Sunday, December 16, 2007

Best of the Genea-Blogs - December 9-15, 2007

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week. My criteria are pretty simple - I like posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, or are funny and/or poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or my own posts (hopefully, others will do that!).

* "Web-Based Applications for Genealogy" on the Ozarks Genealogical Society blog. The society had a presentation covering The Next Generation of Genealogy site-Building software and http://www.geni.com/.

* "How has Technology Affected Your Family History" by Larry Lehmer at the Passing It On blog. Larry discusses this subject with reference to how changes in technology may have affected how families interacted with each other.

* "Problems, problems everywhere" by Cyndi Howells on the Cyndi's List blog. Cyndi has had many problems recently with her computers, her web site and asks for patience.

* "Free Unlimited On-Line Image Storage" by Lee Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee has also had computer problems, but found that http://www.footnote.com/ will allow free online storage of photographs. I checked, and Lee has uploaded many of his! This is a good idea.

* "Gourds and More Gourds" by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. This article was fascinating to me - Terry and his wife collect and hand-painted gourds - there are many pictures. Southern country life is so different from Southern California life...

* "Wikipedia - Part I: Using Wikipedia In Research" and "Wikipedia - Part II: Editing Wikipedia" by John Newmark at the Transylvania Dutch blog. John's posts describe how he uses Wikipedia to obtain information and evaluate sources, and how he contributes to it. Excellent work.

* "Undocumented Chaos" by Michael John Neill on the Rootdig.com blog. This excellent article explores potential reasons for changes in family structure, for family migration to another area, and why families lost contact with relatives.

* "What Happened to My Family" by Brenda Joyce Jerome on the Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog. Brenda's article discusses and investigates family stories - and wonders if this one was made up or true.

* "The Buttonhook of Rebecca Catherine (Snook) Westaby" by Miriam Midkiff at the Ancestories: The Stories of my Ancestors blog. This post intrigued me because of the life story about this woman that Miriam has gathered. The buttonhook was interesting too - I've never seen one or thought about one.

It was an interesting list this week - I didn't link to any of the Christmas Advent Memories posts - Thomas MacEntee is doing that here.

2 comments:

Terry Thornton said...

Randy, Thanks for including "Gourds" in your roundup this week. I'm glad your enjoyed the piece. And I will agree with you --- Southern country life is different!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Terry Thornton

Brenda Joyce Jerome said...

Thank you for listing "What Happened to my Family" in the blogs of the week. This family has been so challenging, but, oh what fun! I can almost hear my dad chuckling as he reads about my problems with the Wolstenholmes. Brenda Joyce Jerome