in green below the date. Click on the green phrase and our PDF should open. I know there shouldn't be that many steps! If it still doesn't work email me directly and I will consult a higher authority. Good luck!

Bubba said...

The webfilter at my employer denied me access to your list because the page was determined to be "pornography." Seriously.

Harold Henderson said...

Michael --

ROTFL. Well, we have double-posted it. Did you try each of our web sites (the links to the names)? If that doesn't help, I can either send the list to you as a PDF attachment, or advise you to seek out a less obsessively evil-minded employer!

Harold

Jill Morelli said...

Harold, I have just been named the Publications Director of the Seattle Genealogical Society and noticed that the "SGS Bulletin" was not listed among your State Journals. Were there certain criteria that we did not meet or was it just an oversight?

Also, having taken over the position I see that our publication is not consistently scholarly. While we are not striving to be competitive with the NGSQ, I am trying to "up the image" a bit. I would appreciate if any of your readers could link me to their Writing Standards. I am just in the process of writing ours. Secondly, I am looking for good publications put out by very frugal societies. Links would be terrific

Thanks and I do hope that some day we meet! :-)
Jill Morelli

Harold Henderson said...

Jill -- Thanks for checking our list. I think Seattle was left out because it's not a state journal. Also, at the more local level it can be hard to distinguish between a quarterly (more timeless material) and a newsletter (more timely material, e.g. upcoming conferences and events). The list does include links to writers' guidelines that were online at that time. I expect to be at SLIG and NGS and FGS next year, and the first two are definitely closer to Seattle than to Indiana!

Harold