Sunday, June 15, 2008

Best of the Genea-Blogs: June 8-14, 2008

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week.

My criteria are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

* "Pro-Gen Study Group #2" by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog. Mark summarizes his second month of participation in the Professional Genealogist's Study Group (this group is for genealogists considering being a professional). I am also participating in this group, and Mark is in my discussion group, but not my peer group. While this group is closed to newcomers, as Mark explains, the outline of reading and assignments has a lot of value to anybody trying to improve their research, writing and business skills.

* "My Favorite Virginia Genealogy Sources" by Arlene Eakle on the Arlene Eakle's Virginia Genealogy Blog. Arlene describes her favorite genealogy sources, and her favorite my surprise you. I agree with her choice. The problem is that they are so difficult to find and use effectively.

* "Productive research leads to new ancestral questions" by Pat Richley on the TeachGenealogy Blog. Pat describes her Study Group's field trip to the Family History Library last weekend. They had a great time, and Pat summarizes some of the research findings in this post.

* "In Viet Nam, I'm my Own Grandmother" by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak on the Roots Television: Megan's Roots World blog. The title initially made me put this on my list, but then I read about the process Megan went through to see how she came to that conclusion!

* "WeRelate: Sources, Notes, References and Footnotes" by Denise Olson on the Family Matters blog. Denise covers these topics as they are used in WeRelate databases. Alas, they are everything I'm not good at! That's why I'm going to study extra hard this week. I really appreciate Denise's efforts to learn more about WeRelate and pass them on to make my learning easier.

* "Showing Off Your Photos in AncestryPress" by Stefanie Condie on the Ancestry.com blog. They have significantly improved the options in the AncestryPress family books, resulting in more capability and coverage. I'm almost ready to try this out! Thanks, Stefanie.

* "The Future of e-Paper" by Dick Eastman in the Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter. Dick's timely article should be "must reading" for everyone with a genealogy cave full of books and magazines. The future can be nearly paperless! But read the comments too - many people won't do this.

* "June 13 - Friday from the Collectors - The Gift of the Photograph, Uniting Families with their History" by Lisa on footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed blog. Lisa writes about her experiences finding family photographs and sharing them with her extended family.

* "I Still Think She's Dead - and Here's Why" by footnoteMaven (or should she now be the shadyMaven?) on the Shades of the Departed blog. fM posted last week about this photo of a female who might be dead, and she wrote this week about her reasons for thinking that she is dead. Fascinating detective work!

* "The Ancestry Newspaper Rollout. Why I Say 'Meh' " by Jennifer on the Rainy Day Genealogy Readings blog. I really appreciate blog postings without sugar coating, and this one of Jennifer's is great. I was going to write something more prolix and confusing on this subject, but Jennifer hit the nail on the head before I had a chance to find my hammer!

* "Are Genea-bloggers Journalists?" by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog. Thomas asked an important question here, and searches for the answer. My input is that "yes, in many cases, they are."

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - we all appreciate feedback on what we write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!

2 comments:

Lisa / Smallest Leaf said...

I'm glad that you enjoyed my article for Friday from the Collectors. Thanks for mentioning The Gift of the Photograph: Uniting Families With Their History on Best of the Genea-Blogs this week. Your suggested reading lists are great. Thanks for keeping them coming.

Lisa
Small-leaved Shamrock
A light that shines again
100 Years in America

Moultrie Creek said...

Thanks for the kind words and I hope to see more of you at WeRelate.

I hope to see more of me out there once I finish running all over Florida and Georgia, but right now my family and my military family get priority.

--Denise