Sunday, December 25, 2011

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 18 to 24 December 2011

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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:


No “genealogical community”? by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog.  Michael responds to James Tanner's article, and describes several long-lasting genealogy communities.

Wherein I Eat My Words... by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James makes cogent points while admitting that societies are genealogical communities. 

Comparing SSDI Results by Leah on Leah's Family Tree blog.  Leah reviews all of the available SSDI options.  Which service do you like best?

No Genealogy Community? That Depends On Who You Ask by Robin Foster on the Saving Stories blog.  Robin defines "community" and describes her experiences.

Is The Genealogical Community Closed or Inclusive by Angela Walton-Raji on the My Ancestor's Name  blog.  Angela shares her views on the community issue.

Do You Hear What I Hear? by the writer of the footnoteMaven blog.  Here is the Blog Caroling post with over 40 entries. 

Case Studies: Learning by Example by Kimberly Powell on the About.com: Genealogy blog.  Kimberly provides links to many useful and intriguing case studies and video presentations that are available to show "how it's done."

Are Bloggers Really the New Experts?  and Are Bloggers Really the New Experts Part 2 by Marian Pierre-Louis on the Marian's Roots and Rambles blog.  Marian addresses many of Michael Hait's issues raised last week in his Paradigm post. 

My Thoughts on Genealogy Societies & Blogs by Jennifer Holik-Urban on the Generations: Piecing the Past Together blog.  Jen expresses her opinions on Michael's blog post.

Are Bloggers Leading the Genealogy Community? by Elyse Doerflinger on Elyse's Genealogy Blog.  Elyse offers her insightful observations and opinions on this week's issue. 

Changes in Access to the SSDI and Vital Records by Philip Trauring on the Blood and Frogs blog.  Philip has a great summary of the recent SSDI changes.

Moving from Blogger to WordPress and Moving from Blogger to WordPress, Part 2 by JL on the JLog blog.  This might be a good idea.  Excellent step-by-step directions, and the pitfalls too.

Some New Data on the Genealogy Industry from Family Tree Magazine by Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog.  I love marketing and demographic data!

The stolen identity of Ava Pilcher, or how the SSDI is being scapegoated by Kim Ostermyer on the Late Night Genealogies blog.  Kim questions whether the SSDI is the culprit in identity theft cases.  Good questions that deserve an investigation.

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

Fab Finds in Genealogy for the Week of December 18, 2011 by GenuinelyLAF on the 1 Ancestry 2 Little Time blog.

Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog. 

Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.

Monday Recap for December 19, 2011 by Amanda on the Geni Blog.

Genealogy Round Up, December 22 by Megan Smolenyak on Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog.

Genealogy News Corral, Dec. 12-16 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.

Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree 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 1110 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here

NOTE:  There will be no Best of the Genea-Blogs on 1 January 2012.  I'm taking the week off!

1 comment:

Jennifer Holik said...

Thank you for mentioning me this week Randy!