Genealogists' Magazine: March 2015

Before the month is over a quick look at the March issue of the Society of Genealogists magazine. As an overseas members I don't get to benefit from much that SoG has to offer, particularly as I rarely get to their major genealogical library. The magazine is one of the tangible benefits of membership. I'd probably continue to support SoG even without that because of the advocacy role.

The frontspiece message from the chairman mentions overseas members. Apparently  SoG has 1,106 such members constituting about 11% of the total from some 50 countries. Chair Buckley sees embracing the opportunities to increase global membership, by offering access to the unique collections and services, as important for the Society future. Will we see webinars?

For me the highlight of the issue was Ian H Waller's article "In a Class of Their Own: Keeping the Royal Navy Battle-Ready", about researching Royal Navy Warrant Officers.

Also of interest were:

Charlie Cooke-Parker's article Personal Medical Records of WW1 announcing the first records of an eventual 1.5 million records transcribed from TNA covering July 1915 to August 1918. These are to be online at the military genealogy website Forces War Records.

and

M.L Bierbrier's short article New Developments in Medieval Genealogy subtitled "To DNA or not to DNA" looking at issues following the extraction of DNA from the skeleton of what is virtually certainly Richard III.

The magazine includes 17 pages listing additions to the library and document collections.  While some people with ready access to the library must see this as highly valuable I do wonder if it's material which would better be available only online rather than in a costly publication shipped internationally.