Sunday, July 6, 2008

Best of the Genea-Blogs - June 29 - July 5, 2008

Several hundred genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, 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.

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

* A Blog Finder Reminder by Chris Dunham on The Genealogue blog. Chris talks about how he updates the Genealogy Blogfinder, one of the indispensable web sites for genea-bloggers and readers IMHO. The statistics about the number of genea-blogs updated, and how often, are interesting.

* The Genetic Mess in California - A Round-Up and My Thoughts by Blaine Bettinger on The Genetic Genealogist blog. Blaine summarizes the situation well, and has excellent answers to the important questions. Read the comments, too.

* Genealogists Joining Social Networks - Is It a Trend Yet? by Dean Richardson on the Genlighten Blog- Genealogy Documented blog. Dean comments on social networking sites, and provides results from his own survey about proposed web site services, including social networks. Unfortunately, the chart is difficult to read.

* 2008 French and Indian War Grand Encampment, Ticonderoga and More F&I From Fort Ti by Tim Abbott on the Walking the Berkshires blog. Tim takes us into the heat of the battles at Fort Ticonderoga with great pictures and stories. Later in the week, he wrote You and Me, Kid about making more family history with his kids - great pieces all!

* Married in 1820 by Michael John Neill on Juliana Smith's 24/7 Family History Circle blog. Michael gives great advice for a persistent problem for all researchers - read it, learn it, apply it, and hope for the best!

* Kinship and Human Society by Carolyn Earle Billingsley on the Life in Possum Holler blog. Carolyn is an expert on this topic, and provides a book review of a new book, Early Human Kinship, which sounds fascinating.

* How to Order a Big Family Tree Wall Chart by Diane Haddad on the Now What? Expert Answers to Your Genealogy Questions blog. Diane provides advice on what to look for, and the questions to ask, before you invest in a large family tree wall chart. I needed this!

* July 4 - Friday from the Collectors: Reading Women's History by Denise May Levenick on footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed blog. Denise takes us into the classroom and describes her effort to connect teenagers with family history. Excellent work!

* Cook County Vital Records and CookCountyGenealogy Tip by John Newmark on the Translyvanian Dutch blog. John describes and demonstrates use of this new web site. He has some useful comments too.

* Unusual Places to Look for Genealogy by Kathy Jones-Kristof on the Genealogy Help and Hints blog. Kathy posted a great list of unusual resources that might help solve genealogy brick wall problems. A keeper!

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:

Shannon said...

Its too bad Dean didnt mention my new networking site, thats a facebook/myspace for genealogy only. Its growing by leaps and bounds, so to answer his question...yes its the new trend people are wanting

Family Curator said...

Thanks, Randy, for adding my article on genealogy in the classroom to your "Best" list. The response has been so encouraging that I hope to develop a curriculum unit for similar projects.

Every time I read your blog postings I find new places and people to visit. You do a great job rounding up the news and notes. Thanks again.