Preserving family history through genealogy is an art with millions of stories to share. The 2008 Artistry of Genealogy Awards (AGA) were announced today by The Photo Preservation Center (PPC) to showcase outstanding genealogy websites and recognize excellence in preserving family history through genealogy. The categories and winners were selected by families across the nation who had their photo memories digitally preserved by ScanMyPhotos.com as part of the process of recording and studying the ancestry of family trees.

An overview of the AGAs is available at PhotoPreservation.org. Comprehensive information on each category and award recipient is detailed at “Tales from the World of Photo Scanning” (Blog.ScanMyPhotos.com).

"The 2008 Artistry of Genealogy Awards coincides with April’s ‘The Great American Photo Scanning Month’ to encourage having the 3.5 trillion analog photo snapshots digitally preserved," said Mitch Goldstone, Chairman of The Photo Preservation Center and president & CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com, AGA’s sponsor.

“As generations of family photos begin to fade away, 'The Great American Photo Scanning Month' promises to inspire people to have their photos digitally scanned," said Goldstone. Throughout April, ScanMyPhotos.com is providing 1000 free photo scans to members of four leading social networking sites. Along with all members of each website recognized by the AGAs, Flickr, MySpace, Blogger and Facebook members can have up to 1,000 4x6" photos scanned to DVD without charge when they mail their pictures to ScanMyPhotos.com and pay $19.95 for return S&H and include the downloadable order form.

2008 Artistry of Genealogy Award Winners:

• Best Ongoing Family History Story: Creative Gene: Genealogy and More. creativegene.blogspot.com
• Best Genealogy Reference Tool: Family Tree Magazine Blog - Genealogy Insider, edited by Diane Haddad. www.familytreemagazine.com/insider
• Best Genealogy Portal: Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet. www.cyndislist.com
• Best Way to Reunite Unidentified Photos: Dead Fred Genealogy Photo Archive. www.DeadFred.com
• Best Family Immigration Story Site: Tell Us Your Story - The Ellis Island Immigration Museum. www.ellisisland.org.
• Best Way to Network on The Internet with Your Family: The Generations Network Inc’s MyFamily.com. www.MyFamily.com
• Best Archive of Historical Records: The Generations Network Inc’s Ancestry.com. www.Ancestry.com
• Best Value/Free Genealogy Software Application: Geni.com. www.Geni.com
• Most Popular Genealogy Publication: Family Free Magazine. www.FamilyTreeMagazine.com
• Favorite Genealogy Research Guide: Genealogy Research Guides, Tips and Online Records. www.researchguides.net
• Best Personal Genealogy Blog: AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors. www.ancestories1.blogspot.com
• Easiest Way to Share Family Stories Online: One Great Family.www.onegreatfamily.com
• Most Popular Genealogy Data Base - Family Tree Connection. www.FamilyTreeConnection.com
• Best Personal Geology Blog - Renee Zamora, Renee's Genealogy Blog. www.rzamor1.blogspot.com
• Best Daily Genealogy Newsletter - Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. www.eogn.com

Photo Preservation Center (PPC) was established by ScanMyPhotos.com as the principal resource for information on scanning digital images and preserving generations of analog photo memories. Its mission is to promote and foster the dissemination of information and host a resource center for discussing issues pertaining to the preservation of family pictures. PPC is designed to enhance awareness for converting analog pictures into digital images and promote new products available for consumers to view, save and share their photo memories. ScanMyPhotos.com is a division of 30 Minute Photos Etc., founded in 1990 as a retail and nationwide digital imaging Ecommerce business. ScanMyPhotos.com has digitally scanned more than 6-million photographic images.