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brightsolid launches first Scottish online genealogy magazine

brightsolid has launched the group’s first online magazine. Called ‘Discover My Past Scotland’ the new title is uniquely devoted to Scottish family and social history.

The title will be published by findmypast.com, a recent brightsolid acquisition that establishes brightsolid as a leading player in the growing online family history market through its partnership with ScotlandsPeople.

Available online only through subscription, Discover My Past Scotland will utilise cutting edge technology with software which has the capability for incorporating interactive media and objects, such as old film clips (with sound and moving pictures) and waving flags, for example, as well as providing links to other websites.

The first edition will contain 40 pages - each page equivalent in size to A4 - in full colour, with a range of articles and features about Scotland’s Homecoming 2009, The Way We Used to Live and an item from The Court of the Lord Lyon about Heraldry and Coats of Arms. Sprinkled with ‘how to’ tips and examples, such as how to trace your Australian relatives, the magazine will also highlight frequently-asked questions posed by budding genealogists, with answers provided by ‘the experts’. Information about topical events and celebrations will be covered and there are some highly visual pictorial features that have been sourced from Scottish personal and national libraries.

brightsolid’s genealogy specialist, Richard Callison, said, ‘The idea for an online magazine came about because, although there are numerous printed magazines on genealogy, none is devoted entirely to Scottish family and social history. We felt, therefore, that there was a gap in the market which we were able to fill through our involvement with ScotlandsPeople and the information and knowledge we have gained from our service of that website.

‘When we conducted our initial survey into the viability of producing an online genealogy magazine about Scottish family history, the number of respondents, over 6,600 of them, was overwhelming. Using the information from this survey has enabled us to provide subscribers with the material that is of interest to them, that they want to read about, at a price that they want to pay,’ concluded Richard Callison.

The magazine will be available through www.ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk and www.discovermypast.co.uk with subscriptions at £2.50 per single issue or options for 3, 6 or 12 issues. The first issue carries a November/December dateline with single monthly issues commencing in January, 2009. Advertising will be available as add-on pages from April, 2009, with a projected ceiling of 64-page issues.

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