Sunday, November 16, 2008

Best of the Genea-Blogs - November 9-15, 2008

The "Best of the Genea-Blogs" returns...

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:

* Ancestry.com ombudsman by The Ancestry Insider on The Ancestry Insider blog. The Insider stepped in something earlier, and makes amends. The Insider also alludes to the apparent fact that he hides pop culture references in his posts - who knew? Of course, I didn't realize he was Ancestry's ombudsman, either before or after he left the company.

* Top Ten Worst Family Heirlooms by Chris Dunham on The Genealogue blog. Oh, Chris, now you've done it again. Made me laugh and mess up my keyboard. It's an instant classic! At least number 8 could be used for DNA research.

* Library & Archives Canada and Ancestry - what kind of partnership and Ancestry.ca and FamilySearch Announce Agreement - but where is LAC? by M. Diane rogers on the CanadaGenealogy, or 'Jane's Your Aunt' blog. Diane asks some hard questions and hopes for answers from LAC, Ancestry and FamilySearch. These are the kinds of posts I like - they dig behind the press releases.

* Science Fiction for Genealogists by Donna Pointkouski on the What's Past is Prologue blog. Donna lists some of her favorite genealogy-related science fiction stories - a great list. I've read none of them, of course, but I will! Who knew? Thanks, Donna. Read the comments too.

* DNA Genealogy Sources by Tina Sansone on the Gtownma's Genealogy blog. Tina has a great list of DNA Testing Services, Database Websites and Books for us.

* View From Space by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. Apple takes us along on a quest to find images of some of her ancestral houses using Google Earth, Google Maps and Microsoft Live Maps. They all get close, but are imperfect.

* So much new information from City Directories by Abba-Dad on the I Dream of Genea(logy) blog. Amir walks the readers through his finds in city directories, and shares what he learned from the entries. I agree with him that "If you are not looking at City Directories, you are losing out!"

* My German-Russian Heritage by Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog. Sheri shares what she knows about her Befort family that came from Russia to Kansas, with lots of history included. A wonderful post.

* November - I Weep by Terry Snyder on the Desktop Genealogist Unplugged blog. I wept too - what a terrible event to have to remember each Thanksgiving time. Thanks, Terry, for sharing - feelings are neither right or wrong, they just are.

* Ten Tips for Making Family Connections by Denise L on The Family Curator blog. Denise shares her mother's tips for finding relatives on the Internet. A good list! Denise shared her recent success in the article Friday from the Collectors - November 14 on footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed blog. We should all be so lucky to be fM's cousin, I think.

* Journal Your Research by Juliana Smith on the 24/7 Family History Circle blog. Juliana explains her Research Journal methods and reasons for keeping it, and suggests using a blog to enable other researchers to find you. Great advice.

* Gathering the Evidence with Paula Stuart Warren by Steve Danko on Steve's Genealogy Blog. Steve enjoyed the San Mateo Genealogical Society seminar with Paula, and summarizes it nicely for those of us who wished we could be there.

* My Friend - David Burgess - A Short Life by Lee R. Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee recalls a terrible event from his childhood and memorializes his friend on a Footnote.com page. It's a great idea! Be sure to read the Footnote page. Well done!

* Thanksgiving Meme and a Game of Tag by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog. Julie starts a great Thanksgiving meme - all genea-bloggers and readers should participate in this! Let Julie know about it, too, so she can summarize after the holiday.

* My Most Rewarding Genealogy Moment by Becky Jamison on the Grace and Glory blog. Becky shares a wonderful genealogy experience from her family history research. This may become a series... it would be a great Carnival topic too! By the way, is any genea-blog pinker than Becky's?

* The Carnival's In Town - 7th Edition, Smile for the Camera Carnival - Oh! Baby by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. There are over 40 entries to this Smile for the Camera Carnival on the subject of Baby Pictures. What a great collection!

Thank you to all genealogy bloggers for an interesting and informative week. Did you notice some new blogs on this list? I hope so!

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!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

And "thank you" for creating this list. It was a lot of work and very much appreciated Randy.

Anonymous said...

P.S. Could you please add Name/url as a way to leave comments on your blog?

Becky Thompson said...

Thank you Randy for including my post on my Most Rewarding Genealogy Moment at "Grace and Glory". I really appreciate your kind words. I'll have to definitely make it a series now---I'd better get started. I've had so many rewarding moments I could write for months! You're right--that ought to be a Carnival topic. I have yet to participate in a Carnival---I'll have to venture out a bit more and try it.

German Genealogist since 1979! Karl-Michael Sala! said...

http://www.GermanGenealogist.com

Lynell Sala
Research Director at My Family History Mysteries!
"Caveat Researchor{;>) 1 + 1 = or > 2? Yes! Lynell is my wife and keeps us as a research team on-task & on-budget by serving as our Research Director at various dba ancestral research company names. She capably assists with USA, UK & Euro-Germanic client, patron & even our personal ancestral research by providing strategic research counsel and a friendly, but firm, second opinion. For clients, patrons & ourselves, Lynell has helped hundreds of clients find THOUSANDS of pertinent ancestral data & documents & geographic, historical images. Lynell gives leadership and guidance toward excellent case preparation, planning, progression, embedded-images & templated census & immigration listings for report completion. Although she does not speak German, In the course of our numerous joint-research cases, I am proud that Lynell has located even German data, documents & images that I as the Germanic ancestral research expert did not find." October 12, 2008

Karl-Michael SALA, Internat'l Ancestral Genealogist (Owner at NO FIND? NO FEE! ANCESTRY, GENEALOGY, FAMILY HISTORY MYSTERY!) worked directly with Lynell at My Family History Mysteries!

Abba-Dad said...

Thanks for mentioning my City Directory post. I have started cataloging every surname I know in Atlanta from 1887 onward. There is so much new information that it is quite overwhelming. But I think it is a very valuable, though secondary, resource.

Sheri Fenley said...

Thank you Randy for once again including my blog in your best of the week series. It encourages me not only to write, but to write better. You're the best!

Sheri Fenley