Sunday, November 15, 2009

Best of the Genea-Blogs - November 8-14, 2009

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:

* "Please Pardon Momma from Jail" by Lee R. Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee seems to have the most interesting ancestors, and find the most interesting resources about them!

* Q&A: Everyone Has Two Family Trees – A Genealogical Tree and a Genetic Tree by Blaine Bettinger on The Genetic Genealogist blog. Blaine explains the results of tests that show two persons matching 36 out of 37 Y-DNA markers, but shows no common DNA in a 23andMe test.

* The Joy of a Military Pension File by Amy Coffin on the We Tree blog. Amy walks us through finding and ordering a Civil War Pension File from NARA. Hopefully, she will share the contents with us also.

* Cincinnati Library Digitizes Sanborn Maps by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog. Diane describes Sanborn Maps, which are available for many major cities, and how to use them.

* Footnote announces US Federal Census Collection by Beau Sharbrough on The Unofficial Footnote Blog. Beau analyzes Footnote's "interactivity" statistics, and wonders how much of the census records they will add in 2010 and later. I love analysis!

* A Theoretical Basis for Maturity Models (Part 1) by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI continues his series about Genealogical Maturity Models. I look forward to the next Parts of the series.

* The Dad Memorial Scanfest Marathon by Susan A. Kitchens on the Family Oral History Using Digital Tools blog. Susan is preparing for her father's memorial service in her own unique way - and preparing for what comes afterwards. It's a wonderful example of how technology can be used to honor a loved one.

* True Confessions of One Who Is Polish Language Challenged by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. There is a website that pronounces Polish words and phrases - who knew? Wouldn't it be great if there was one for all languages? You can find out how Jasia's name is pronounced. Then try Uncle Wawrzyniec.

* SteveMorse.org and a mystery solved by Tami Glatz on the relatively curious about genealogy blog. I love research stories that end well, and Tami's efforts to help another researcher studying immigrants from a small town in Hungary are educational.

* 13 Vicissitudes in the Life of a Professional Genealogist by Arlene Eakle on Arlene Eakle's Genealogy Blog. Wow, Arlene has been hit with some hardships in recent weeks, and has overcome them, all while continuing to perform research at a high level.

* Getting Started with Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress by Missy Corley on the Bayside Blog. Missy's step-by-step guide to using the Library of congress genealogy materials is helpful - a keeper!

* Using the City Directories at Footnote by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog. Julie describes her procedures to find City Directory entries on Footnote.com. An excellent guide to a complicated procedure.

* Source Citation Tips and Taps by Robyn on the Reclaiming Kin blog. Robyn runs down online and book resources for citing your sources, and some of her "tricks" learned through experience.

* Television - via “Clicker” for the rest of us… by Leland Meitzler on the GenealogyBlog. Leland doesn't watch much television, but he found a great online site that has historical TV shows online, and searchable.

* Technological Shores of the Internet by Caroline M. Pointer on the Family Stories blog. Caroline puts her research plan into pixels...and shares it with us. It's an excellent blueprint for her research, and an example for all of us to learn from.

* A Smokin' Anecdote from the 1600s by T.K. on the Before My Time blog. This is a fascinating look at T.K.'s ancestor's brush with the law and tobacco in the 1600s.

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 540 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

4 comments:

Julie said...

Thanks for the shout-out :)

Nancy Hurley said...

Randy: I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the helpful information you post on your blog. I've been reading it for a while and find it interesting and chocked full of tidbits to investigate.
Thanks, Nancy Hurley

Amy Coffin said...

Thanks for the mention, Randy. Always an honor.

Susan Kitchens said...

Randy, thanks very much for the mention... comes as a real boost now that I'm trying to get back into the posting groove after a long, long hiatus.