Sunday, July 17, 2011

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 10 July to 16 July 2011

...
Hundreds of 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:


Google+ vs Facebook vs Twitter – 10 Things and Google+ – What’s Missing by Banai Feldstein on The Ginger Jewish Genealogy blog.  Banai was one of the first to work on Google+ and shares her opinions.

Jumping on the Google+ Bandwagon by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy blog.  More commentary about the Google+ features.

Enjoyed Speaking, Would Do Again: My Analysis/Newbie Support Post by Chris Staats on the Staats Place blog.  Chris jumped into the genealogy speaking circuit and tells us all about it...excellent retrospective.

Collaborative Genealogy by GeneaPopPop on the Stardust 'n' Roots blog.  An interesting collaboration, with answers to two questions about speed and quality of the result.

FamilySearch.org SSDI Citation Review by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr AI looks at how FamilySearch sources the SSDI, and doesn't like what he sees. 

Genealogy and Science by J.H. Fonkert on the Four Generations Genealogy blog.  Jay nicely addresses the issues here that were discussed at great length on the APG Public List.

Who Will Google Kill This Time? by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.  Excellent commentary and analysis.

Hanging Out with Google+ by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on the Nutfield Genealogy blog. Heather discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the Hangout video chat on Google+. 

Dear Santa... by Jill Ball on the Geniaus blog.  Jill loves her new "toy" (Google+) but has some suggestions for the upgraded version.

Getting a Great Genealogical Education for Little or No Money! by Valerie Elkins on the Family Cherished blog.  Valerie provides an excellent summary of many of the free or inexpensive educational offerings available.

The Patient Part I, The Patient Part II, and  The Patient Part III by K.S. on the Walking My Tree blog.  Angela has pursued records from a Connecticut State Hospital with vigor, and gets her reward.

* Genealogy for Kids: My Ancestors in the Civil War, Genealogy for Kids: Conducting Interviews by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.  More family history activities for children.

FAMILY ORAL HISTORY – Part 1 – Memories Game and Part 2 – Using a Smart Pen by Joan Miller on the Luxegen Genealogy and Family History blog.  Joan had wonderful luck getting her family to recite memories, and she was able to record them.  Check out these tools!

How Not to Become Certified, part one and part two by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seed blog.  Michael shares his own commentary, and the judges commentary, on his application to be a Certified genealogist.  We can all learn from his experience, and apply the lessons learned.  Michael did, and earned his CG recently.

Shades The Magazine - Occupations - July/August by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog.  An excellent digital magazine on genealogy and photography...always!

Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:

Monday’s Link Roundup. by Dan Curtis on the Dan Curtis ~ Professional Personal Historian blog.

Links, 7.11.11 by Liz Haigney Lynch on The Ancestral Archaeologist blog.
Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.

Follow Friday Newsletter: 15 July 2011 by Greta Koehl on the Greta's Genealogy Bog blog.

Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jenn on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.

* Follow Friday - So Much to Do So Little Time! by Cheryl Cayemberg on the Have You Seen My Roots? blog.

Week In Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, RSS 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 1000 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

2 comments:

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

Thanks for the mention, Randy, and I love your lists! I always know when I've made your list because my blogger stats jump up by 100 readers in one afternoon!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for including my posts. I'm reading some of the others and they are so good -- I'm honored to be included with this group of writers.