Sunday, June 14, 2009

Best of the Genea-Blogs - June 7-13, 2009

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 genealogy carnivals, 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:

* Countdown to Colorado - “Our Wills and Fates Do So Contrary Run…” and Final Thoughts from the Loveland CO Family History Expo #FHX09-CO by Bernie Gracy on the HistoricalTownMaps Blog. Bernie offers some wonderful quotes about why we do genealogy, and then summarizes his experiences at the Family History Expo in Loveland CO this week. [Yes, I know that the first one was published on 6 June, but I missed it last week and I loved it, so its here this week. It's my schtick, and I'll post if I want to!]

* Search Engines Can't Read Your Mind Or Your Images by footnoteMaven on the footnoteMaven blog. fM has sage advice for naming and tagging the family photographs you post on your blog so that search engines, and your cousins, can find them.

* Some Closing Thoughts ... by Elizabeth Lapointe on the Genealogy Canada blog. Elizabeth summarized her experiences at the Ontario Genealogical Society conference held in Ottawa last week.

* The Problem with Primary Source Documents by Lee Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee points out that death certificates, in particular, sometimes have erroneous information.

* NGS 2009 in Raleigh by msualumni on the Reclaiming Kin blog. Here is another perspective about the NGS 2009 Conference in Raleigh, including talking with presenters and making new friends.

* To step back...... by Amy Crooks on the Untangled Family Roots blog. Amy takes through her day which included a great trip to the courthouse and found records in beautiful cursive handwriting. I know this feeling!

* 10 Ways to Use Twitter for Genealogy by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog. Diane has a nice list for Tweeters to use Twitter for genealogy. Guess I haven't missed much, but maybe it will help you.

* Genealogy Travel Kit - What should be included? by Kevin Lett on the Virginia Family Tree Genealogy blog. Kevin has an excellent list for genealogy travellers. I need to print this one out! I'm not sure about the orange hat, though...

* Do You Wiki? by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com blog. This is a wonderful post about wikis, their creation, use and benefits. A keeper.

* SL: NGS Conference doings by DearMYRTLE (Pat Richley) on the TeachGenealogy blog. "Clarice Beaumont" lets us eavesdrop on her Second Life chat about the NGS Conference. Some good information that we didn't get from other bloggers. Oh - she announced her engagement to genealogist Gordon Erickson, too! Congratulations to both of you!

* Google Wave is Coming; It's Undertow Will Claim at Least One Victim by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John provides his interpretation of Google Wave and the impact on the computer industry, based on watching the Google Wave demo. Fascinating.

* Graveyards in a Town that Belongs in One by Linda Stienstra in the Lancaster Pennsylvania Graveyard Rabbit blog. Does Centralia PA belong in a graveyard? Linda takes us there and describes the town and its' cemeteries. A wonderful graveyard travel post.

* For the Record: Watch out for errors by Schelly Talalay Dardashti on the MyHeritage Genealogy Blog. Schelly walks us through records for her Talalay family and notes the differences between records and family information. She also offers tips avoiding repeating and compounding errors in your research.

* Personal Highlights from the Colorado Family History Expo by Dean Richardson on the Genlighten Blog - Genealogy Documented blog. Dean shares his experiences at the Loveland Family History Expo from a presenters and exhibitors view.

* Family History Expo First Impressions by Becky Jamison on the Grace and Glory blog. Becky shares some pictures and her experiences at the Loveland FH Expo this week.

* Genealogy with the Kids by Taneya Koonce on Taneya's Genealogy Blog. Lucky kids in Nashville are getting bitten by the genealogy bug thanks to Taneya's road trips, and bribes. This is a wonderful family history story.

* I've concluded that nearly every article on footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed is worthy of being in the weekly Best of the Genea-Blogs post. Every one is that good. So go read:

** Managing a Digital Library by Denise Olson in the Creative Toolbox column.

** Twice Told Tuesday - The American Chaperone by footnoteMaven.

** The Brides of Maureen Taylor by Maureen Taylor.

** The Year Was 1856 by Sheri Fenley in The Year Was column.

** Fathers and Sons Heal as You Go by George Geder in The Healing Brush column.

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 - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 480 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

3 comments:

footnoteMaven said...

Randy:

I must admit, I'm GeneaSmacked at the very kind things you've said, and you always say, about Shades & my fM articles. Shades has the privilege of hosting some of the very best columnists around. I can only take credit for knowing quality when I see it.

I am first and foremost a great appreciator. So may I say how much I appreciate everything you do for our community. You're our diamond!

Thank you, Randy. I only hope Shades & I continue to give back to the GeneaBlogging community some small measure of what you and they give unselfishly, to us all, everyday.

I look forward to meeting you and Angel Linda in Burbank.

-fM

Taneya said...

Thanks Randy for sharing my post. And, I found some great reads among others in your list. I always appreciate your Best Of posts.

SCHELLY TALALAY DARDASHTI said...

Thank you, Randy, for noting my recent MyHeritage Genealogy blog post! I look forward to this list every week. As geneabloggers, we distill so much information for our readers from so many sources, and, with your best blogs post, this attempt is made even easier. Kudos!
Schelly