Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

BBC History Magazine
It's not just BBC History Magazine, publisher Immediate Media has a 30 day free trial offer for many of their publications, but it ends on 30 September. Learn the details at http://e.immediate.co.uk/q/11mTfFq9oZPk0Nseo8Na2GC/wv

Society of Genealogists Chairman is not a Genealogist
There's a continuing debate about whether you need to have expertise in the subject to lead a specialist organization. The SoG is experimenting, and here's why paraphrasing from the Chairman Ed Percival's message in the September issue of Genealogists' Magazine.

He has been a Trustee and member of the SoG for the last couple of years. But he hasn't attended yet a course or looked at a single book of microfilm in the library. 

He's looking to help SoG at a critical time in its history. While commercial organizations like Ancestry and FindmyPast claim membership in the millions and revenue exceeding £billion SoG membership is in gradual decline and income has fallen. Does that remind you of any other genealogical societies?

In the next couple of years he is seeking to have the organization explore what it can offer, in line with its vision of "a world in which everyone has convenient, affordable access to records, finding aids, knowledge and skills necessary to conduct authoritative research into family history" that is unique, and if there are enough people in the community who value that uniqueness