Housekeeping

Beginning this past Monday, and for at least the next few weeks, Vita Brevis will be running three posts per work week instead of the usual five. The idea is to mark the summer, when many of the NEHGS staff contributors (and Vita Brevis readers) are on holiday, but it also reflects the reality that with one employee to edit – and, often, write – posts, Vita Brevis is a demanding publication. (Yes, even with just one post a day!)

Do the blog’s readers feel strongly about the dependable frequency of the usual publishing schedule? Or will they find that three posts per week, reliably published on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, provide enough new content to keep them coming back to the blog?

Please let me know in the comments.

ETA: It seems that the consensus is for three posts per week during the summer, and perhaps even going forward. Many thanks for weighing in!

 

About Scott C. Steward

Scott C. Steward was the founding editor at Vita Brevis; he served as NEHGS Editor-in-Chief 2013-2022. He is the author, co-author, or editor of genealogies of the Ayer, Le Roy, Lowell, Saltonstall, Thorndike, and Winthrop families. His articles have appeared in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, NEXUS, New England Ancestors, American Ancestors, and The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, and he has written book reviews for the Register, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.

74 thoughts on “Housekeeping

  1. Vita Brevis is a great blog. If published three times instead of five keeps it coming to us, I say that is just fine. No doubt that the work to do it is demanding, and we are grateful!

    1. Always enjoy your blogs and the time that is put into them. Everyone needs a little vacation. Three days is perfect during the summer.

  2. So long as you continue to post occasional excerpts from the diary of Regina Shober Gray, we’ll make it through 🙂

  3. Three times a week instead of five – I may finally catch up on my Vita Brevis reading since I’ve found that each one is worth reading!

  4. Three posts per week is fine with me – I consider them all wonderful surprise presents with the vast array of topics you all provide.

  5. I agree with the above. Three is fine as long as we can delight in the occasional (weekly?) excepts from Regina’s diary. I also enjoy Alicia Crane Williams’ practical approach and information.

  6. I agree with Andi Durbin, I read the blogs about Regina Shober Gray with great interest and the rest of them are sometimes left half read. I don’t pay attention to how often they come, so 3 per week is fine, I don’t even mind if the days are different from week to week, M-W-F one week, T-T-F another week.

  7. I really enjoy the Vita Brevis posts and have no problem with three per week. Summers tend to be busy anyway and with US holidays at each end and one in the middle, plus personal holidays throughout, it has got to get a little wild and wooly trying to get five posts per week published. Hope your fine staff enjoys what is left of a summer that is passing all to fast.

  8. Three is OK with me. Interesting, while others like them, I totally skip the diaries of Regina Shober Gray.

  9. Well, I can see from previous comments, I must represent a minority. I could take a new Vita Brevis every day, maybe twice on Sunday!

    I especially appreciate Alicia Crane Williams, Jan Doerr, and Jeff Record. Other recent noteworthy articles by Meaghan E.H. Siekman, Lindsay Fulton, and Michelle Doherty, have been both instructive and entertaining. I also appreciate the tales of Pamela Athearn Filbert and her research. I would dislike ‘losing’ any of them.

    But, the producers must do what the producers need to do. If it is three a week, well, so be it. Just, please, do not think it is because I, for one, want fewer!

    1. Agree 100% with this commenter — the more technical,
      the better! But we all understand easing up, especially as content gets harder to come by!

      1. a second agreement with this comment. And a plea for the same frequency from Alicia Crane Williams.

  10. While I know it takes a lot of work to do a good blog post, I will miss the five times a week, so three is still better than none.

  11. Three a week is fine! I enjoy them all, but understand the work entailed in producing them. I’ll gladly take what I can get!

  12. It’s summer, three a week is fine as long as we can go back to five times in the fall.
    Regina Shober Gray is a wonder. I wish I had a grandmother or aunt or great something that I could read about during that time.

  13. Three a week is fine, you could keep it at that level indefinitely. I enjoy them a lot but everyone has so much reading material available nowadays, happy to have you do three a week. Thank you!

  14. I turn to Vita Brevis as a must-read each time it comes out. If I miss one, I go back and read it. It is the best all-around genealogy blog around. But it wouldn’t be fair to NEHGS staff to push to keep putting out five a week just to satisfy my addiction. It’s mid-summer, and time to kick back! All of you (and especially the editor) enjoy your time off.

  15. Three times a week is fine. Just as you need time to write, review and edit, we also need time to read the blog and digest the information. This will give me a chance to catch up!

  16. I am happy with three a week. I am buried as it is with emails, reading, writing, editing. The break is good for you and good for me!

  17. Once a week would be enough. Personally, I can rarely keep up with the 5 weekly posts, and e per week would still be a challenge, for me!

  18. Three times a week is a fine way to go for the summer–to tell you the truth I didn’t even realize they were 5 x week! Just that they are often. And frequently I save them up for a few postings and go through at one time. Like others have said, they are all great reads and I am sure we all have our favorite authors.

  19. I would prefer three x week! That way I should have less guilt as I only get to read 3 or 4 per week anyway!

  20. I read them with interest whenever they come out and have never counted how many per week, nor which days!

  21. I appreciate your posts and 3 a week fits into my busy summer schedule, too. Thank you for all you do for us.

  22. Whenever the subject comes up that interests me I usually have a comment, and certainly not every one. Whenever ti is offered is o.k. with me. I do appreciate all the comments as well, there is often a lot of help connected to those too. Thank You for 3 times a week or whatever is convenient with you. Love this email anytime.

  23. I love reading the blog and love having them everyday, but certainly understand about summer. Whatever you print, I will read!!! I find the blogs keep me engaged in my own research and genuinely enjoy the stories!

  24. Thanks for all you all do to educate us, and entertain us! Enjoy your summer will look forward to the Vita Brevis posts.

  25. Three posts a week is about what I have time to read. It might be more sustainable long term for editor, writers, and readers. I enjoy it very much and try to read all its hard to keep up with all the emails in our lives.

  26. A chance to catch up! I’m in favor. It’s OK to do again Thanksgiving to New Year’s, too.

  27. I collect them and read them once a week, no matter how many there are. I appreciate what you do, and accept that summertime is vacationtime. For me, it’s extra hours planting, weeding, and picking in the garden. I have less time to read.

  28. I love the posts, but often do not get to read them till the end of the week. So 3 a week is fine with me, Less to read for catch up. Summer is hectic for everyone. Thanks for the helpful information giving us guidance and tips for our own genealogy research.

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