In keeping with the "behind-the-scenes" aspect of this blog, I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peek at one of the projects the Family Tree Magazine staff is working on.

Beginner's Guide to Genealogy is a primer that culls together some of our best articles on getting started tracing your roots. It's been fun to revisit "classic" advice we've published throughout the years—I've found at least a few nuggets of information I'd forgotten. (Which, for me, is really saying something—the staff accuses me of having a photographic memory of the entire magazine archive. It's what happens after you proofread every article four or five times. But I digress.)

Here's a sampling of topics in the Beginner's Guide:

• overview of basic records
• oral history interviewing
• writing queries that get answers
• Web search techniques

And a sneak peek at the cover:



Beginner's Guide to Genealogy will be available as a digital download from our online store by Oct. 15. Which means I better get back to work!